BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2311
A
AUTHOR: Bradford
B
VERSION: May 23, 2014
HEARING DATE: June 24, 2014
2
FISCAL: Yes
3
1
CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown
1
SUBJECT
General assistance: employable veterans
SUMMARY
.This bill exempts employable veterans who were honorably
discharged from the Armed Forces from the prohibition on
providing General Assistance (GA) for more than three
months to employable individuals who have been offered an
opportunity to attend job skills or job training sessions.
The bill also authorizes a county to continue to limit
provision of General Assistance / General Relief aid to
veterans if a county enacts an ordinance providing that any
employable individual is subject to the limitation.
ABSTRACT
Existing law :
1)Requires every city and county to provide relief and
support to all residents who are indigent, incapacitated
by age, disease, or accident, and not supported and
relieved by their relatives or friends, by their own
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2311 (Bradford)
PageB
means, or by state hospitals or other state or private
institutions. (WIC 17000)
2)Establishes a county's right to adopt requirements, as
specified, for determining a person's eligibility for
general assistance (WIC 17001.5)
3)Authorizes each county to prohibit an employable
individual from receiving general assistance for more
than three months in any 12-month period, as specified,
if the individual has been offered an opportunity to
attend job skills or job training sessions. (WIC 17001.5
(a)(4))
This bill :
1)Names provisions of this bill the General Assistance
"Thank You For Your Service" Act of 2014."
2)Exempts an employable Armed Forces veteran, who was
honorably discharged, from the prohibition against
receiving General Assistance / General Relief aid for
more than three months in any 12-month period.
3)Permits a county board of supervisors to enact an
ordinance including those veterans in the existing
three-month limit, regardless of their military
background.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to an analysis by the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, the cost of this bill is unknown, but
potentially significant for the state to reimburse counties
for providing additional GA assistance to veterans. The
analysis calculated that if between one-tenth and
one-quarter of homeless veterans receive GA and half of
them live in counties that already grant the extension the
cost could be $1 million to $3.7 million for the additional
nine months of a year.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2311 (Bradford)
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This bill is intended to provide additional time for
honorably discharged veterans who have no other resources
to remain on general assistance while accessing federal
funded job training and other veteran's programs.
A sponsor of the bill, the Western Center on Law and
Poverty writes that, "for some very destitute and alone
Californians, county general assistance is a sole source of
income. With an increase in municipal laws outlawing
panhandling and unemployment that remains high for people
with fewer barriers to work, this arbitrary limit is cruel.
The human and fiscal costs of these time limits are great
and have been well documented."
Without adequate responses to the real and persistent
barriers to health and self-sufficiency experienced by
veterans, it is incumbent upon us to make sure that we are
not depriving them of basic needs, Western Center states.
General Assistance / General Relief
The General Assistance or General Relief Program was
designed to provide relief and support to indigent adults
who are not supported by their own means, other public
funds, or assistance programs such as CalWORKs, which
requires the presence of a child in the home to be eligible
for aid. While California statute draws some general
guidelines around the program, including requiring
participating counties to set residency requirements and
limiting aid to three months per year, each county's
General Assistance program is established and fully funded
by its Board of Supervisors. Typically, recipients are
required to sign an agreement to repay the assistance they
receive. The program is intended to support indigent adults
on a short-term basis while they find employment or other
aid.
As the state is not tasked with oversight of this program,
benefits, payment levels, and eligibility requirements vary
significantly among each of California's 58 counties.
Veterans
Veterans returning home face many barriers to employment,
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2311 (Bradford)
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including post-traumatic stress and other mental illness
and difficulties in transitioning back into civilian life.
Data from a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development survey revealed that on a single night in 2013,
there were 15,179 homeless veterans in California. The
actual number of veterans who experienced homelessness
throughout the year is likely greater. According to
September 2013 estimates from the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs, California is home to nearly 1.8 million
veterans; 8% of the national veteran population of
approximately 22 million. The state's veteran population is
comprised of 90% men and 10% women.
A Los Angeles Times story in 2012 cited data from a U.S.
Census Bureau American Community Survey study which showed
that the number of new veterans who were unemployed was 19
percent, well above the civilian rate and the rate for
veterans as a whole. <1>
Related legislation
SB 134 (Hueso) Chapter 283, Statutes of 2013 exempted
honorably discharged veterans from mandatory participation
in CalFresh Employment and Training programs in
participating counties.
PRIOR VOTES
Assembly Floor 73 - 0
Assembly Appropriations 12 - 0
Assembly Human Services 4 - 0
COMMENTS
The California Coalition of Welfare Rights Organizations, a
sponsor of the bill, writes that the three month limitation
-------------------------
<1> Alexandra Zavis, "Poverty growing among L.A. County
veterans, study finds," November 9, 2012 |
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2311 (Bradford)
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has been a contributing factor to California's veteran
homelessness, and cite statistic that indicating that one
in 5 homeless males is a veteran.
Writing in opposition to this bill, the California State
Association of Counties (CSAC) expresses concern that
singling out one group for an extension of General
Assistance benefits may not be appropriate as there could
be other individuals who need assistance equally but do not
have veteran status. Additionally, CSAC expresses concern
that the bill would require county boards of supervisors to
vote to reject additional provision of benefits, which
could create local controversy. CSAC further argues that
the issue of paying GA should remain in the counties'
control, as they pay full costs.
POSITIONS
Support: Coalition of California Welfare Rights
Organizations (co-sponsor)
Western Center on Law and Poverty
(co-sponsor)
1 individual
Oppose: California State Association of Counties
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