BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2311 (Bradford) - General assistance: employable veterans.
Amended: May 23, 2014 Policy Vote: Human Services 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2311 would require a county to, effective July
1, 2015, expand eligibility for General Assistance (GA) to
honorably discharged employable veterans through an exemption
from the prohibition on providing GA to employable individuals
for more than three months in a 12-month period, as specified.
This bill would allow a county to opt out of the extended
eligibility period for GA to employable veterans through the
enactment of an ordinance by the county board of supervisors.
Fiscal Impact:
Likely minor one-time costs (Local) for counties to enact
an ordinance opting out of the provision of extended
eligibility for GA to employable veterans. As the provision
to enact a county ordinance is optional, the local costs
incurred are estimated to be non-reimbursable.
Potentially significant ongoing state-reimbursable costs in
the millions of dollars (General Fund) for counties to
provide additional GA benefits to employable veterans. GA
benefits for every 1,000-2,000 honorably discharged
employable veterans for an additional nine months would cost
about $2 million to $4 million based on an average GA
benefit of $228 per month. These costs are estimated to be
reimbursable by the state until a county opts out of the GA
expansion, which is optional.
Background: Existing law 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 means,
or by state hospitals or other state or private institutions.
Existing law establishes a county's right to adopt requirements,
as specified, for determining a person's eligibility for GA.
AB 2311 (Bradford)
Page 1
Existing law authorizes a county to prohibit an employable
individual from receiving GA 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))
Each county GA program is 100 percent county-funded, with no
state or federal share of costs. Based on caseload and
expenditure data for May 2014 from the GR 237 report, the
statewide average monthly GA caseload is about 110,000 cases,
and the statewide average monthly GA payment is $228, although
the average monthly GA benefit per county varies significantly.
Proposed Law: This bill would be cited as the GA "Thank You For
Your Service" Act of 2014. Specifically, this bill:
Requires a county, effective July 1, 2015, to expand
eligibility for GA benefits to honorably discharged
employable veterans through an exemption from the
prohibition on providing GA to employable individuals who
have been offered an opportunity to attend job skills or
job training sessions for more than three months in a
12-month period, whether or not the months are consecutive.
Authorizes a county board of supervisions to enact an
ordinance providing that any employable individual is
subject to the limitation of GA benefits under existing law
notwithstanding the fact that an individual is an
employable veteran who was honorably discharged from the
armed forces.
Staff Comments: By requiring a county to extend GA benefits to
honorably discharged employable veterans for an extended period
of time, this bill creates a state-mandated local program,
resulting in potentially significant ongoing state-reimbursable
costs in the millions of dollars (General Fund). While it is
unknown how many employable veterans would be impacted by the
provisions of this bill, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
estimates nearly 1.8 million veterans in California. Ongoing
costs to provide GA benefits for every 1,000 to 2,000 employable
veterans for an additional nine months would cost about $2
million to $4 million per year based on an average GA benefit of
$228 per month.
While the provisions of this bill provide that county boards of
AB 2311 (Bradford)
Page 2
supervisors may enact an ordinance opting out of the expansion
of GA benefits, because the provision to opt out is not
specifically linked to the operative date of the provision of
mandated GA benefits, it is estimated that any increased costs
incurred by a county would potentially be subject to
reimbursement by the state until a county chooses to opt out of
the GA expansion. As an example, a county enacting an ordinance
opting out of the GA expansion two years after the July 1, 2015,
operative date of the mandated expansion could potentially file
a claim for reimbursement with the Commission on State Mandates
for the two-year period prior to the enactment of the ordinance.
Recommended Amendments: To address the fiscal concerns noted
above, the author may wish to consider amendments to delay
implementation of the expanded GA program eligibility to January
1, 2016, and provide a county board of supervisors with a
specified six-month period from July 1, 2015, to January 1,
2016, to either expand the GA program or retain the existing GA
program eligibility requirements. While the costs to enact an
ordinance would result in minor state-reimbursable costs,
providing counties with 12 months from the bill's enactment date
and a set six-month timeframe within which to act from the
section's operative date will provide counties with time to opt
out of the GA program expansion.
1. On page 6, in line 11, after (A), insert: (i)
2. On page 6, in line 11, strike out ",other than an",
strike out line 12 and in line 13, strike out "Forces,"
3. On page 6, in line 15, strike out "paragraph" and
insert: subparagraph
4. On page 6, between lines 17 and 18, insert: (ii) On or
after January 1, 2016, any prohibition adopted pursuant to
clause (i) shall not apply to an employable veteran who was
honorably discharged from the Armed Forces if the board of
supervisors of a county failed to take the action set forth
in subparagraph (B).
5. On page 6, in line 18, strike out "The" and insert: On
or after July 1, 2015, but before January 1, 2016, the
6. On page 6, in line 20, after "in" insert: clause (i) of
7. On page 6, in line 22, strike out "armed forces" and
insert: Armed Forces
Fiscal Impact (as proposed to be amended):
Likely minor one-time costs (Local) for counties to enact
AB 2311 (Bradford)
Page 3
an ordinance opting out of the provision of extended
eligibility for GA to employable veterans. As the provision
to enact a county ordinance is optional, the local costs
incurred are estimated to be non-reimbursable.
Potential one-time minor state-reimbursable costs (General
Fund) for county boards of supervisors to enact an ordinance
to opt out of the expansion of GA benefits to employable
veterans.
Potentially significant local costs in the millions of
dollars (General Fund) for counties to provide additional GA
benefits to employable veterans. GA benefits for every
1,000-2,000 honorably discharged employable veterans for an
additional nine months would cost about $2 million to $4
million based on an average GA benefit of $228 per month.