BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 2062 (Lopez) - CalWORKs: income or household composition reporting: benefit redetermination ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: April 20, 2016 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Debra Cooper | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 2062 would prohibit the assessment of a California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) overpayment in the month immediately following a reported change in income if the recipient has not been provided a 10-day notice of the change in benefits prior to the beginning of that month. Fiscal Impact: Ongoing costs, likely less than $100,000 each year, to absorb any overpayments. (GF) Unknown, but likely minor costs to DSS for automation changes. (GF) Background: The CalWORKS program provides monthly income assistance and AB 2062 (Lopez) Page 1 of ? employment-related services aimed at moving children out of poverty and helping families meet basic needs. Federal funding for CalWORKS comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The average monthly cash grant for a family of three (one parent and two children) on CalWORKS is $497 to meet basic needs such as rent, clothing, utility bills, food, and other items. This grant amount puts the average annual household income of a family on CalWORKS at $5,964 per year, which is 30% of the federal poverty level (Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2015 report that 100% of poverty for a family of three is $20,090 per year). According to DSS, nearly 497,000 families will rely on CalWORKS in FY 2016-17, including over one million children. Typically, changes in a CalWORKs recipient's income are reported during the semi-annual or annual report. As recipients move through the CalWORKs program, they can experience changes in income which surpass the established income threshold. If the recipient's income surpasses the threshold, the recipient must report the new income to the county within 10 days, which triggers the county to either terminate or reduce benefits. According to the author, in some cases (for instance, when the threshold is exceeded toward the end of the month) recipients' benefits are reduced or terminated without 10 days' notice from the county, resulting in an overpayment of benefits. This bill would state that a recipient shall not be charged an overpayment or experience a reduction in benefits for the following month if the county did not provide a 10 days' notice. Proposed Law: This bill would prohibit assessment of an overpayment for the following month if a CalWORKs recipient has reported a change in income and the county was unable to provide 10 days' notice of the termination or reduction in benefits before the first of the month following the month in which the change occurred. This bill would also provide that no appropriation be made for purposes of implementing this bill, as specified. Staff AB 2062 (Lopez) Page 2 of ? Comments: While exact data for the dollar adjustment or number of cases that would be impacted is not available, DSS indicates that the number of cases that result in overpayment is very low. -- END --