BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2062|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2062
Author: Lopez (D), et al.
Amended: 8/17/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 4-0, 6/14/16
AYES: McGuire, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 67-0, 5/27/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: CalWORKs: income or household composition
reporting: benefit redetermination
SOURCE: Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations,
Inc.
DIGEST: This bill prohibits the assessment of a California
Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs)
overpayment in the month immediately following a reported change
if the CalWORKs recipient has not been provided a 10-day notice
of the change in benefits prior to the beginning of that month.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/17/16 require the California
Department of Social Services (CDSS) to issue an all-county
letter or similar instruction by July 1, 2017, and adopt
regulations by July 1, 2018, as necessary to implement these
provisions.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program, which permits states to implement the
program under a state plan. (42 USC § 601 et seq.)
2)Establishes in state law the CalWORKs program to provide cash
assistance and other social services for low-income families
through the federal TANF program. Under CalWORKs, each county
provides assistance through a combination of state, county and
federal TANF funds. (WIC 10530)
3)Establishes income, asset and real property limits used to
determine eligibility for the program, including net income
below the Maximum Aid Payment, based on family size and county
of residence, which is around 40 percent of the Federal
Poverty Level. (WIC 11150 to 11160, 11450 et seq.)
4)Requires counties to redetermine CalWORKs eligibility
annually, and permits counties to redetermine eligibility at
other intervals as may be deemed necessary. Requires CalWORKs
recipients to complete a certificate of eligibility that
contains a written declaration of the information submitted,
as specified. (WIC 11265)
5)Establishes the criteria for an income reporting threshold for
CalWORKs recipients and requires CalWORKs recipients to report
to the county, orally or in writing, within 10 days, when the
monthly household income exceeds the threshold, the address
has changed, or if an individual is fleeing law enforcement or
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in violation of parole or probation, as specified. (WIC
11265.3)
6)Exempts a CalWORKs assistance unit that does not include an
eligible adult from periodic reporting requirements other than
the required annual redetermination. (WIC 11265.45)
7)Establishes the criteria for the income reporting threshold
for CalWORKs assistance units that do not include an eligible
adult. Also requires CalWORKs recipients within assistance
units that do not include an eligible adult to report to the
county, orally or in writing, within 10 days, when the monthly
household income exceeds the threshold, any change in
household composition, the household address has changed, or
if an individual is fleeing law enforcement or in violation of
parole or probation, as specified. Establishes an income
reporting threshold for CalWORKs assistance units that do not
include an eligible adult. (WIC 11265.47)
This bill:
1)Prohibits the assessment of an overpayment to a CalWORKs
recipient who is found to be no longer eligible for CalWORKs
or to be eligible for a reduced grant amount due to a reported
change in income or household composition if the county was
unable to provide 10-days' notice of termination or reduction
in benefits before the first of the following month.
2)Requires the CDSS to issue an all-county letter or similar
instruction by July 1, 2017, and adopt regulations by July 1,
2018, as necessary to implement these provisions.
3)Provides that no appropriation shall be made for purposes of
implementing the bill, as specified.
Background
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 21
percent of Californians and 23.9 percent of California's
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children were living in poverty in 2013. During and after the
Great Recession, California saw growing rates of childhood deep
poverty - those living below 50 percent of the federal poverty
line. One of California's most essential anti-poverty strategies
is the CalWORKs program, which provides cash assistance to
approximately 540,000 families - including more than one million
children, according to 2014 federal data.
CalWORKs implements the federal TANF program in California. In
addition to temporary cash assistance to meet basic family
needs, CalWORKs provides education, employment and training
programs. The CDSS is the designated state agency responsible
for program supervision at the state level. The counties are
responsible for administering the caseloads at the local level.
The CalWORKs program is funded with a mix of federal, state, and
county funds.
State law provides for a cumulative 48-month lifetime limit on
cash aid for adults. During those 48 months, adults may receive
a total of 24 months of Welfare-to-Work (WTW) services and
activities. WTW activities include subsidized and unsubsidized
employment, community service, adult basic education, job
skills, training, mental health counseling, substance abuse
treatment and other activities necessary to assist recipients in
obtaining employment. Once the 24 months of WTW activities have
been exhausted, adults must meet the stricter federal work
participation requirements (20, 30, or 35 hours weekly,
depending on family composition), as specified. Children of
adults who exhaust the 48-month lifetime limit may continue to
receive cash aid, if otherwise eligible, up to age 18.
Typically, changes in a CalWORKs recipient's income are only
reported during the semi-annual or annual (for child only cases)
report. However, if a recipient's income surpasses the
established income-reporting threshold, the recipient must
report the new income amount to the county within 10 days.
Overpayments are sometimes issued when the recipient notifies
the county that the income reporting threshold was exceeded
towards the end of the month. When this occurs, the recipient
is required to repay the overpayment.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill
generates ongoing costs, of likely less than $100,000 each year
(GF), to absorb any overpayments and unknown, but likely minor
costs to CDSS for automation changes. (GF)
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/11/16)
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations Inc.
(source)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Bay Area Community Services
California Food Policy Advocates
Courage Campaign
Placer People of Faith Together
The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
Western Center on Law and Poverty
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, the main goal
of CalWORKs is to help members of a family find employment and
be able to support their family. The purpose of services like
this is to create an environment where recipients are allowed
the opportunity to become self-sufficient and should not be
penalized for improving their current conditions. The author
states, as recipients move through the CalWORKs program they can
experience changes in income, which trigger the county to either
terminate or reduce benefits. However, in some cases recipients'
benefits are reduced or terminated without 10-days' notice from
the county, resulting in an overpayment of benefits. This burden
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of paying back without sufficient time can lead to unnecessary
economic stress to the family, according to the author.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The Department of Finance (DOF)
states, "Although only a small portion of CalWORKs cases are
assessed overpayments in any given month, prohibiting counties
from recouping a month's worth of overpayments would result in a
minor increase in grant costs."
DOF opposes this bill for the following reasons:
This bill results in net General Fund costs to eliminate the
assessment of CalWORKs overpayments under certain conditions.
This bill results in disparity by creating different outcomes
for CalWORKs recipients depending on what point in the month
they experience and report a change in income.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 67-0, 5/27/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bonilla, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Eggman,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bloom, Brough, Brown, Chiu, Dodd, Eduardo
Garcia, Grove, Hadley, Jones-Sawyer, Low, Melendez, O'Donnell,
Ting
Prepared by:Taryn Smith / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
8/18/16 16:11:03
**** END ****
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