Bill Text: CA AB3073 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: CalFresh: preenrollment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 225, Statutes of 2020. [AB3073 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB3073-Introduced.html

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 3073

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Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks

February 21, 2020

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An act to add Section 18901.35 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 3073, as introduced, Wicks. CalFresh: preenrollment.

Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law also authorizes counties to participate in the CalFresh Employment and Training program, established by federal law, to provide, among other things, work experience or training and job search training to CalFresh recipients. Existing federal law generally prohibits a resident of an institution, including the state prison or a county jail, from receiving these benefits.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, on or before March 1, 2021, to issue an all-county letter containing recommendations and suggested methods for county human services agencies to partner with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and county jails to enroll otherwise eligible applicants for the CalFresh program so that an applicant’s benefits may begin as soon as possible upon reentry of the applicant into the community from the state prison or a county jail. The bill would require the all-county letter to also advise county human services agencies of promising practices for connecting individuals released from the state prison with employment or employment and training opportunities. The bill would require the department to submit a waiver to the federal government to allow for preenrollment of applicants prior to release from the state prison or county jail if the department deems it necessary to maximize CalFresh enrollment outcomes or employment placement success rates for those individuals.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 18901.35 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

18901.35.

 (a) On or before March 1, 2021, the department shall issue an all-county letter containing recommendations and suggested methods for county human services agencies to partner with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and county jails to enroll otherwise eligible applicants for the CalFresh program so that an applicant’s benefits may begin as soon as possible upon reentry of the applicant into the community from the state prison or a county jail.

(b) The all-county letter shall also advise county human services agencies of promising practices for connecting individuals released from the state prison with employment or employment and training opportunities. This advice shall include information outlining how counties may work with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to connect individuals to employment opportunities related to any experience, training, or education that the individual has received while in the state prison.

(c) If the department deems it necessary to maximize CalFresh enrollment outcomes or employment placement success rates for individuals reentering the community from the state prison or a county jail, it shall submit to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service a request to waive Section 273.1(b)(7)(vi) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations to allow for preenrollment of applicants prior to release from the state prison or a county jail.