Bill Text: CA AB807 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 807 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Bill Title: CalWORKs eligibility: income exemptions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 440, Statutes of 2019. [AB807 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB807-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 02, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 807

Introduced by Assembly Member Bauer-Kahan
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wicks)
(Coauthor: Senator Wiener)

February 20, 2019

An act to amend Section 11157 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to CalWORKs.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 807, as amended, Bauer-Kahan. CalWORKs eligibility: income exemptions.

Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families.

Under existing law, certain types of payments received by recipients of aid under the CalWORKs program, including, among others, an award or scholarship provided by a public or private entity to, or on behalf of, a dependent child based on the child’s academic or extracurricular achievement or participation in a scholastic, educational, or extracurricular competition, are exempt from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility and aid amount.

This bill would delete the condition that an award or scholarship be based on a child’s academic or extracurricular achievement or participation in a scholastic, educational, or extracurricular competition, in order to be exempt as ~~income. The bill would add to those exempt categories funds received by a governmental agency specifically to pay for rent or shelter expenses.~~ income for purposes of the CalWORKs program. The bill would also prohibit funds withdrawn for personal use from a bank account or a retirement savings account, as specified, ~~and~~ funds transferred from one bank account or retirement savings account to another of those accounts, and funds received from a governmental agency specifically to pay for rent or shelter expenses from being considered income for these purposes. By expanding the scope of eligibility for CalWORKs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to adopt regulations on or before October 1, 2022, and would authorize the department to implement the bill through an all-county letter or similar instruction until the regulations are adopted.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.

This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.

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

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

SECTION 1.

Section 11157 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

11157.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 11008, all lump-sum income received by an applicant or recipient shall be regarded as income in the month received, except nonrecurring lump-sum social insurance payments, which shall include social security income, railroad retirement benefits, veteran’s benefits, ~~worker’s~~ workers’ compensation, and disability insurance.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this part, for purposes of this chapter and Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), “income” shall be deemed to be the same as applied under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program on August 21, 1996, except that the following shall be exempt from consideration as income:

(1) Income that is received too infrequently to be reasonably anticipated, as exempted in federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regulations.

(2) Income from college work-study programs under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act or Article 18 (commencing with Section 69950) of Chapter 2 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code or college work-study program, as established in the annual Budget Act, for individuals receiving aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200).

(3) An (A) Except as provided for in subparagraph (B), an award or scholarship provided by a public or private entity to, or on behalf of, a dependent ~~child.~~ child based on the child’s academic or extracurricular achievement or participation in a scholastic, educational, or extracurricular competition.

~~(4)Funds received by a governmental agency specifically to pay for rent or shelter expenses.~~
(B) For purposes of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), an award or scholarship provided by a public or private entity to, or on behalf of, a dependent child.

(c) (1) For purposes of ~~this chapter and~~ Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), the following shall not be considered as income:

(A) Funds withdrawn for personal use from a bank account or a retirement savings account, regardless of the number of withdrawals or frequency of withdrawals.

(B) Funds transferred from one bank account or retirement savings account to another bank account or retirement savings account.

(C) Funds received from a governmental agency specifically to pay for rent or shelter expenses.

(2) ~~This subdivision is~~ Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) are declarative of existing law.

SEC. 2.

Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the State Department of Social Services may implement this act through an all-county letter or similar instruction from the Director of Social Services, until regulations are adopted. The department shall adopt regulations implementing this act on or before October 1, 2022.

SEC. 3.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.