Bill Text: CA SB521 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: CalFresh employment and training program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB521 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB521-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 521	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Liu

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to add Sections 11327.10, 18901.11, 18901.12, and 18901.13
to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social
services.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 521, as introduced, Liu. CalFresh employment and training
program.
   Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program,
under which nutrition assistance benefits, formerly referred to as
food stamps, are allocated to each state by the federal government.
That program, as administered in California, is known as CalFresh.
Under existing state law, pursuant to CalFresh, California's federal
allocation is distributed to eligible individuals by each county.
Existing law establishes eligibility and benefit level requirements
for receipt of CalFresh benefits.
   Existing law authorizes counties to participate in the CalFresh
Employment and Training (CalFresh E&T) program, established with the
purpose of assisting members of CalFresh households to obtain regular
employment, and requires participating counties to screen CalFresh
work registrants to determine whether they will participate in, or be
exempt from, the CalFresh E&T program.
   The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to
request a waiver from the federal government to allow county human
services agencies to serve CalFresh E&T recipients for up to 5
months, to match the length of services of transitional CalFresh
benefits with the post-employment services of the CalFresh E&T
program, for a period of up to 5 months. By imposing additional
duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
   This bill would require the department, in order to improve
employment opportunities and increase wages of CalFresh recipients by
increasing access to adult and post-secondary education and
vocational training programs at California community colleges,
annually issue guidance through all county letters for county human
services agencies wishing to partner with a community college in the
administration of its CalFresh E&T program, as specified.
   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 for the allocation of federal funds received through the TANF
program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other
benefits to qualified low-income families.
   Under existing law, when an individual fails or refuses to comply
with specified components of the CalWORKs program without good cause,
the individual is subject to prescribed financial sanctions.
   This bill would provide that when a CalWORKs recipient has been
sanctioned due to noncompliance with his or her welfare-to-work plan,
the recipient shall not be assigned a CalFresh penalty until the
county has determined that the individual does not qualify for an
exemption to the CalFresh work requirement and has not registered for
work, the county has notified the recipient that the recipient is
not eligible for an exemption, and has instructed the recipient about
how to comply with the requirements or verify an exemption to the
CalFresh work requirements. The bill would also require that if the
CalFresh recipient complies with the requirement during the notice of
adverse action period and has registered for work with the
Employment Development Department, the proposed penalty would be
canceled and would not count as an occurrence for the purposes of
determining the length of future CalFresh disqualification periods.
By imposing additional duties on local agencies, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
   The bill would require the CalFresh E&T program to be included in
the state's Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act state plan in
order to improve coordination between established workforce training
programs.
   The bill would state findings and declarations by the Legislature
relative to unemployment rates and CalFresh recipients.
   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 these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) According to the Employment Development Department, Labor
Market Information Division, there were over 600,000 long-term
unemployed in California in February of 2014, well above pre-Great
Recession levels.
   (b) Counting people who are out of work and have stopped
searching, California had the highest "U6" unemployment rate in the
country, 15.8 percent, in late 2014.
   (c) The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Employment and Training Program offers a dollar for dollar federal
match of allowable expenses to fund employment training and
post-employment support for CalFresh recipients for the purposes of
increasing future earnings in order to reduce their dependence on
CalFresh.
  SEC. 2.  Section 11327.10 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   11327.10.  When a CalWORKs recipient has been sanctioned due to
non-compliance with his or her welfare-to-work plan, pursuant to
Section 11327.4, the recipient shall not be assigned a CalFresh
penalty until the county has determined that the individual does not
qualify for an exemption to the CalFresh work requirement and has not
registered for work, the county has notified the recipient that the
recipient is not eligible for an exemption, and has instructed the
recipient about how to comply with the requirements or verify an
exemption to the CalFresh work requirements. If the recipient
complies with the requirements during the notice of adverse action
period and has registered for work with the Employment Development
Department, the proposed penalty shall be canceled and shall not
count as an occurrence for the purposes of determining the length of
future CalFresh disqualification periods. If a county elects to
administer a CalFresh E&T program pursuant to Section 18926.5, it
shall screen these recipients pursuant to paragraph (b) of Section
18926.5 before placement into the program. Receipt of CalWORKs cash
aid by another person in the recipient's household does not impact
the eligibility of a CalFresh recipient to participate in a CalFresh
E&T program.
  SEC. 3.  Section 18901.65 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   18901.65.  The department shall seek a federal waiver to allow
county human services agencies to serve CalFresh E&T program
recipients for up to five months, to match the length of service for
transitional CalFresh benefits, established in Section 18901.6, with
the post-employment services of the CalFresh E&T program, established
in Section 18926.5, for a period of up to five months.
  SEC. 4.  Section 18901.12 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   18901.12.  The state shall include the CalFresh E&T program in the
state's Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act state plan in order
to improve coordination between established workforce training
programs.
  SEC. 5.  Section 18901.13 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   18901.13.  (a) The department shall, in order to improve
employment opportunities and increase wages of CalFresh recipients by
increasing access to adult and post-secondary education and
vocational training programs at California community colleges,
annually issue guidance through all county letters for county human
services agencies wishing to partner with a community college in the
administration of its CalFresh E&T program, and support any county
seeking approval by the United States Department of Agriculture to
include a community college component in its approved CalFresh E&T
program plan.
   (b) The guidance provided for in this section shall include:
   (1) A list of approved sources of state share match for community
college CalFresh E&T programs.
   (2) A list of education courses that would be approved under
Section 4007 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 2015(e)
(3)(B)), which are either:
   (A) Part of a program of career and technical education, as
defined in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of
2006 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 2302) that may be completed within four years at
an institution of higher education, as defined in Section 102 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1002).
   (B) Limited to remedial courses, basic adult education, literacy,
or English as a second language.
   (3) The additional outcomes that are required to be reported
beyond those required by subdivision (c) of Section 18926.5, when a
county's CalFresh E&T program includes a community college component.

   (4) The process for verifying that a student is eligible to
participate in the CalFresh E&T program at a community college. A
student is eligible to be assigned to participate in the program by
the county human services agency or designee of the agency only as a
volunteer, not as a mandatory participant. A CalFresh recipient also
receiving CalWORKs cash aid is ineligible to participate in the
CalFresh E&T program, but the receipt of CalWORKs cash aid by other
people in his or her household shall not impact his or her
eligibility for the CalFresh E&T program.
   (c) Nothing in this section requires a county to offer a
particular component as a part of its CalFresh E&T plan or restricts
the use of federal funds for the financing of CalFresh E&T programs.
  SEC. 6.  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.