BILL NUMBER: SB 899 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Mitchell
(Coauthors: Senators Beall, Evans, Hancock, Hill, and Liu)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Buchanan, Dickinson, Garcia,
Gonzalez, Lowenthal, Pan, Skinner, and Yamada)
JANUARY 14, 2014
An act to add Section 11270.5 to, and to repeal Section 11450.04
of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to CalWORKs.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 899, as introduced, Mitchell. CalWORKs: eligibility.
Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and
other social services to needy families through the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using
federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant
program, state, and county funds. Under existing law, for purposes of
determining a family's maximum aid payment under the CalWORKs
program, the number of needy persons in the same family is not
increased for any child born into a family that has received aid
under the CalWORKs program continuously for the 10 months prior to
the birth of the child, with specified exceptions.
This bill would repeal that exclusion for purposes of determining
the family's maximum aid payment and would expressly prohibit the
denial of aid or denial of an increase in the maximum aid payment if
a child, on whose behalf aid or an increase in aid is being
requested, was born into an applicant's or recipient's family while
the applicant's or recipient's family was receiving aid under the
CalWORKs program. The bill would specify that an applicant or
recipient is not entitled to an increased benefit payment for any
month prior to January 1, 2015, as a result of the repeal of that
exclusion or the enactment of that express prohibition. The bill
would also prohibit the department from conditioning an applicant's
or recipient's eligibility for aid on the applicant's or recipient's
disclosure of information regarding rape, incest, or contraception,
as specified, or the applicant's or recipient's use of contraception.
The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General
Fund to defray a portion of county aid grant costs under the CalWORKs
program.
This bill would declare that no appropriation would be made for
purposes of the bill.
To the extent that this bill affects eligibility under the
CalWORKs program, the bill would create a state-mandated local
program.
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 all of the
following:
(a) Scientific research has demonstrated that young children
living in deep poverty experience lifelong cognitive impairments
limiting their ability to be prepared for, and succeed in, school.
(b) Academic research has documented an increase in missed days of
school and an increase in visits to hospital emergency rooms by
children who live in deep poverty.
(c) The Maximum Family Grant rule was adopted to limit the length
of time a family could receive basic needs assistance, and to limit
the amount of assistance a family could receive, through the Aid to
Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program before the
implementation of welfare reform. At the time the rule was adopted,
there was no limit on the length of time a family could receive aid,
no work requirements, and the benefits provided were approximately 80
percent of the federal poverty level.
(d) Since the implementation of the Maximum Family Grant rule,
AFDC has been replaced with the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKs), which imposes lifetime limits
on aid and requires adult CalWORKs participants to meet work
requirements in order to receive a maximum benefit of approximately
40 percent of the federal poverty level.
(e) The Maximum Family Grant rule makes poor children poorer,
reducing the income of families with infants to below 30 percent of
the federal poverty level.
(f) This act is necessary to protect infants born to families
receiving CalWORKs from experiencing lifelong cognitive impairments
due to the toxic stress of deep poverty and to ready those children
for participation in California's public school system.
(g) This act is also necessary to protect the reproductive and
privacy rights of all applicants for, and recipients of, aid under
CalWORKs.
SEC. 2. Section 11270.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, immediately following Section 11270, to read:
11270.5. (a) An applicant for or recipient of aid under this
chapter shall not be required as a condition of eligibility to do any
of the following:
(1) Divulge that any member of the assistance unit is a victim of
rape or incest.
(2) Share confidential medical records related to any member of
the assistance unit's rape or incest.
(3) Use contraception, choose a particular method of
contraception, or divulge the method of contraception any member of
the assistance unit uses.
(b) An applicant for or recipient of aid under this chapter shall
not be denied aid, nor denied an increase in the maximum aid payment,
for a child born into the applicant's or recipient's family during a
period in which the applicant's or recipient's family was receiving
aid under this chapter.
(c) An applicant for or recipient of aid under this chapter shall
not be entitled to an increased benefit payment for any month prior
to January 1, 2015, as a result of the repeal of former Section
11450.04 (as added by Section 1 of Chapter 196 of the Statutes of
1994) or the enactment of this section.
SEC. 3. Section 11450.04 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.
11450.04. (a) For purposes of determining the maximum aid payment
specified in subdivision (a) of Section 11450 and for no other
purpose, the number of needy persons in the same family shall not be
increased for any child born into a family that has received aid
under this chapter continuously for the 10 months prior to the birth
of the child. For purposes of this section, aid shall be considered
continuous unless the family does not receive aid during two
consecutive months. This subdivision shall not apply to applicants
for, or recipients of, aid unless notification is provided pursuant
to this section.
(b) This section shall not apply with respect to any of the
following children:
(1) Any child who was conceived as a result of an act of rape, as
defined in Sections 261 and 262 of the Penal Code, if the rape was
reported to a law enforcement agency, medical or mental health
professional or social services agency prior to, or within three
months after, the birth of the child.
(2) Any child who was conceived as a result of an incestuous
relationship if the relationship was reported to a medical or mental
health professional or a law enforcement agency or social services
agency prior to, or within three months after, the birth of the
child, or if paternity has been established.
(3) Any child who was conceived as a result of contraceptive
failure if the parent was using an intrauterine device, a Norplant,
or the sterilization of either parent.
(c) This section shall not apply to any child born on or before
November 1, 1995.
(d) (1) This section shall not apply to any child to whom it would
otherwise apply if the family has not received aid for 24
consecutive months while the child was living with the family.
(2) This section shall not apply to any child conceived when
either parent was a nonneedy caretaker relative.
(3) This section shall not apply to any child who is no longer
living in the same home with either parent.
(e) One hundred percent of any child support payment received for
a child born into the family, but for whom the maximum aid payment is
not increased pursuant to this section, shall be paid to the
assistance unit. Any such child support payment shall not be
considered as income to the family for the purpose of calculating the
amount of aid for which the family is eligible under this article.
(f) Commencing January 1, 1995, each county welfare department
shall notify applicants for assistance under this chapter, in
writing, of the provisions of this section. The notification shall
also be provided to recipients of aid under this chapter, in writing,
at the time of recertification, or sooner. The notification required
by this section shall set forth the provisions of this section and
shall state explicitly the impact these provisions would have on the
future aid to the assistance unit. This section shall not apply to
any recipient's child earlier than 12 months after the mailing of an
informational notice as required by this subdivision.
(g) (1) The department shall seek all appropriate federal waivers
for the implementation of this section.
(2) The department shall implement this section commencing on the
date the Director of Social Services executes a declaration, that
shall be retained by the director, stating that the administrative
actions required by paragraph (1) as a condition of implementation of
this section have been taken by the United States Secretary of
Health and Human Services.
(h) Subdivisions (a) to (g), inclusive, shall become operative on
January 1, 1995.
SEC. 4. No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code shall be made for the purposes of this act.
SEC. 5. 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.