California Assembly Bill AB1790 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1790AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Weber FEBRUARY 4, 2016 An act to add Section 11322.81 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to CalWORKs. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1790, as amended, Weber. CalWORKs: welfare-to-work. Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds. Existing law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility. Existing law limits the time period in which a participant may engage in certain state-authorized work activities, in satisfaction of welfare-to-work requirements, to 24 cumulative months during a participant's lifetime, and requires the participant to engage in federally defined work activities after that period expires. Existing law requires that necessary supportive services be available to every participant in order to participate in the program activity to which he or she is assigned. This bill would require an adult recipient who meets  minimum federal   the federally required minimum average number or hours per week of  welfare-to-work participation  requirements  to be deemed to be in compliance with  CalWORKs   '  welfare-to-work hours requirements, as specified. The bill would require the county to arrange for the provision of necessary supportive services for these recipients, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt these adults from sanctions for failure or refusal to comply with welfare-to-work program requirements. The bill would direct the department to issue an all-county letter or similar instruction on or before January 1, 2018. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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. Section 11322.81 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: 11322.81.  (a)    Notwithstanding any other law, an adult recipient who meets the  federally required  minimum  federal   average number of hours per week of  welfare-to-work participation  requirements   as  set forth in Section 607 of Title 42 of the United States  Code,   Code  shall be deemed to be in compliance with Section 11322.8.  Necessary   (b)     Necessary  supportive services shall be provided to recipients described in this section in accordance with Sections 11323.2 and 11323.4.  Recipients   (c)     Recipients  described in this section shall not be subject to sanctions for failure or refusal to comply with program requirements under Section 11327.4.  (d) This section does not entitle a person to a corrective payment issued pursuant to subdivision (k) of Section 11004 for any month before January 1, 2017.  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 shall implement this act through an all-county letter or similar instruction from the director. The all-county letter or similar instruction shall be issued no later than January 1, 2018. SEC. 3. No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of implementing this act. SEC. 4. 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.