AB 2297: CalWORKs and CalFresh: Hunger Impact Act of 2018.

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 block grant program, state, and county funds. Existing law specifies the amounts of cash aid to be paid each month to CalWORKs recipients, including an allowance for recurring special needs, which includes, but is not limited to, special diets, among other things, and is prohibited from exceeding $10 per month for each eligible recipient.

This bill, the Hunger Impact Act of 2018, would change that monthly maximum amount for recurring special needs to $15, and would instead require that there be a special diet or food preparation allowance paid each month in the amount of $15 or actual expenses, whichever is greater, to a recipient who has a verified special diet or food preparation need, as specified. month. The bill would, when requested by the recipient that the allowance be used for expenses related to a special diet, require that the allowance be provided in the form of a supplemental food benefit upon verification, as specified. The bill would also prohibit the special diet or food preparation needs allowance from being considered income for the purposes of determining eligibility or amount of aid for any state or local means-tested public benefit program.

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, until July 1, 2020, requires the State Department of Social Services to create the Safe Drinking Water Supplemental Benefit Pilot Program to provide time-limited additional CalFresh nutrition benefits to residents of prioritized disadvantaged communities that are served by public water systems that consistently fail to meet primary drinking water standards.

This bill would establish the CalFresh Hunger Impact Program (CalHIP), a 100% state-funded program under which each county shall provide a $28 per month additional CalFresh benefit for each CalFresh household. By increasing the administrative duties of counties administering the CalWORKs and CalFresh programs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to implement this act by all-county letters or similar instructions beginning no later than October 1, 2019, until regulations are adopted on or before October 1, 2021.

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.

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.