"The Legislature's Welfare Plan"
July 10, 1997
Welfare Reform: Legislature/Governor's Plans Compared
The governor vetoed the first bill to reach his desk that come
from the welfare conference committee. This post provides some
information on the differences between the Legislature's plan and
the governor's plan. It also examines what the governor and
opponents say about the Legislature's plan.
After you read and compare, we hope you will let the governor,
your legislators, and your local media know what you think. If
you need any assistance identifying your legislators or your
local media, please call the Health and Human Services Committee,
(916) 445-5965 or e-mail Welfare.reform@sen.ca.gov Thank you.
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1) Who should be exempt from work requirements?
The FEDERAL LAW requires 25 percent of recipients to meet work
requirements the first year. The LEGISLATURE's plan requires
many more recipients to work from day one on aid. The
Legislature sets realistic priorities for scarce training
dollars. A 55-year old grandparent caring for a child who would
otherwise be in foster care is exempted from work requirements; a
woman in the last trimester of pregnancy is temporarily deferred.
Also, the Legislature exempts from work requirements a parent of
a seven-year old child who has no child care during the summer.
The GOVERNOR's plan does not make these exemptions.
2) What are appropriate work requirements?
The LEGISLATURE adopted the federal 60 month time limit and a two
year work requirement. After two years, every able-bodied
individual must go to work. The Legislature's plan adopts, as a
minimum, the federal requirements for the weekly hours of work
participation, and in many cases requires recipients to work more
than does the federal law. Under the Legislature's plan, when a
recipient is placed in a community service job, he or she will be
paid the same as persons working next to them with the same skill
level, and never less than the minimum wage. In the GOVERNOR's
plan, recipients would be paid less than the minimum wage for
community jobs, thus possibly displacing current workers.
The LEGISLATURE's plan demands work experience from day one,
including up to three months of job search immediately followed
by continuous work activity of up to 32 hours per week for single
parents and 35 hours per week for those in two-parent families.
3) Does the Legislature's plan create jobs?
Everyone agrees that California needs jobs for current
recipients. The LEGISLATURE has a strategy: a Job Creation
Investment Fund, $25 million to counties to develop new jobs to
create work opportunities for welfare clients. Private and
public sectors must collaborate to design local versions of
neighborhood development corporations, microenterprise and small-
business incubators, intermediary employers, and computerized job
banks. The GOVERNOR proposes a corporate tax cut, tort reform,
and making welfare recipients ineligible for unemployment
insurance and worker's comp.
4) Would more grant cuts stimulate recipients to work?
The GOVERNOR proposes yet another grant cut, this time for anyone
on aid more than six months. Yet, in the preliminary evaluation
of the governor's "Work Pays Demonstration Project," there is no
evidence that grant cuts result in more people finding jobs. A
robust economy and GAIN services move people into work. Grant
cuts result in young children eating less. The LEGISLATURE's
plan leaves grant levels at their current historic lows.
5) How do the plans treat child care?
The vetoed proposal gives parents their choice of child care
arrangements, and it broadens parents' choices by eliminating the
bureaucratic hurdles parents currently face when arranging for
child care payments with counties. At the same time, the
LEGISLATURE's plan imposes no new requirements on parents,
providers, or counties.
The Legislature's plan establishes a seamless system of child
care so that children have the option of high-quality programs
and parents do not lose their eligibility for care when they
leave aid for low-wage employment. The GOVERNOR's plan maintains
much of the status quo, with families facing bureaucratic hurdles
when they begin receiving paychecks and when they move off aid.
6) Should mothers of infants be temporarily exempt from work?
The GOVERNOR proposes that single mothers on aid report for work
activities as soon as their babies are 12 weeks of age. The
LEGISLATURE's plan allows mothers to postpone work requirements
for a longer period, although the 60-month time limit on aid
continues to apply during this period. The Legislature's plan
responds to the high cost of infant child care, its limited
availability, and the fact that most mothers of children under
the age of one year are not in the work force.
7) Are there budget savings in the Legislature's plan?
The non-partisan Legislative Analyst projects that the
LEGISLATURE's plan will save more than $1 billion annually, by
its fifth year. It saves some money the first year There are no
new costs that would require taxes or other program cuts. The
Legislature's plan protects legal immigrants and counties, who
otherwise would be left holding the bag for Congress.
8) Does the Legislature's plan make more people eligible for aid?
Currently, a person with a car worth more than $1,500 is
ineligible for aid. Counties asked the Legislature to relieve
them of the task of determining the precise value of a
recipient's car so that county workers could spend more time
helping people find jobs. The Legislature acted to make welfare
rules the same as Food Stamp rules. Raising the asset limit
allows recipients to keep a reliable car in order to commute to
work rather than having to sell the car.
9) Will counties make energetic efforts to move people off aid:
The LEGISLATURE's package allows counties to share in future
savings, and it rejects the governor's proposal to impose on
counties 100 percent of federal penalties if we miss our targets.
10) What's the best way to establish paternity?
The GOVERNOR's plan denies assistance to a parent until paternity
is established even when the failure to establish paternity is
caused by delays in the courts, overloaded district attorneys, or
evasive noncustodial parents. The LEGISLATURE's plan does not
deny eligibility to mothers who do not have paternity orders when
it is not their fault. The Legislature's plan requires all
applicants and recipients to cooperate in establishing the
paternity of their children. If they fail to do so their grant
is reduced by 25 percent.
11) What about welfare fraud?
The LEGISLATURE's plan rolls funds for fraud investigation into a
single county block grant. County boards of supervisors are free
to decide how much to spend on welfare fraud investigation. The
counties support this proposal.
The Legislature's plan also increases the penalties for welfare
fraud. Those recipients who lie about their residence or facts
concerning their children are ineligible for aid for ten years.
12) How does the Legislature prevent truancy?
The LEGISLATURE funds school attendance review boards and
district attorneys in every county to handle all truancy cases
regardless of whether a parent receives welfare.
13) Are children immunized?
The LEGISLATURE's plan requires all new applicants and all
recipients to show proof of immunization within six months. The
welfare departments will help recipients get the appropriate
immunizations. The adult's share of the grant is deducted if all
of the children do not have age-appropriate immunizations.
14) Will fleeing felons and drug felons qualify for welfare?
The LEGISLATURE's plan includes the federal law denying benefits
to drug felons. Federal law precludes felons fleeing prosecution
and violators of probation or parole from receiving benefits and
the Legislature took no action to the contrary. Fleeing felons
remain ineligible.
15) Are legal immigrants given any assistance?
The LEGISLATURE's plan provides food stamps for legal immigrants.
Most of those who qualify will be aged.
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E-mail questions to Welfare.reform@sen.ca.gov
Thank you for taking the time to contact the governor, your
legislators, editorial boards, and other local media.
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