California has long had one of the lowest Food Stamp participation rates in the country. The most recent estimate is that nearly $3 billion is not provided to California families and individuals that they are eligible to receive. The state has no one to blame but themselves by enacting a series of short-sighted measure aimed at reducing fraud but which in reality are far more effective in reducing participation. This overzealous anti-fraud attitude has led us to enact finger-imaging, require families to report income every three months, deny assistance to persons with drug felony convictions and cut Food Stamp benefits if a person is violating another program rules. But perhaps things are about to change.
In recent weeks the Legislature has passed several bills that would improve California's participation rate and the budget committees have acted to rein in the state's inefficient and duplicative finger imaging system. One of the bills has already been included in the Governor's May budget and another bill passed the Assembly 62-1. If all are approved it would make 2010 a watershed year for the Food Stamp program and perhaps open the door to even more changes in the future. WCLP is sponsor or co-sponsor of all the following bills:
SB 1322 (Liu) allows participants required to meet Food Stamp work requirements through a self-initiated employment program with a volunteer or government agency. It also limits sanctions to Food Stamp benefits arising from a violation in another program. This bill passed off the Senate floor with zero "No" votes.
AB 1756 (Swanson) allows all persons with drug felony convictions to receive Food Stamps if eligible. While Republicans continue to oppose the measure, the need to reduce recidivism in the state prison's may finally push the Administration to finish to work they started in 2004 in AB 1796 (Leno).
AB 963 (Ammiano) establishes a stakeholder committee to report to the legislature new forms, proceedures and policies required to align Medi-Cal and Food Stamp reporting and recertification processes.
AB 1914 (Davis) requires Food Stamp worker to secure, via electronic interface, confirmation of the date and amount of Unemployment Insurance Benefits prior to including them in eligility calculations and requires a copy to be provided to the client.
AB 2018 (Skinner) allows a family or individual to retain their Food Stamps when they move from one county to another without having to re-apply or have a lapse in their benefits. It is modeled on the same transfer mechanism already used for CalWORKs and MediCal.The bill passed the Assembly 62-1 and was included by the Governor in the May Revise.
Both Budget committes eliminated all funding for the state's finger-imaging system that is used for CalWORKs, Food Stamps and General Assistance. The program has been negatively critiqued by the State Auditor among others for finding almost no duplicate aid fraud. It has also been under attack from federal regulators at USDA who contend that finger-imaging acts as a barrier to participation. The Budget Committees stripped the funding out last year also but it was restored under pressure from District Attorneys and the Governor's office. Senator Mark Leno has made ending finger-imaging an annual crusade that hopefully will lead to the end of the program soon.
Even if all these succeed this year there is still much work to be done to improve the system. AB 1642 (Beall) which would move California from quarterly to semi-annual reporting was held in Assembly Appropriations due to cost pressures and California has failed to adopt other federal options at its disposal. But for 2010 there is a real opportunity to make inroads and build towards stronger Food Stamp participation in the future.