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AB-1520 Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 10/02/2017 09:00 PM
AB1520:v90#DOCUMENT

Assembly Bill No. 1520
CHAPTER 415

An act to add and repeal Division 11 (commencing with Section 20050) of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to poverty.

[ Approved by Governor  October 02, 2017. Filed with Secretary of State  October 02, 2017. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1520, Burke. Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force.
Existing law establishes various programs that provide cash assistance and other benefits relating to health care, food, and housing, among other things, to qualified low-income families and individuals, including, among others, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, the California Earned Income Tax Credit, Medi-Cal, CalFresh, the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program), and the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program.
This bill would establish the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force, for the purpose of submitting a report to the Legislature and the executive branch administration of the state, as specified, that recommends future comprehensive strategies to achieve the reduction of deep poverty among children and reduce the overall child poverty rate in the state. The bill would require the report to be completed by November 1, 2018. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to invite and convene the task force and to assist the task force in carrying out its duties, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2020.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to address deep poverty among children and move toward reducing the overall child poverty rate in the state.
(b) In seeking to address deep child poverty and reduce overall child poverty, it is the intent of the Legislature to build on the substantial foundation and progress that has been made in helping low-income Californians and addressing child poverty in the state, such as increases to the minimum wage, the elimination of the maximum family grant rule in the CalWORKs program, housing and utility support programs, school nutrition programs, the local control funding formula for K–12 education, state programs under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, expansion of health care, investments in child development, the California Earned Income Tax Credit, and outreach and assistance with the federal earned income tax credit.
(c) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force produce a report that recommends future comprehensive strategies to achieve the reduction of deep poverty among children and reduce the overall child poverty rate in the state.

SEC. 2.

 Division 11 (commencing with Section 20050) is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

DIVISION 11. POVERTY REDUCTION

CHAPTER  1. General Provisions
Article  1. Title

20050.
 This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Act.

Article  2. Task Force

20055.
 (a) (1) The Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force is hereby established for the purpose of recommending future comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing deep child poverty and reducing child poverty in California.
(2) The task force shall be invited and convened by the State Department of Social Services. The task force shall consist of stakeholders that focus on family and child well-being, from birth to adulthood, in furtherance of the goals of reducing child poverty and alleviating family crises, including, but not limited to, representatives from among the state agencies responsible for health and human services, workforce, education, and housing programs, counties, justice agencies, state and local community organizations that work with and advocate for children and families, and researchers with subject-matter expertise.
(b) The State Department of Social Services shall assist the task force in carrying out its duties to the extent that funding is available. The department may use its existing resources to absorb its costs for implementing this division. Notwithstanding any other law, the department may accept and expend funds from nongovernment sources for its work with the task force.
(c) The task force shall submit a report to the executive branch administration and the Legislature. The report shall be completed by no later than November 1, 2018, and shall include the following:
(1) The success achieved over the eight-year period prior to completion of the report, for each program and service determined by the task force to be of the highest importance in reducing both childhood poverty and the number of children in deep poverty, and recommendations that may build on that success.
(2) An analysis of unmet needs among children in deep poverty and poverty, if any, for each of the programs and services determined by the task force to be of the highest importance in reducing childhood poverty.
(3) A specific set of near-term, intermediate term, and long-term benchmarks that can be used to measure the state’s progress toward the goal of addressing child poverty.
(4) The task force shall consider the needs and priorities for services, and make recommendations intended to address deep poverty among children and reduce the number of children living in poverty.
(d) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

20060.
 This division shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.