AB1324 - CalWORKs.

Enrolled September 15, 2025 Passed IN Senate September 10, 2025 Passed IN Assembly September 11, 2025 Amended IN Senate September 05, 2025 Amended IN Senate August 29, 2025 Amended IN Assembly April 24, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1324 Introduced by Assembly Members Sharp-Collins and Lee (Coauthor: Assembly Member Ransom) February 21, 2025 An act to amend Sections 11322.6 and 11322.64 of, to amend and add Sections 11201 and 11250.4 of, and to add and repeal Section 11267 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1324, Sharp-Collins. CalWORKs. Existing federal law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, replaced the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program. Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal TANF block grant program to eligible states. Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law requires aid to be granted to a family with a related child under 18 years of age who has been deprived of parental support or care due to the unemployment, continued absence, death, incapacity, or incarceration of a parent. Existing law considers a child to be deprived of parental support or care due to unemployment of the child’s parent or parents when the parent has worked less than 100 hours in the preceding 4 weeks and meets specified requirements related to the federal AFDC program. This bill would, operative on July 1, 2026, or on a later date as specified, for purposes of determining a child’s deprivation of parental support or care due to the unemployment of their parent, delete the requirements that a parent work less than 100 hours in the preceding 4 weeks and meet the federal AFDC program requirements. The bill would instead disregard the number of hours that the child’s parent works, provided the family does not exceed the applicable gross or net income limits and is otherwise eligible for assistance. To the extent that the bill would expand eligibility for the CalWORKs program, thereby imposing a higher level of service on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law prohibits the payment of CalWORKs aid to an assistance unit if a caretaker relative is, on the last day of the month, participating in a strike, unless the strike is necessitated by an imminent health and safety hazard or abnormally dangerous working conditions at the place of employment, or a lockout. Under existing law, if an individual other than a caretaker relative is participating in a strike, subject to the exceptions and their limitations, that individual’s needs are not included in determining the amount of aid payable to the assistance unit for the month. This bill would, operative on July 1, 2026, or on a later date as specified, instead require the payment of CalWORKs aid to an assistance unit if a parent or caretaker relative is participating in a strike or lockout, to the extent permitted by federal law. In the case of participation in a strike by a parent, caretaker relative, or other individual, the bill would instead require that the person’s needs be included in determining the amount, to the extent permitted by federal law. To the extent that the bill would expand eligibility for the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to conduct a CalWORKs expansion feasibility study, to include recommendations within the report, and to submit the report to legislative human services committees on or before January 1, 2028. Under the CalWORKs program, certain recipients are required to participate in welfare-to-work activities, which may include, among others, unsubsidized employment, subsidized private or public sector employment, and self-employment. Existing law, operative on July 1, 2026, or on a later date as specified, does not expressly include self-employment within the list of work activities under those provisions. This bill would specify self-employment within the above-described list of work activities. To the extent that this would expand CalWORKs eligibility or increase the duties of counties in the administration of the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to develop an allocation methodology to distribute additional funding for expanded subsidized employment programs for CalWORKs recipients. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to determine the amount or proportion of funding allocated that may be utilized for operational costs, as specified. This bill would also include feedback from representatives from labor unions and public benefit advocates for purposes of the above-described determination. Existing law requires a county that accepts funding from this allocation to, among other things, submit to the department a plan regarding how it intends to utilize the allocated funding and to prioritize subsidized employment placements that offer opportunities for participants to obtain skills and experiences in their fields of interest. This bill would require a participating county to include in its plan, with regard to prioritized subsidized employment, placements with employers that have a joint labor-management letter of support, a signed community benefits agreement, a project labor agreement, or a labor peace agreement. The bill would require the plan to include how the county intends to prevent subsidized employment placements that supplant work that a public employee would have otherwise been hired to do, and to prevent placement with employers that have a history of a bad safety record, or resolved or pending litigation, violations, citations, fines, or penalties relating to any state or federal environmental or labor laws within the last 10 years. 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 above provisions. 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. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 11201 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read: 11201. For the purposes of this chapter, the following shall apply: (a) “Unemployed parent” means a natural or adoptive parent with whom the child is living. (b) A child for whom a parent is applying for assistance under this chapter shall be considered to be deprived of parental support or care due to the unemployment of their parent or parents when the parent has worked less than 100 hours in the preceding four weeks and meets the requirements concerning an unemployed parent in effect on August 21, 1996, as set forth in Section 233.100 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations except for the provisions of subparagraph (i) to (v), inclusive, of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of that section. (c) A family receiving aid under this chapter with a child who is considered to be deprived of parental support or care due to unemployment may continue to receive assistance regardless of the number of hours their parent works provided the family does not exceed the applicable gross or net income limits and is otherwise eligible for assistance. (d) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2026, or the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement Section 11201, as added by the act that added this subdivision, whichever date is later. SEC. 2. Section 11201 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: 11201. For the purposes of this chapter, the following shall apply: (a) “Unemployed parent” means a natural or adoptive parent with whom the child is living. (b) A child for whom a parent is applying for assistance under this chapter shall be considered to be deprived of parental support or care due to the unemployment of their parent or parents regardless of the number of hours that the child’s parent works, provided the family does not exceed the applicable gross or net income limits and is otherwise eligible for assistance. (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2026, or the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement this section, whichever date is later. SEC. 3. Section 11250.4 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read: 11250.4. (a) Aid under this chapter shall not be payable to an assistance unit if a caretaker relative is, on the last day of the month, participating in a strike, unless the strike is necessitated by an imminent health and safety hazard or abnormally dangerous working conditions at the place of employment as determined by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or a lockout as defined in Section 1132.8 of the Labor Code. For the purposes of this section, a strike necessitated by an imminent health and safety hazard or abnormally dangerous working condition shall last only so long as necessitated by the imminent hazard or abnormally dangerous working condition. If an individual other than a caretaker relative is participating in a strike, as defined in this section, on the last day of the month, subject to the exceptions and their limitations set forth in this section, that individual’s needs shall not be included in determining the amount of aid payable to the assistance unit for the month during which the individual is participating in the strike on the last day of that month. (b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2026, or the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement Section 11250.4, as added by the act that added this subdivision, whichever date is later. SEC. 4. Section 11250.4 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: 11250.4. (a) To the extent permitted by federal law, aid under this chapter shall be payable to an assistance unit if a parent or caretaker relative is, on the last day of the month, participating in a strike, or a lockout as defined in Section 1132.8 of the Labor Code. (b) To the extent permitted by federal law, if a parent, caretaker relative, or an individual other than a parent or caretaker relative, is participating in a strike on the last day of the month, that person’s needs shall be included in determining the amount of aid payable to the assistance unit for the month during which the person is participating in the strike on the last day of that month. (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2026, or the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement this section, whichever date is later. SEC. 5. Section 11267 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: 11267. (a) The State Department of Social Services shall conduct a CalWORKs expansion feasibility study, including estimated costs and identified necessary statutory changes for expansion. The department shall consult with the County Welfare Directors Association of California as needed. The department shall include recommendations within the report of the study and shall submit the report to the Assembly Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committee on Human Services on or before January 1, 2028. (b) A report to be submitted to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code. (c) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section shall remain in effect until January 1, 2031, and as of that date is repealed. SEC. 6. Section 11322.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as added by Section 11 of Chapter 79 of the Statutes of 2025, is amended to read: 11322.6. (a) The welfare-to-work plan developed pursuant to this article shall provide for welfare-to-work activities. Welfare-to-work activities may include, but are not limited to, any of the following: (1) Educational activities, which may include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (A) Postsecondary education leading to a degree or certificate, which may be attended in person or online. (B) Obtaining a high school diploma. (C) Technical training and vocational education and training, including, but not limited to, college and community college education, adult education, regional occupational centers, and regional occupational programs. (D) Career-specific education. (E) Job skills training. (F) Adult basic education, which shall include reading, writing, arithmetic, high school proficiency, or a general educational development certificate of instruction, and English as a second language. Participants under this subparagraph shall be referred to appropriate service providers that include, but are not limited to, educational programs operated by school districts or county offices of education that have contracted with the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide services to participants pursuant to Section 33117.5 of the Education Code. (2) Work activities, which may include, but are not limited to, those set forth in Section 261.30 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and any of the following: (A) Unsubsidized employment. (B) Subsidized private or public sector employment. (C) Work experience, which means public or private sector work that shall help provide basic job skills, enhance existing job skills in a position related to the participant’s experience, or provide a needed community service that will lead to employment. Unpaid work experience shall be limited to 12 months, unless the county welfare department and the recipient agree to extend this period by an amendment to the welfare-to-work plan. Th [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]