Summary
(1) Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, 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. This bill would require, beginning January 1, 2027, a county welfare department, for each person receiving CalFresh benefits, to determine whether that person is eligible for specified refundable tax credits. The bill would require the county welfare department to serve as the primary agency responsible for calculating and distributing the value of those credits to recipients in the form of a Fresh Start Grants, as provided, and would require the county welfare department, where a recipient is overpaid due to administrative error, to notify the individual and deduct the overpaid amount from future grants. The bill would also require county welfare departments to evaluate recipients of other specified programs for eligibility for Fresh Start Grants without duplicative documentation. The bill would establish the continuously appropriated Fresh Start Grants Fund in the State Treasury to provide these increased benefits. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, no later than June 30, 2026, and annually thereafter, to estimate the amount of credits to be issued pursuant to specified law for the subsequent taxable year, and request that the Controller transfer that amount from the Tax Relief and Refund Account to the Fresh Start Grants Fund, for allocation to county welfare departments to administer the Fresh Start Grants. By creating a new continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. By expanding the duties of county welfare departments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to provide relevant information relating to the issuance of Fresh Start Grants to the Franchise Tax Board and county welfare departments, including the value of grants issued and the data necessary to ensure accurate distribution and tracking, as provided. The bill would also require the Franchise Tax Board to share any information with the State Department of Social Services and county welfare departments necessary to calculate the specified tax credits. The bill would make information shared by the Franchise Tax Board subject to specified law limiting the sharing and use of taxpayer information, the violation of which is a crime. By expanding the operation of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to commission an independent study of the Fresh Start Grants Program in collaboration with the Franchise Tax Board and county welfare departments, as provided. (2) Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) , grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information that is collected or sold by a business. The CCPA defines various terms for these purposes. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) , approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA and establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency (agency) and vests the agency with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to enforce the CCPA. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, county welfare departments, and all entities administering the Fresh Start Grants Program to implement data safeguards, as specified, and would require the California Privacy Protection Agency to monitor compliance with data security protocols, as specified. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including, in modified conformity with federal income tax law, an earned income tax credit, and authorizes a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, a continuously appropriated fund, for allowable credits in excess of tax liability to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law, as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. The Personal Income Tax Law also allows a refundable young child tax credit against the taxes imposed under that law for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, and a refundable foster youth tax credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, to a qualified taxpayer in a specified amount multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as provided. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, would reduce the amount allowed as an earned income tax credit, a young child tax credit, or a foster youth tax credit by the amount received as a Fresh Start Grant. (4) This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. (5) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
