Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee Statement to Assembly, No. 3905 (May 7, 2020)

Summary

An Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee statement to Assembly, No. 3905, State of New Jersey, dated May 7, 2020, reporting the bill favorably with committee amendments. The bill revises Work First New Jersey cash assistance: it expands the earned income disregard, broadens eligibility to "eligible immigrants," reduces the work activity requirement from 40 to 30 hours per week, and limits sanctions to the noncompliant adult's pro-rata share. It ties TANF benefit increases to the federal poverty level and provides presumptive eligibility during the COVID-19 emergency, with those months not counting against the 60-month lifetime cap. As amended, the bill appropriates $17 million, reduced from $25 million, and is identical to Senate Bill No. 2329.

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ASSEMBLY COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY,
No. 3905

with
committee amendments

STATE
OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MAY 7,
2020

The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development
Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No.
3905.

As amended by the committee, this bill would revise
the requirements for cash assistance benefits under the Work First New Jersey
(WFNJ) program.

Specifically, the bill provides that an individual who
is otherwise eligible for general assistance benefits under WFNJ will not be
deemed ineligible for public assistance solely on the grounds that the
individual is enrolled in an institution of higher education.

The bill will allow recipients engaging in alternative
work experience to engage in unpaid work and training with either a for-profit
or nonprofit employer; current law only allows placement with nonprofit or
charitable employer. An assignment to a for-profit employer may not exceed six
months, and will be conditioned on the assignment likely leading to full-time
employment with the employer. The bill limits the amount of time a recipient
may be assigned to alternative work experience with any employer to no more
than six months in a 12-month period. The bill similarly limits the amount of
time a recipient may be assigned to community work experience to no more than
six months in a 12-month period.

The bill adds language clarifying that, when determining
whether good cause exists to excuse noncompliance with program requirements,
good cause is to be considered broadly in consideration of the recipient’s
health, safety, family needs, financial considerations, and other factors as
determined by the commissioner.

The bill will expand the earned income disregard for
the purposes of the program. Current law provides that, for recipients
employed 20 or more hours a week, and certain recipients with a disability who
are unable to work more than 20 hours per week, 100 percent of earned income is
disregarded for the first month in which it would be counted as earned income;
the disregard drops to 75 percent for the next six consecutive months after
that, and to 50 percent for each consecutive month of employment after that.
In the case of recipients working less than 20 hours per month, the disregard
is 100 percent for the first full month of employment and 50 percent for each
continuous month of employment after that.

The amended bill revises the earned income disregard
to allow a 100 percent disregard for the first two full months of employment in
which the earned income would be counted. The disregard would then drop to 75
percent for six cumulative months of employment, and to 50 percent for each month
of employment thereafter. If a recipient loses employment then becomes
reemployed, the two months of 100 percent income disregard and the six months
of 75 percent income may be reapplied no more than once every 12-months;
otherwise, the 50 percent income disregard will apply.

The bill revises the eligibility criteria for aliens,
which currently makes various distinctions on who is eligible based on the
individual’s date of entry into the United States, country of origin, length of
time in the United States, whether the individual is a veteran, whether the
individuals is a victims of domestic violence, and whether the individual has
satisfied certain work requirements, among other factors, to revise the term to
refer to “eligible immigrants” and provide that the term applies to all
immigrants who otherwise meet program requirements and are lawfully present in
the United States. The term will include individuals who are “qualified aliens”
or “lawfully present” for the purposes of federal law, individuals granted
relief from federal immigration laws under the federal Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals program, and any other non-citizen or non-national of the
United States who is otherwise authorized to live in the United States.

The bill revises the requirements to provide
additional supportive services to program recipients. Current law provides
that assistance may be provided as a last resort when no other source of
support is available. The bill would revise this standard to allow for the
provision of additional services in appropriate circumstances, as determined by
the commissioner.

Currently, additional assistance is limited to child
care services, transportation assistance, an allowance for work-related
expenses, and extended Medicaid eligibility. The bill provides that recipients
receiving parenting support services are to be provided with educational
materials, referrals, and other support to identify, access, and enroll in
quality child care services for their dependent children.

The bill requires that, when a recipient has reached
24 months of benefits, welfare agencies are to offer additional case management
and supportive services to the recipient, based on an assessment of the
barriers to the recipient securing employment.

The bill establishes a new joint reporting requirement
for the Commissioner of Human Services and the Commissioner of Labor and
Workforce Development concerning various aspects of the program. The
Commissioner of Human Services will be required to make changes to the program
based on the data gathered in order to improve the performance of the program.

The amended bill requires, commencing September 1,
2020 through July 1, 2022, the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF)
benefit amount to be annually increased by any increase in the consumer price
index plus an amount equal to 33.3 percent of the difference between the
benefit amount in effect as of the effective date of the bill and 50 percent of
the federal poverty level in effect as of the effective date of the bill.
During this period, general assistance benefits will be annually increased by a
percentage amount equal to the percentage increase in TANF benefits for that
year. Commencing July 1, 2023, the TANF benefit amount is to be annually
increased by any amount necessary to make the benefit amount equivalent to at
least 50 percent of the federal poverty level in effect on that July 1, and the
general assistance benefit is to be increased by any increase in the consumer
price index.

In addition, commencing July 1, 2023, the commissioner
is to conduct an annual assessment of the real cost of living and actual
deprivation as reflected in the current standard of need established pursuant
to section 9 of P.L.1997, c.13 (C.44:10-42); the commissioner will be required
to transmit this assessment to the Legislature for consideration when deciding
on appropriations to fund cash assistance benefits. In no case may benefit
amounts be reduced.

The bill provides that the full amount of child
support provided to the assistance unit for which federal reimbursement is
waived is to pass through to the unit. Child support that passes through to
the unit will not count as income.

The bill revises language setting forth the general
purposes and goals of the WFNJ program to provide that the purpose of the
program is to provide recipients with the opportunities, training, and work
skills needed to help elevate them out of poverty. The bill removes certain
language concerning how the program interacts with young parents and how the
system can be disruptive to the family structure, as well as language stating
that the program is consistent with federal law by including a time limit on
benefits, work requirements, enhanced measures to determine paternity, enhanced
child support collection, sanctions for noncompliance with program
requirements, incentives for teenage parents to complete school, and
restrictions on eligibility for aliens. The bill additionally removes language
providing that WFNJ benefits will only be available when other forms of support
and maintenance are unavailable.

The bill expands the work requirements under the
program to promote the use of educational, training, work-study, internship,
and other opportunities that will lead to the recipient’s removal from, and
sustainable avoidance of, poverty. Recipients will be permitted to forgo work
opportunities for good cause or for other opportunities that will better enable
the recipient to emerge from, and sustainable avoid, poverty. The bill
requires that good cause be considered broadly in consideration of the
recipient’s health, safety, family needs, financial considerations, and other
factors determined by the commissioner. The bill removes a requirement that
recipients continuously and actively seek employment.

The bill reduces the hourly requirement for work
activity from 40 hours per week to 30 hours per week, and provides that the
maximum aggregate requirement is 20 hours per week for assistance units with a
child under six years of age. Current law provides for a deferral from the
work activity requirement for parents and relatives caring for a child under 12
weeks of age; the bill extends this deferral to apply to parents and relatives
caring for a child under one year of age.

The amended bill adds a provision to the section of
law concerning the sanctions that may be imposed for noncompliance with program
requirements to specify that any sanctions imposed are to be applied only to
the pro-rata share of an adult recipient who is noncompliant, and will not
apply to any other adult or child members of the assistance unit who are
compliant with program requirements, which members will continue to be eligible
for their full pro-rata share of cash assistance benefits. If the cases of all
the adult members of the assistance unit are closed for noncompliance, the
dependent child members will still receive their pro-rata share of assistance
benefits as a dependent child-only unit.

Ordinarily, recipients are allowed a lifetime total of
60 months of benefits; however, current law provides for an extension in
certain cases, including up to 12 additional months of benefits in cases where:
a recipient would be subject to extreme hardship in the absence of WFNJ
assistance; the recipient is engaged in full-time employment but remains
eligible for benefits based on income disregards; the recipient has not had an
opportunity to engage in work activities; or the recipient was engaged in
full-time employment and was income-ineligible, but the recipient was terminated
from employment through no fault of the recipient. The bill revises the
exceptions involving employment to provide that they will apply to any form of
employment, not just full-time employment. The bill further provides that an
exception will be provided for any parent of a minor child who was in
compliance with program requirements for the six months of enrollment
immediately preceding the date the recipient reached the 60-month limit.

The bill provides that WFNJ benefits received while
the individual is under 18 years of age will not count against the 60-month
lifetime limit on benefits. The bill further provides that, in the event any
adult in an assistance unit loses eligibility on the grounds that the
individual reached the 60-month cap, that loss of eligibility will not affect
the eligibility of any other recipient in the assistance unit, including, but
not limited to, a minor child who is receiving assistance.

The bill provides that organizations that receive
State or local economic incentives will be required to partner with local
community organizations to provide work activity opportunities and other
appropriate services to WFNJ recipients, including training, work-study
opportunities, internships, and job retention and advancement services.

The bill removes outdated language in the definition
of “dependent child” that required a child in school or vocational training to
reasonably be expected to complete the school or training.

The bill provides that, for the duration of the state
of emergency or public health emergency declared in response to the coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, whichever is longer, an applicant who appears
to be eligible for benefits under WFNJ based on the applicant’s certification
of income, resources, and family composition, and based on other information
immediately available to the agency at the time of application, will be deemed
presumptively eligible for WFNJ assistance and immediate need assistance. Additionally,
any months in which a recipient is unable to comply with work activity
requirements because of the COVID-19 state of emergency or public health
emergency will not count against the 60-month lifetime cap on benefits.

The bill repeals section 3 of P.L.1997, c.14
(C.44:10-46), which concerned benefits for recipients in the State less than 12
months, and which was invalidated by court ruling and currently has no force or
effect.

As amended, the bill appropriates $17 million from the
General fund to the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human
Services for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the bill.

As amended, the bill will take effect July 1, 2020,
but with the exception of the provisions of the bill concerning presumptive
eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, the repeal of C.44:10-46, the $25
million appropriation, and the increase in benefits amounts that takes effect
September 1, 2020, the provisions of the bill will remain inoperative until
January 1, 2021, to allow the Department of Human Services adequate time to
make the administrative, systemic, and organizational changes that will be
necessary to implement the bill. The section concerning presumptive
eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic will take effect immediately.

As reported by the committee with amendments, Assembly
Bill No. 3905 is identical to Senate Bill No. 2329, which the committee also
reported on this date with amendments.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS :

The committee amendments revise the law concerning the
income disregards that are available to recipients who are employed, to include
language partially codifying a regulation that provides that the higher levels
of income disregard may be reapplied to a recipient who loses employment and is
subsequently reemployed.

The committee amendments revise the increases in
benefits amounts that would have taken effect July 1, 2020 to provide that they
will instead take effect September 1, 2020.

The committee amendments add a provision to the
sections concerning the sanctions that may be imposed for noncompliance with
program requirements, to specify that the sanctions only apply to the pro-rata
share of an adult member of the assistance unit who is noncompliant; the other
adult and child members of the assistance unit will continue to receive their
full pro-rata share of the total household benefit amount. The amendments
further specify that, if the cases of all the adult members of the assistance
unit are closed for noncompliance, the dependent child members will still
receive their pro-rata share of assistance benefits as a dependent child-only
unit.

The committee amendments reduce the appropriation
under the bill from $25 million to $17 million.

The committee amendments revise the effective date of
the bill to provide that the bill will take effect July 1, 2020, but that, with
certain exceptions, it will remain inoperative until January 1, 2021. The
revised effective date does not affect the section of the bill providing for
presumptive eligibility for benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, which
section will take effect immediately.

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