SENATE BILL REPORT

                                    HB 2350

            AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES,

                               FEBRUARY 20, 1992

Brief Description:  Making changes regarding the coordination of general assistance programs.

SPONSORS: Representatives Leonard and Winsley; by request of Dept. of Social and Health Services

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES

SENATE COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES

Majority Report:  Do pass. 

      Signed by Senators Roach, Chairman; L. Smith, Vice Chairman; and Stratton.

Staff:  Joanne Conrad (786‑7472)

Hearing Dates: February 20, 1992

BACKGROUND:

Applicants for federal supplemental security income benefits may also qualify for interim general assistance from the state, based upon incapacity for gainful employment.  Occasionally, assistance from these federal and state sources may overlap, creating duplication of benefits.  The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) has, at times, encountered difficulty in recouping the amount of such duplicate assistance.

Resource eligibility for purposes of qualifying for assistance under supplemental security income and general assistance-unemployable (GA-U), and aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) is inconsistent, sometimes creating anomalous results among otherwise similar cases.

Federal and state laws differ, for purposes of administering AFDC funds, in their designations of what constitutes residence with a "relative of specified degree" for a dependent child in need.  Federal law is less restrictive in its qualifying definitions.

SUMMARY:

Recovery of interim assistance duplicate payments is enhanced by treating such payment as a debt due the state and subject to available legal remedies.

Resource eligibility is based upon resource limitations consistent with federal AFDC program rules, as adopted by the department. 

The definition of "relative of specified degree," for purposes of determining a child's residence in AFDC benefit decisions, conforms to the definition set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations.

An obsolete waiver provision is repealed.

Appropriation:  none

Revenue:  none

Fiscal Note:  available

TESTIMONY FOR:  None

TESTIMONY AGAINST:  None

TESTIFIED:  No one