SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

(Economic Services Administration)

[Filed September 17, 2018, 3:16 p.m.]

Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 18-15-096.

Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: The department is proposing to amend WAC 388-418-0005 How will I know what changes to report?, 380-470-0005 How do resources affect my eligibility for cash assistance and basic food?, and 388-470-0070 How vehicles are counted toward the resource limit for cash assistance.

Hearing Location(s): On October 23, 2018, at 10:00 a.m., at Office Building 2, Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Headquarters, 1115 Washington, Olympia, WA 98504. Public parking at 11th and Jefferson. A map is available at https://www.dshs.wa.gov/sesa/rules-and-policies-assistance-unit/driving-directions-office-bldg-2.

Date of Intended Adoption: Not earlier than October 24, 2018.

Submit Written Comments to: DSHS Rules Coordinator, P.O. Box 45850, Olympia, WA 98504, email DSHSRPAURulesCoordinator@dshs.wa.gov, fax 360-664-6185, by 5:00 p.m., October 23, 2018.

Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Jeff Kildahl, DSHS rules consultant, phone 360-664-6092, fax 360-664-6185, TTY 711 relay service, email Kildaja@dshs.wa.gov, by October 9, 2018.

Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: The department is proposing to amend WAC 388-418-0005, 388-470-0005, and 388-470-0070 to increase the resource limits used to determine cash assistance eligibility to $6,000 and the vehicle equity limit to $10,000.

Reasons Supporting Proposal: The department must make this amendment to comply with legislation (ESSHB [E2SHB] 1831, chapter 40, Laws of 2018).

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.005, 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.08.090.

Statute Being Implemented: RCW 74.04.005.

Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.

Name of Proponent: DSHS, governmental.

Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting, Implementation, and Enforcement: Jared Beard, P.O. Box 45470, Olympia, WA 98504-5470, 360-725-4617.

A school district fiscal impact statement is not required under RCW 28A.305.135.

A cost-benefit analysis is not required under RCW 34.05.328. This amendment is exempt as allowed under RCW 34.05.328 (5)(b)(vii) which states in part, "[t]his section does not apply to … rules of the department of social and health services relating only to client medical or financial eligibility and rules concerning liability for care of dependents."

This rule proposal, or portions of the proposal, is exempt from requirements of the Regulatory Fairness Act because the proposal:

Is exempt under RCW 19.85.025(3) as the rule content is explicitly and specifically dictated by statute.

Katherine I. Vasquez

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 18-09-017, filed 4/10/18, effective 7/1/18)

WAC 388-418-0005How will I know what changes to report?

(1) You must report changes to the department based on the kinds of assistance you receive. We inform you of your reporting requirements on letters we send you about your benefits. Follow the steps below to determine the types of changes you must report:

(a) If you receive cash benefits, you need to tell us if:

(i) You move;

(ii) Someone moves out of your home;

(iii) Your total gross monthly income goes over the:

(A) Payment standard under WAC 388-478-0033 if you receive ABD cash; or

(B) Earned income limit under WAC 388-478-0035 and 388-450-0165 for all other programs;

(iv) You have liquid resources more than ((four))six thousand dollars; or

(v) You have a change in employment, you need to tell us if:

(A) You get a job or change employers;

(B) Your schedule changes from part-time to full-time or full-time to part-time;

(D) You stop working.

(b) If you are a relative or nonrelative caregiver and receive cash benefits on behalf of a child in your care but not for yourself or other adults in your household, you need to tell us if:

(i) You move;

(ii) The child you are caring for moves out of the home;

(iii) Anyone related to the child you are caring for moves into or out of the home;

(iv) There is a change in the recipient child's earned or unearned income unless they are in school full-time as described in WAC 388-450-0070;

(v) The recipient child has liquid resources more than ((four))six thousand dollars;

(vi) A recipient child in the home becomes a foster child; or

(vii) You legally adopt the recipient child.

(2) If you do not receive cash assistance but you do receive benefits from basic food, you must report changes for the people in your assistance unit under chapter 388-408 WAC, and tell us if:

(a) Your total monthly income is more than the maximum gross monthly income as described in WAC 388-478-0060; or

(b) Anyone who receives food benefits in your assistance unit and who must meet work requirements under WAC 388-444-0030 has their hours at work go below twenty hours per week.

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 18-02-043, filed 12/26/17, effective 1/26/18)

WAC 388-470-0005How do resources affect my eligibility for cash assistance and basic food?

(1) The following definitions apply to this chapter:

(a) "We" means the department of social and health services.

(b) "You" means a person applying for or getting benefits from the department.

(d) "Equity value" means the FMV minus any amount you owe on the resource.

(e) "Community property" means a resource in the name of the husband, wife, or both.

(f) "Separate property" means a resource of a married person that one of the spouses:

(i) Had possession of and paid for before they were married;

(ii) Acquired and paid for entirely out of income from separate property; or

(iii) Received as a gift or inheritance.

(2) We count a resource to decide if your assistance unit (AU) is eligible for cash assistance or basic food when:

(a) It is a resource we must count under WAC 388-470-0045 for cash assistance or WAC 388-470-0055 for basic food;

(b) You own the resource and we consider you to own a resource if:

(i) Your name is on the title to the property; or

(ii) You have property that does not have a title;

(d) You could legally sell the resource or convert it into cash within twenty days.

(3) For cash assistance, you must try to make your resources available even if it will take you more than twenty days to do so, unless:

(a) There is a legal barrier; or

(b) You must petition the court to release part or all of a resource.

(4) When you apply for assistance, we count your resources as of:

(a) The date of your interview, if you are required to have an interview; or

(b) The date of your application, if you are not required to have an interview.

(5) If your total countable resources are over the resource limit in subsection (6) through (13) of this section, you are not eligible for benefits.

(6) For cash assistance, ((we use the))there is an equity value ((as the value of your resources.))resource limit of six

(((a) Applicants may have countable resources up to one)) thousand dollars.

(((b) Recipients of cash assistance may have an additional three thousand dollars in a savings account.))

(7) If your AU is categorically eligible (CE) as described in WAC 388-414-0001, you do not have a resource limit for Basic Food.

(8) If your AU is not CE under WAC 388-414-0001, your AU may have countable resources up to the following amount and be eligible for basic food:

(a) Three thousand five hundred dollars if your AU has either an elderly or disabled individual; or

(b) Two thousand two hundred fifty dollars for all other AUs.

(9) If you own a countable resource with someone who is not in your AU, we count the portion of the resource that you own. If we cannot determine how much of the resource is yours:

(a) For cash assistance, we count an equal portion of the resource that belongs to each person who owns it.

(b) For basic food, we count the entire amount unless you can prove that the entire amount is not available to you.

(10) We assume that you have control of community property and you can legally sell the property or convert it to cash unless you can show that you do not.

(11) We may not consider an item to be separate property if you used both separate and community funds to buy or improve it.

(12) We do not count the resources of victims of family violence when:

(a) The resource is owned jointly with members of the former household;

(b) Availability of the resource depends on an agreement of the joint owner; or

(13) You may give us proof about a resource anytime, including when we ask for it or if you disagree with a decision we made, about:

(a) Who owns a resource;

(b) Who has legal control of a resource;

(d) The availability of a resource; or

(e) The portion of a property you or another person owns.

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 13-18-005, filed 8/22/13, effective 10/1/13)

WAC 388-470-0070How vehicles are counted toward the resource limit for cash assistance.

(1) A vehicle is any device for carrying persons and objects by land, water, or air.

(2) The entire value of a licensed vehicle needed to transport a physically disabled assistance unit member is excluded.

(3) The equity value of one vehicle up to ((five))ten thousand dollars is excluded when the vehicle is used by the assistance unit or household as a means of transportation.