Bill Name: CalWORKs eligibility: Immunizations

Bill Number: AB-1992

Bill Author(s): Chu

Legislative Session / Year: 2018

State: California

AVFCA Position: Oppose Unless Amended

Bill Synopsis: This bill would remove the Personal Belief Exemption from CalWORKs vaccination requirements, thereby forcing parents who do not vaccinate their children to have $50 garnished from their benefits. This bill, commencing July 1, 2019, would instead require a county human services agency to obtain or receive documentation that each child in an assistance unit who is not required to be enrolled in school has received all age-appropriate immunizations, except as specified. The bill would require the county to review the California Immunization Registry before requiring an applicant or recipient to provide documentation that a child has received all age-appropriate immunizations. The bill would require the county to send notice of the requirement to submit documentation, as specified, to the applicant or recipient. The bill would revise the information required for the notice, as specified, including requiring the notice to advise the applicant or recipient of the right to request and receive nonmedical transportation services through the Medi-Cal managed care plan. The bill would withhold $50 per month from the grant if the county has not secured the documentation and would require the assistance unit to be paid the withheld funds, up to $500, and the grant to be restored once the county receives the documentation or determines that there is good cause for not providing the documentation. Because the bill would increase the duties of a county relative to sending notice of the requirement to submit documentation of immunization and providing transportation services to ensure immunization, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department, on a quarterly basis, to track, maintain, and publish on its Internet Web site specified county information regarding penalties imposed as a result of the bill.

Effective Date if Passed: 01/07/2019