Assembly BillPassed first houseWelfare and Institutions
AB 1357: Guaranteed income payments: consideration as income or resources.
What AB 1357 does, verified December 13, 2025
This bill adds a new chapter to the California Welfare and Institutions Code to provide guaranteed income payments. These payments would not be considered income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under state or local programs. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services to seek federal waivers necessary to implement these provisions. The bill would also redefine "guaranteed income payments" to include payments from pilot programs, projects, and locally funded programs. Means-tested programs affected would include the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), Calfresh, Medi-Cal, and other programs. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program on counties, requiring them to consider guaranteed income payments in eligibility determinations. The…
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Last action: In committee: Held under submission. (2025-06-02)Alert me
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| Aug. 29, 2025 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| Jul. 14, 2025 | In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Jul. 03, 2025 | Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Jul. 02, 2025 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 30). |
| Jun. 11, 2025 | Referred to Com. on HUMAN S. |
Latest bill textAmended version, July 3, 2025 · 1,214 words
| Amended IN Senate July 03, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly May 01, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly March 24, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1357
| Introduced by Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez (Coauthor: Assembly Member Lee) |
February 21, 2025 |
An act to add Chapter 15.5 (commencing with Section 18996.5) to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1357, as amended, Celeste Rodriguez. Guaranteed income payments: consideration as income or resources.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to an appropriation, to administer the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program until January 1, 2028, to provide grants to eligible entities for the purpose of administering pilot programs and projects that provide a guaranteed income to participants. Existing law requires the department to prioritize, for these purposes, California residents who age out of the extended foster care program at or after 21 years of age or who are pregnant individuals.
Under existing law, guaranteed income payments received by an individual from a pilot program or project, as described above, are not considered income or resources for purposes of determining the individual’s, or any member of their household’s, eligibility for benefits or assistance, or the amount or extent of benefits or assistance, under any state or local benefit or assistance program, as specified.
Existing law establishes various public social services programs within the jurisdiction of the State Department of Social Services, including, among others, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and the CalFresh program. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services.
Under this bill, to the extent not in conflict with federal law, guaranteed income payments received by an individual would not be considered income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits, or the amount of benefits, under any means-tested program, and vice versa. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services, for programs under their jurisdiction, to seek any federal waivers necessary to implement these provisions. The bill would define “guaranteed income payments” to include, but not be limited to, payments provided through pilot programs or projects receiving funding from the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program or payments provided through locally funded programs, as specified.
Under the bill, means-tested programs would include, but would not be limited to, the CalWORKs program, the CalFresh program, the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), the Medi-Cal program, the General Assistance Program, the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program, the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP), and the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).
By creating new duties for counties with regard to eligibility determinations for means-tested programs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing these provisions.
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.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 15.5 (commencing with Section 18996.5) is added to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:CHAPTER 15.5. Guaranteed Income Payments
18996.5.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, guaranteed income payments received by an individual shall not be considered income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits, or the amount of benefits, under any means-tested program, including, but not limited to, any of the following:(1) The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, as described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3.
(2) The CalFresh program, as described in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 18900).
(3) The California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), as described in Chapter 10.1 (commencing with Section 18930), through whichever version of Section 18930 is operative.
(4) The Medi-Cal program, as described in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3.
(5) The General Assistance Program, as described in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17000) of Part 5.
(6)The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program, as described in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 11360) of Chapter 2 of Part 3.
(7)The Adoption Assistance Program (AAP), as described in Chapter 2.1 (commencing with Section 16115) of Part 4.
(8)
(6)
The Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), as described in Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 18937).(b) Notwithstanding any other law, benefits received by an individual under any means-tested program, including, but not limited to, those listed in subdivision (a), shall not be considered income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility for guaranteed income payments or the amount of those guaranteed income payments.
(c) For purposes of this section, “guaranteed income payments” means unconditional, recurring, regular cash payments, whether publicly or privately funded, that are intended to support the basic needs of eligible recipients, including, but not limited to, payments provided through pilot programs or projects receiving funding from the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program (Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 18997)) or payments provided through locally funded programs.
(d) For purposes of the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, this section shall be implemented in conjunction with subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 18997.
(e) This section shall be implemented only to the extent not in conflict with federal law.
(f) The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services shall, for programs under their jurisdiction, seek any federal waivers necessary to implement this section.
SEC. 2.
No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of this act.SEC. 3.
To the extent that this act has an overall effect of increasing certain costs already borne by a local agency for programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment Legislation within the meaning of Section 36 of Article XIII of the California Constitution, it shall apply to local agencies only to the extent that the state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Any new program or higher level of service provided by a local agency pursuant to this act above the level for which funding has been provided shall not require a subvention of funds by the state or otherwise be subject to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
Text of AB 1357 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions