Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance
The budget enacted by the Legislature makes the following changes to the Executive Budget (analysis as of March 30, 2006):
§ Decreases the Executive’s proposed Systems Support & Informational Services’ maintenance undistributed appropriation by $2 million, which is an appropriation for the welfare management (CONNECTIONS) system.
§ Rejects the proposal to impose “Full Family Sanctions” on cases in which the head of the household fails to meet work requirements.
The Senate and Assembly made the following changes to the Executive Budget (analysis as of March 20, 2006):
Senate:
§ The Senate concurred with the Executive’s Budget proposal.
Assembly:
§ Reduced the Executive’s proposed Systems Support and Information Services’ maintenance undistributed appropriation by $16.4 million, which is an appropriation for the welfare management (CONNECTIONS) system.
§ Reduced the Executive’s proposed Departmental Administrative Reimbursement Program maintenance undistributed appropriation by $2.4 million, which is a reduction in the reimbursement for departmental expenditures for administration of federal programs.
The Executive Budget recommends (analysis as of January 25, 2006):
§ A FTE level of 2,529 which represents a decrease of 3 FTEs from the adjusted SFY 2005-06 level, all in the Administration Program. According to the Assembly’s 2006 Yellow Book, this decrease is a result of an initiative to consolidate administrative functions with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).
§ The adjusted 2005-06 FTE level balances out to have, overall for the agency, no fewer FTEs than what was estimated in the SFY2005-06 Executive Budget. However there were changes in the programs’ FTEs: 1 more FTE in the Administration program, 1 fewer FTE in the Legal Affairs program, 1 fewer FTE in the System Support and Information Services program, and 1 more FTE in the Temporary and Disability Assistance programs.
§ An overall increase of State Operations funding of $27.9 million (6.6 percent).
§ An increase of $2.1 million (4 percent) in the Administration program. The largest portion of the increase was $1.3 million (6.6 percent) in Special Revenue-Other in the following accounts: $350,000 (17.5 percent) increase in the State Match Account; a $900,000 (10.8 percent) increase in OTDA Training Contract Account; and a $60,000 (8.6 percent) increase in Training, Management & Evaluation Account.
§ An increase of $9.5 million in Special Revenue-Other funding, under the Departmental Administrative Reimbursement program. According to the Assembly’s 2006 Yellow Book, the increase includes: $9 million in OFT rates; $400,000 in contractual salary; and $100,000 in lease costs. The increase in Special Revenue-Other funding is offset by the decrease of $9.5 million in Maintenance Undistributed funding, allowing for no increase in the overall program.
§ An increase of $10.1 million (5.8 percent) in the Disability Determinations program which predominantly reflects a $10 million increase in Special Revenue-Federal funding. The increase includes: $3 million in Personal Service funding; $2 million in Nonpersonal Service funding; and $5 million in Fringe Benefits. No explanation is provided for the purpose of these increases. An explanation should be sought at statewide labor management.
§ An increase of $14.7 million (11.6 percent) in the Systems Support & Informational Services, of which $14.4 million can be attributed to the increase (23.8 percent) in a Maintenance Undistributed appropriation for the welfare management system. According to the Assembly’s 2006 Yellow Book, this increase will support Office for Technology (OFT) rate increases for network and data center operations. The use of this funding should be clarified at Labor-Management.
§ A decrease of $845,000 (19.8 percent) in personal service funding for the Temporary & Disability Assistance Program. This decrease is offset by a first time allocation of Maintenance Undistributed funding, $950,000 for operation of welfare to work programs. OTDA management should clarify whether the reduction in personal service funding will result in increased contracting out under the Maintenance Undistributed funding (an increase of $23,000 in contractual services is noted for this program, however, the MU appropriation may still reflect contracting out).
§ Article VII legislation would make the following changes to the public assistance program:
§ Authorizes the entire welfare grant to be withheld if the head of the household does not fulfill his/her employment obligation.
§ Increases the amount of earning disregarded for purpose of determining welfare eligibility to 50 percent for recipients on welfare less than five years, and reduces the disregard percentage to 25 percent for recipients on welfare for more than five years.
§ Reduce the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) for Safety Net Assistance (SNA) recipients living in congregate care facilities.
§ Establishes penalties for local districts’ non-compliance with minimum work requirements. Counties that fail to meet at least a 50 percent work participation rate for their TANF Families, Five Year Families and Safety Net Single population will not receive the planned increase in State reimbursement of administrative costs associated with implementing the public assistance, food stamps and employment programs. According to the Executive budget, the enactment of this bill is necessary to implement the SFY 2006-07 Executive Budget, which assumes $11.4 million in related General Fund savings. **
Program Details - State Operations
Enacted
Proposed
Enacted
Change in
Percent
Program
2005-06 Budget
2006-07 Budget
2006-07 Budget
Appropriation
Change
All Funds
$425,239,000
$453,168,000
$451,168,000
$25,929,000
6.1%
General Fund
$50,282,000
$57,001,000
$55,001,000
$4,719,000
9.4%
Special Revenue-Federal
$217,000,000
$227,300,000
$227,300,000
$10,300,000
4.7%
Special Revenue-Other
$156,757,000
$167,667,000
$167,667,000
$10,910,000
7.0%
Internal Services Fund
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$0
0.0%
Administration Program
$52,739,000
$54,825,000
$54,825,000
$2,086,000
4.0%
Personal Services
$11,134,000
$11,437,000
$11,437,000
$303,000
2.7%
Nonpersonal Service
$8,443,000
$8,689,000
$8,689,000
$246,000
2.9%
Maintenance Undist.
$5,112,000
$5,339,000
$5,339,000
$227,000
4.4%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$0
0.0%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$19,850,000
$21,160,000
$21,160,000
$1,310,000
6.6%
Internal Services Fund (INS)
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$0
0.0%
HHS Fund - (SRF)
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$0
0.0%
Food Stamp Recovery Acct - (SRO)
$1,350,000
$1,350,000
$1,350,000
$0
0.0%
OTDA Program Acct - (SRO)
$7,500,000
$7,500,000
$7,500,000
$0
0.0%
State Match Acct. - (SRO)
$2,000,000
$2,350,000
$2,350,000
$350,000
17.5%
OTDA Training Contract Acct (SRO)
$8,300,000
$9,200,000
$9,200,000
$900,000
10.8%
Training, Mgmt & Evaluation Acct - (SRO)
$700,000
$760,000
$760,000
$60,000
8.6%
Quick Copy Center Acct - (INS)
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$0
0.0%
Departmental Administrative Reimb. Pgm
$3,569,000
$3,569,000
$3,569,000
$0
0.0%
Maintenance Undist.
($75,463,000)
($84,963,000)
($84,963,000)
($9,500,000)
12.6%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$79,032,000
$88,532,000
$88,532,000
$9,500,000
12.0%
Soc. Serv. Income Acct - (SRO)
$79,032,000
$88,532,000
$88,532,000
$9,500,000
12.0%
Child Support Enforcement
$33,500,000
$33,800,000
$33,800,000
$300,000
0.9%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$3,500,000
$3,800,000
$3,800,000
$300,000
8.6%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$30,000,000
$30,000,000
$30,000,000
$0
0.0%
Child Support Acct - (SRF)
$3,500,000
$3,800,000
$3,800,000
$300,000
8.6%
Child Support Incentive Revenue Acct - (SRO)
$30,000,000
$30,000,000
$30,000,000
$0
0.0%
Personal Services
$3,729,700
$3,625,000
$3,625,000
($104,700)
-2.8%
Nonpersonal Service
$538,000
$538,000
$538,000
$0
0.0%
Fringe Benefits
$1,814,200
$1,628,000
$1,628,000
($186,200)
-10.3%
Svcs & Expenses
$870,000
$930,000
$930,000
$60,000
6.9%