Guaranteed income payments: consideration as income or resources.

Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez's guaranteed income legislation establishes clear parameters for how these payments interact with California's public assistance programs. The measure prevents guaranteed income - defined as unconditional, recurring cash payments from public or private sources - from affecting eligibility or benefit levels for state and local means-tested programs like CalWORKs, CalFresh, Medi-Cal, and General Assistance.

The bill creates a reciprocal relationship between guaranteed income and public benefits, ensuring that neither type of assistance impacts eligibility determinations for the other. This applies to payments from both the state's Guaranteed Income Pilot Program and locally funded initiatives. The State Departments of Social Services and Health Care Services must obtain any necessary federal waivers to implement these provisions for programs under their purview.

Counties face new administrative requirements for implementing these eligibility determination changes without continuous state appropriations from the General Fund. The measure specifies that local agencies may receive state reimbursement for associated costs if the Commission on State Mandates determines such expenses qualify as state-mandated under California's constitution.