Guaranteed income payments: consideration as income or resources.

Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez's guaranteed income legislation establishes new rules for how unconditional cash payments interact with California's public assistance programs. The bill prevents guaranteed income payments from affecting eligibility or benefit amounts for means-tested programs like CalWORKs, CalFresh, Medi-Cal, and other state assistance initiatives. Similarly, receiving benefits from these programs would not impact an individual's eligibility for guaranteed income payments.

The legislation defines guaranteed income payments as unconditional, recurring cash transfers intended to meet basic needs, including those from the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program and local initiatives. State departments must obtain federal waivers to implement these provisions while maintaining compliance with federal regulations. Counties will need to modify their eligibility determination processes to exclude these payments from consideration.

Local agencies face new administrative responsibilities without continuous appropriations from the General Fund. The Commission on State Mandates will determine which costs require state reimbursement under California's constitutional requirements for state-mandated local programs. These provisions align with the existing California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, which continues through January 2028.