Shaw

I. Introduction

Federal law provides that when unemployed parents who are the recipients of benefits from the federally funded aid to families with dependent children program (AFDC-U) receive a nonrecurring lump-sum of money it shall be treated as income, with the consequence that a fixed period of automatic ineligibility to receive such benefits is imposed based upon the size of the sum and the applicable AFDC-U monthly payment standard. ( 42 U.S.C. § 602 (a)(17); 45 C.F.R. § 233.20 (a)(3)(ii)(F).) The major issue presented on these consolidated appeals is whether current provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code 1 (especially § 11157) and administrative regulations require the same result with respect to that version of the same program funded exclusively by the state (State-only AFDC-U). (§§ 11201, subd. (b), 11315, subd. (a).)

II. Background and Procedure

Petitioner Tamie Shaw (plaintiff) commenced this action by filing a verified petition for writ of mandamus together with a complaint for declar *421 atory and injunctive relief. She alleged that on February 29, 1984, one week after she received a $10,000 insurance settlement for her injuries in a 1980…

Although I concur with the discussion concluding that the lump-sum rule was not injected into the State-only AFDC-U program by the Legislature’s various formulations of Welfare and Institutions Code section 11157, 1 I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which eviscerates a welfare program consciously maintained by the Legislature.

*430 The heart of the matter is the reference in subdivision (b) of section 11201 to recipients qualifying “in accordance with the standards for unemployed parents set by the federal government.” If the majority is in earnest about requiring recipients to satisfy “the standards ... set by the federal government,” it would logically follow that this means all “the standards ... set by the federal government.” The majority concedes that the lump-sum rule is one such standard, refuses to hold it applicable to the state-only program, yet at the same time finds that the federal “work history” rule must be incorporated. I do not know how or on what basis the majority treats the former standard as an apple while the latter qualifies as an orange. On its face the statute’s language does not justify picking and choosing which federal…

Federal law provides that when unemployed parents who are the recipients of benefits from the federally funded aid to families with dependent children program (AFDC-U) receive a nonrecurring lump-sum of money it shall be treated as income, with the consequence that a fixed period of automatic ineligibility to receive such benefits is imposed based upon the size of the sum and the applicable AFDC-U monthly payment standard. ( 42 U.S.C. § 602 (a)(17); 45 C.F.R. § 233.20 (a)(3)(ii)(F).) The major issue presented on these consolidated appeals is whether current provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code [1] (especially § 11157) and administrative regulations require the same result with respect to that version of the same program funded exclusively by the state (State-only AFDC-U). (§§ 11201, subd. (b), 11315, subd. (a).)

Petitioner Tamie Shaw (plaintiff) commenced this action by filing a verified petition for writ of mandamus together with a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief. She alleged that on February 29, 1984, one week after she received a $10,000 insurance settlement for her injuries in a 1980 automobile accident, her AFDC…