Arenas

The Board of Supervisors of San Diego County, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency and Robert Ross, M.D. (collectively the County), appeal a judgment in favor of Luis Arenas after the court granted his petition for writ of mandate. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1085.) The court invalidated a County ordinance that bars all persons convicted of drug-related felonies from obtaining general relief benefits, on the ground the exclusion conflicts with state law to the extent it applies to persons who are not ineligible for California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKS) benefits and who are not members of families with dependent children receiving aid under the CalWORKS program. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 11251.3, 17001, 17021.5.) We affirm the judgment.

Background

In 1996 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, popularly known as the Welfare Reform Act, was enacted by Congress and signed into law. ( Pub.L. No. 104-193 (Aug. 22, 1996) 110 Stat. 2105 ; In re Cervantes (9th Cir. 2000) 219 F.3d 955, 958, fn. 5 .) The Welfare Reform Act “terminated Aid to Families with Dependent Children . . . , the federal program which had…