--- type: "Bill" title: "CalWORKs: welfare-to-work requirements." description: "Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. As part of the CalWORKs program, participants, unless specifically exempted, are required to participate in welfare-to-work activities. Existing law exempts from the welfare-to-work requirements a woman who is pregnant and for whom it has been medically verified that the pregnancy impairs her ability to be regularly employed or participate in welfare-to-work activities. Existing law also requires that a recipient be excused for good cause when the county has determined there is a condition or circumstance that temporarily prevents or significantly impairs the recipient's ability to be regularly employed or participate in welfare-to-work activities." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20132014" identifier: "SB 252" citation: "California SB 252 (20132014)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["CalWORKs: welfare-to-work requirements."] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Liu"] version_count: 9 action_count: 26 vote_count: 8 first_action: "2013-02-12" last_action: "2013-10-04" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6d9b43ff-d5b5-46a3-891a-4baaf1e04a0b" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252" source_hash: "0427eb2c81eec6e0f1bd14ba398ea3bbe1ea685723d66493de17d8030d63facc" vintage: "2026-07-01" source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump" retrieved_at: "2026-07-06" confidence: "reported" tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"] --- # California SB 252 (20132014) — CalWORKs: welfare-to-work requirements. Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. As part of the CalWORKs program, participants, unless specifically exempted, are required to participate in welfare-to-work activities. Existing law exempts from the welfare-to-work requirements a woman who is pregnant and for whom it has been medically verified that the pregnancy impairs her ability to be regularly employed or participate in welfare-to-work activities. Existing law also requires that a recipient be excused for good cause when the county has determined there is a condition or circumstance that temporarily prevents or significantly impairs the recipient's ability to be regularly employed or participate in welfare-to-work activities. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **02/12/13 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25299INT) 2. **04/01/13 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25298AMD) 3. **04/15/13 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25297AMD) 4. **05/28/13 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25296AMD) 5. **06/24/13 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25295AMD) 6. **08/05/13 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25294AMD) 7. **10/04/13 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25292CHP) 8. **SB252** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252) 9. **09/03/13 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB252&version=20130SB25293ENR) ## Votes - Unfinished Business SB252 Liu Concurrence — **30–8** (pass) · upper - Do pass. — **12–5** (pass) · lower - SB 252 Liu Senate Third Reading By SKINNER — **53–24** (pass) · lower - Do pass as amended. — **5–1** (pass) · upper - Placed on Appropriations Suspense file. — **7–0** (pass) · upper - 3rd Reading — **34–4** (pass) · upper - Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **5–2** (pass) · lower - Do pass as amended, and re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **6–0** (pass) · upper ## Sponsors - Liu — primary (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2013-02-12** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `reading-1, introduction` - **2013-02-13** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 15. - **2013-02-21** Referred to Com. on HUMAN S. `referral-committee` - **2013-03-12** Set for hearing April 9. - **2013-04-01** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HUMAN S. `committee-passage, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1, referral-committee` - **2013-04-11** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 485.) (April 9). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage` - **2013-04-15** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1, referral-committee` - **2013-04-26** Set for hearing May 6. - **2013-05-06** Placed on APPR. suspense file. - **2013-05-17** Set for hearing May 23. - **2013-05-24** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 1009.) (May 23). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage` - **2013-05-28** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1, amendment-passage` - **2013-05-29** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 34. Noes 4. Page 1172.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage` - **2013-05-30** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1` - **2013-06-14** Referred to Com. on HUM. S. `referral-committee` - **2013-06-24** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. `committee-passage, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1, referral-committee` - **2013-07-03** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (July 2). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage` - **2013-08-05** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1, referral-committee` - **2013-08-14** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (August 14). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2013-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2013-08-26** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 53. Noes 24. Page 2711.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage` - **2013-08-26** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending. - **2013-08-30** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 8. Page 2037.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage` - **2013-09-05** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m. - **2013-10-04** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2013-10-04** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 563, Statutes of 2013. ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6d9b43ff-d5b5-46a3-891a-4baaf1e04a0b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).