CA AB494

Requires the State Department of Social Services to issue guidance establishing that shelter costs reported on signed CalFresh applications or semiannual report forms are sufficient to determine excess shelter costs deductions.

Prohibits county human services agencies from requesting additional documents to verify excess shelter costs, except when the reported shelter costs are questionable.

Allows the department to implement these provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions, bypassing standard Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking requirements.

Declares the act an urgency statute effective immediately to prevent delays for approximately 400,000 newly eligible elderly or disabled recipients of Supplemental Security Income or State Supplementary Payment Program benefits seeking CalFresh benefits.