IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3659 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 15, 2011 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize the program of block grants to States for 

temporary assistance for needy families through fiscal 

year 2012, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Welfare Integrity and 

3 Data Improvement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Extension of program. 

Sec. 4. Data standardization. 

Sec. 5. Spending policies for assistance under State TANF programs. 

Sec. 6. Technical corrections. 

6 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF PROGRAM. 

7 (a) FAMILY ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—Section 

8 403(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(1) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘ each of 

11 fiscal years 1996’’ and all that follows through 

12 ‘‘2003’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2012’’; 

13 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(as in effect just before 

15 the enactment of the Welfare Integrity and 

16 Data Improvement Act)’’ after ‘‘this para17 graph’’ the 1st place it appears; and 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘(as so in effect)’’ after 

19 ‘‘this paragraph’’ the 2nd place it appears; and 

20 (3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘2003’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 


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1 (b) HEALTHY MARRIAGE PROMOTION AND RESPON2 SIBLE FATHERHOOD GRANTS.—Section 403(a)(2)(D) of 

3 such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)(D)) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘2011’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 

5 (c) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT REQUIREMENT.— 

6 Section 409(a)(7) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

9 year’’ and all that follows through ‘‘2013’’ and in10 serting ‘‘a fiscal year’’; and 

11 (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘for fiscal years 1997 

13 through 2012,’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘407(a) for the fiscal 

15 year,’’ and inserting ‘‘407(a),’’. 

16 (d) TRIBAL GRANTS.—Section 412(a) of such Act 

17 (42 U.S.C. 612(a)) is amended in each of paragraphs 

18 (1)(A) and (2)(A) by striking ‘‘each of fiscal years 1997’’ 

19 and all that follows through ‘‘2003’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal 

20 year 2012’’. 

21 (e) STUDIES AND DEMONSTRATIONS.—Section 

22 413(h)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 613(h)(1)) is amended 

23 by striking ‘‘each of fiscal years 1997 through 2002’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2012’’. 


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1 (f) CENSUS BUREAU STUDY.—Section 414(b) of 

2 such Act (42 U.S.C. 614(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘each 

3 of fiscal years 1996’’ and all that follows through ‘‘2003’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2012’’. 

5 (g) CHILD CARE ENTITLEMENT.—Section 418(a)(3) 

6 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 618(a)(3)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘appropriated’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘appro8 priated $2,917,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.’’. 

9 (h) GRANTS TO TERRITORIES.—Section 1108(b)(2) 

10 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1308(b)(2)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘for fiscal years 1997 through 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal 

12 year 2012’’. 

13 (i) PREVENTION OF DUPLICATE APPROPRIATIONS

14 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012.—Expenditures made pursuant 

15 to the Short-Term TANF Extension Act (Public Law 

16 112–35) for fiscal year 2012 shall be charged to the appli17 cable appropriation or authorization provided by the 

18 amendments made by this section for such fiscal year. 

19 (j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend20 ments made by this section shall take effect on the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 4. DATA STANDARDIZATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 411 of the Social Security 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 611) is amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) DATA STANDARDIZATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) STANDARD DATA ELEMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary, in 

4 consultation with an interagency work group 

5 which shall be established by the Office of Man6 agement and Budget, and considering State 

7 and tribal perspectives, shall, by rule, designate 

8 standard data elements for any category of in9 formation required to be reported under this 

10 part. 

11 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In designating the 

12 standard data elements, the Secretary shall, to 

13 the extent practicable— 

14 ‘‘(i) ensure that the data elements are 

15 nonproprietary and interoperable; 

16 ‘‘(ii) incorporate interoperable stand17 ards developed and maintained by an inter18 national voluntary consensus standards 

19 body, as defined by the Office of Manage20 ment and Budget, such as the Inter21 national Organization for Standardization; 

22 ‘‘(iii) incorporate interoperable stand23 ards developed and maintained by inter24 governmental partnerships, such as the 


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1 National Information Exchange Model; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iv) incorporate interoperable stand4 ards developed and maintained by Federal 

5 entities with authority over contracting 

6 and financial assistance, such as the Fed7 eral Acquisition Regulatory Council. 

8 ‘‘(2) DATA REPORTING STANDARDS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary, in 

10 consultation with an interagency work group es11 tablished by the Office of Management and 

12 Budget, and considering State and tribal per13 spectives, shall, by rule, designate standards to 

14 govern the data reporting required under this 

15 part. 

16 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In designating the 

17 data reporting standards, the Secretary shall, to 

18 the extent practicable, incorporate existing non19 proprietary standards, such as the eXtensible 

20 Business Reporting Language. Such standards 

21 shall, to the extent practicable— 

22 ‘‘(i) incorporate a widely-accepted, 

23 nonproprietary, searchable, computer-read24 able format; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) be consistent with and implement 

2 applicable accounting principles; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) be capable of being continually 

4 upgraded as necessary.’’. 

5 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

6 subsection shall apply with respect to information required 

7 to be reported on or after October 1, 2012. 

8 SEC. 5. SPENDING POLICIES FOR ASSISTANCE UNDER 

9 STATE TANF PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) STATE REQUIREMENT.—Section 408(a) of the 

11 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(12) STATE REQUIREMENT TO PREVENT UN14 AUTHORIZED SPENDING OF BENEFITS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State to which a 

16 grant is made under section 403 shall maintain 

17 policies and practices as necessary to prevent 

18 assistance provided under the State program 

19 funded under this part from being used in any 

20 electronic benefit transfer transaction in— 

21 ‘‘(i) any liquor store; 

22 ‘‘(ii) any casino, gambling casino, or 

23 gaming establishment; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) any retail establishment which 

25 provides adult-oriented entertainment in 


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1 which performers disrobe or perform in an 

2 unclothed state for entertainment. 

3 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of sub4 paragraph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) LIQUOR STORE.—The term ‘liq6 uor store’ means any retail establishment 

7 which sells exclusively or primarily intoxi8 cating liquor. Such term does not include 

9 a grocery store which sells both intoxi10 cating liquor and groceries including staple 

11 foods (within the meaning of section 3(r) 

12 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

13 U.S.C. 2012(r))). 

14 ‘‘(ii) CASINO, GAMBLING CASINO, OR

15 GAMING ESTABLISHMENT.—The terms ‘ca16 sino’, ‘gambling casino’, and ‘gaming es17 tablishment’ do not include a grocery store 

18 which sells groceries including such staple 

19 foods and which also offers, or is located 

20 within the same building or complex as, ca21 sino, gambling, or gaming activities. 

22 ‘‘(iii) ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANS23 FER TRANSACTION.—The term ‘electronic 

24 benefit transfer transaction’ means the use 

25 of a credit or debit card service, automated 


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1 teller machine, point-of-sale terminal, or 

2 access to an online system for the with3 drawal of funds or the processing of a pay4 ment for merchandise or a service.’’. 

5 (b) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of such Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 609(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(16) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO ENFORCE

9 SPENDING POLICIES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, within 2 years 

11 after the date of the enactment of this para12 graph, any State has not reported to the Sec13 retary on such State’s implementation of the 

14 policies and practices required by section 

15 408(a)(12), or the Secretary determines, based 

16 on the information provided in State reports, 

17 that any State has not implemented and main18 tained such policies and practices, the Secretary 

19 shall reduce, by an amount equal to 5 percent 

20 of the State family assistance grant, the grant 

21 payable to such State under section 403(a)(1) 

22 for— 

23 ‘‘(i) the fiscal year immediately suc24 ceeding the year in which such 2-year pe25 riod ends; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) each succeeding fiscal year in 

2 which the State does not demonstrate that 

3 such State has implemented and main4 tained such policies and practices. 

5 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION OF APPLICABLE PEN6 ALTY.—The Secretary may reduce the amount 

7 of the reduction required under subparagraph 

8 (A) based on the degree of noncompliance of 

9 the State. 

10 ‘‘(C) STATE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INDI11 VIDUAL VIOLATIONS.—Fraudulent activity by 

12 any individual in an attempt to circumvent the 

13 policies and practices required by section 

14 408(a)(12) shall not trigger a State penalty 

15 under subparagraph (A).’’. 

16 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 409(c)(4) 

17 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 609(c)(4)) is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘or (13)’’ and inserting ‘‘(13), or (16)’’. 

19 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

20 (a) Section 404(d)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act 

21 (42 U.S.C. 604(d)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘subtitle 

22 1 of Title’’ and inserting ‘‘Subtitle 1 of title’’. 

23 (b) Sections 407(c)(2)(A)(i) and 409(a)(3)(C) of 

24 such Act (42 U.S.C. 607(c)(2)(A)(i) and 609(a)(3)(C)) 


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1 are each amended by striking ‘‘403(b)(6)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘403(b)(5)’’. 

3 (c) Section 409(a)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 609(a)(2)(A)) is amended by moving clauses (i) and (ii) 

5 2 ems to the right. 

6 (d) Section 409(c)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 609(c)(2)) is amended by inserting a comma after ‘‘appro8 priate’’. 

9 (e) Section 411(a)(1)(A)(ii)(III) of such Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 611(a)(1)(A)(ii)(III)) is amended by striking the 

11 last close parenthesis. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 15, 

2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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