H. R. 3146

One Hundred Eighth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the seventh day of January, two thousand and three

An Act

To extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant program,

and certain tax and trade programs, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

TITLE I—FAMILY ASSISTANCE

PROVISIONS

SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF THE TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY

FAMILIES BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM THROUGH MARCH

31, 2004.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Activities authorized by part A of title IV

of the Social Security Act, and by sections 510, 1108(b), and 1925

of such Act, shall continue through March 31, 2004, in the manner

authorized for fiscal year 2002, notwithstanding section

1902(e)(1)(A) of such Act, and out of any money in the Treasury

of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there are hereby

appropriated such sums as may be necessary for such purpose.

Grants and payments may be made pursuant to this authority

for carrying out such activities during the first two quarters of

fiscal year 2004 at the level provided for the first two quarters

of fiscal year 2002.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— (1) SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS FOR POPULATION INCREASES IN

CERTAIN STATES.—Section 403(a)(3)(H) of the Social Security

Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(3)(H)) is amended—

(A) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ‘‘OF

GRANTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2002’’; and

(B) in clause (ii)—

(i) by striking ‘‘2003’’ and inserting ‘‘March 31,

2004’’; and

(ii) by striking ‘‘2001’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year

2001’’.

(2) CONTINGENCY FUND.—Section 403(b)(3)(C)(ii) of such

Act (42 U.S.C. 603(b)(3)(C)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘2003’’

and inserting ‘‘2004’’.

(3) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Section 409(a)(7) of such

Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)) is amended—

(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or 2004’’ and

inserting ‘‘2004, or 2005’’; and

(B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘2003’’ and

inserting ‘‘2004’’.
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SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF THE NATIONAL RANDOM SAMPLE STUDY OF

CHILD WELFARE AND CHILD WELFARE WAIVER

AUTHORITY THROUGH MARCH 31, 2004.

Activities authorized by sections 429A and 1130(a) of the Social

Security Act shall continue through March 31, 2004, in the manner

authorized for fiscal year 2002, and out of any money in the

Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there

are hereby appropriated such sums as may be necessary for such

purpose. Grants and payments may be made pursuant to this

authority for carrying out such activities during the first two quarters of fiscal year 2004 at the level provided for the first two

quarters of fiscal year 2002.

TITLE II—TAX PROVISIONS

SEC. 201. DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION TO CARRY OUT

INCOME CONTINGENT REPAYMENT OF STUDENT LOANS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (D) of section 6103(l)(13) of

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to termination) is

amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘December

31, 2004’’.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by subsection (a)

shall apply to requests made after September 30, 2003.

SEC. 202. EXTENSION OF INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE USER FEES.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code

of 1986 (relating to miscellaneous provisions) is amended by adding

at the end the following new section:

‘‘SEC. 7528. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE USER FEES.

‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—The Secretary shall establish a program

requiring the payment of user fees for—

‘‘(1) requests to the Internal Revenue Service for ruling

letters, opinion letters, and determination letters, and

‘‘(2) other similar requests.

‘‘(b) PROGRAM CRITERIA.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The fees charged under the program

required by subsection (a)— ‘‘(A) shall vary according to categories (or subcategories) established by the Secretary, ‘‘(B) shall be determined after taking into account the

average time for (and difficulty of) complying with requests

in each category (and subcategory), and ‘‘(C) shall be payable in advance.

‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS, ETC.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide for such

exemptions (and reduced fees) under such program as the

Secretary determines to be appropriate.

‘‘(B) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN REQUESTS REGARDING

PENSION PLANS.—The Secretary shall not require payment

of user fees under such program for requests for determination letters with respect to the qualified status of a pension

benefit plan maintained solely by 1 or more eligible

employers or any trust which is part of the plan. The

preceding sentence shall not apply to any request— ‘‘(i) made after the later of—
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‘‘(I) the fifth plan year the pension benefit

plan is in existence, or

‘‘(II) the end of any remedial amendment

period with respect to the plan beginning within

the first 5 plan years, or

‘‘(ii) made by the sponsor of any prototype or

similar plan which the sponsor intends to market to

participating employers.

‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes

of subparagraph (B)—

‘‘(i) PENSION BENEFIT PLAN.—The term ‘pension

benefit plan’ means a pension, profit-sharing, stock

bonus, annuity, or employee stock ownership plan.

‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—The term ‘eligible

employer’ means an eligible employer (as defined in

section 408(p)(2)(C)(i)(I)) which has at least 1 employee

who is not a highly compensated employee (as defined

in section 414(q)) and is participating in the plan.

The determination of whether an employer is an

eligible employer under subparagraph (B) shall be

made as of the date of the request described in such

subparagraph.

‘‘(iii) DETERMINATION OF AVERAGE FEES

CHARGED.—For purposes of any determination of average fees charged, any request to which subparagraph

(B) applies shall not be taken into account.

‘‘(3) AVERAGE FEE REQUIREMENT.—The average fee charged

under the program required by subsection (a) shall not be

less than the amount determined under the following table:

Average

‘‘Category Fee

Employee plan ruling and opinion .................................................. $250

Exempt organization ruling ............................................................. $350

Employee plan determination ......................................................... $300

Exempt organization determination ............................................... $275

Chief counsel ruling ......................................................................... $200.

‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—No fee shall be imposed under this section

with respect to requests made after December 31, 2004.’’.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

(1) The table of sections for chapter 77 of such Code is

amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 7528. Internal Revenue Service user fees.’’.

(2) Section 10511 of the Revenue Act of 1987 is repealed.

(3) Section 620 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief

Reconciliation Act of 2001 is repealed.

(c) LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

any fees collected pursuant to section 7528 of the Internal Revenue

Code of 1986, as added by subsection (a), shall not be expended

by the Internal Revenue Service unless provided by an appropriations Act.

(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section

shall apply to requests made after the date of the enactment of

this Act.
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TITLE III—TRADE PROVISIONS

SEC. 301. EXTENSION OF COBRA FEES.

Section 13031(j)(3) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)) is amended by striking

‘‘September 30, 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘March 31, 2004’’.

TITLE IV—MEDICARE COST-SHARING

PROVISIONS

SEC. 401. EXTENSION OF MEDICARE COST-SHARING FOR CERTAIN

QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS.

(a) EXTENSION OF SUNSET.—Section 1902(a)(10)(E)(iv) of the

Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(E)(iv)) is amended—

(1) by striking subclause (II);

(2) beginning in the matter preceding subclause (I), by

striking ‘‘ending with December 2002’’ and all that follows

through ‘‘for medicare cost-sharing described’’ in subclause (I)

and inserting ‘‘ending with March 2004) for medicare costsharing described’’; and

(3) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end and inserting a semicolon.

(b) TOTAL AMOUNT AVAILABLE FOR ALLOCATION.—Section

1933(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u–3(c)) is

amended—

(1) in paragraph (1)(E), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2002’’ and

inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2002 and 2003’’; and

(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘the sum of’’ and all

that follows through ‘‘1902(a)(10)(E)(iv)(II) in the State; to’’

and inserting ‘‘the total number of individuals described in

section 1902(a)(10)(E)(iv) in the State; to’’.

(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST QUARTER OF 2004.—Section 1933

of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u–3) is amended by

adding at the end the following:

‘‘(g) SPECIAL RULE.—With respect to the period that begins

on January 1, 2004, and ends on March 31, 2004, a State shall

select qualifying individuals, and provide such individuals with

assistance, in accordance with the provisions of this section as

in effect with respect to calendar year 2003, except that for such

purpose—

‘‘(1) references in the preceding subsections of this section

to ‘fiscal year’ and ‘calendar year’ shall be deemed to be references to such period; and ‘‘(2) the total allocation amount under subsection (c) for

such period shall be $100,000,000.’’.

SEC. 402. EXTENSION OF PROVISION EQUALIZING URBAN AND RURAL

STANDARDIZED MEDICARE INPATIENT HOSPITAL PAYMENTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 402(b) of

the Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 108–7;

117 Stat. 548) are each amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2003’’

and inserting ‘‘March 31, 2004’’. (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the amendments

made by subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the

enactment of the Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 2003.

(2) AUTHORITY TO DELAY IMPLEMENTATION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of Health and

Human Services (in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) determines that it is not administratively feasible

to implement the amendments made by subsection (a),

notwithstanding such amendments and in order to comply

with Congressional intent, the Secretary may delay the

implementation of such amendments until such time as

the Secretary determines to be appropriate, but in no case

later than November 1, 2003.

(B) TEMPORARY ADJUSTMENT FOR REMAINDER OF FISCAL

YEAR 2004 TO EFFECT FULL RATE CHANGE.—If the Secretary

delays implementation of the amendments made by subsection (a) under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall

make such adjustment to the amount of payments affected

by such delay, for the portion of fiscal year 2004 after

the date of the delayed implementation, in such manner

as the Secretary estimates will ensure that the total payments for inpatient hospital services so affected with

respect to such fiscal year is the same as would have

been made if this paragraph had not been enacted.

(C) NO EFFECT ON PAYMENTS FOR SUBSEQUENT PAYMENT PERIODS.—The application of subparagraphs (A) and

(B) shall not affect payment rates and shall not be taken

into account in calculating payment amounts for services

furnished for periods after September 30, 2004.

(D) ADMINISTRATION OF PROVISIONS.—

(i) NO RULEMAKING OR NOTICE REQUIRED.—The

Secretary may carry out the authority under this paragraph by program memorandum or otherwise and is

not required to prescribe regulations or to provide

notice in the Federal Register in order to carry out

such authority.

(ii) LIMITATION ON REVIEW.—There shall be no

administrative or judicial review under section 1869

or 1878 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ff

and 1395oo), or otherwise of any delay or determination

made by the Secretary under this paragraph or the
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application of the payment rates determined under

this paragraph.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.