I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3146

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

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2003

Mr. THOMAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy 

and Commerce and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 

block grant program, and certain tax and trade programs, 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 TITLE I—FAMILY ASSISTANCE 

2 PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF THE TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE 

4 FOR NEEDY FAMILIES BLOCK GRANT PRO5 GRAM THROUGH MARCH 31, 2004. 

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

7 title IV of the Social Security Act, and by sections 510, 

8 1108(b), and 1925 of such Act, shall continue through 

9 March 31, 2004, in the manner authorized for fiscal year 

10 2002, notwithstanding section 1902(e)(1)(A) of such Act, 

11 and out of any money in the Treasury of the United States 

12 not otherwise appropriated, there are hereby appropriated 

13 such sums as may be necessary for such purpose. Grants 

14 and payments may be made pursuant to this authority for 

15 carrying out such activities during the first two quarters 

16 of fiscal year 2004 at the level provided for the first two 

17 quarters of fiscal year 2002. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS FOR POPULATION

20 INCREASES IN CERTAIN STATES.—Section 

21 403(a)(3)(H) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 603(a)(3)(H)) is amended—

23 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by strik24 ing ‘‘OF GRANTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2002’’; and 

25 (B) in clause (ii)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘2003’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘March 31, 2004’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘2001’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘fiscal year 2001’’. 

5 (2) CONTINGENCY FUND.—Section 

6 403(b)(3)(C)(ii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 603(b)(3)(C)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘2003’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘2004’’. 

9 (3) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Section 

10 409(a)(7) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)) is 

11 amended—

12 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or 

13 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘2004, or 2005’’; and 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 

15 ‘‘2003’’ and inserting ‘‘2004’’. 

16 SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF THE NATIONAL RANDOM SAMPLE 

17 STUDY OF CHILD WELFARE AND CHILD WEL18 FARE WAIVER AUTHORITY THROUGH MARCH 

19 31, 2004. 

20 Activities authorized by sections 429A and 1130(a) 

21 of the Social Security Act shall continue through March 

22 31, 2004, in the manner authorized for fiscal year 2002, 

23 and out of any money in the Treasury of the United States 

24 not otherwise appropriated, there are hereby appropriated 

25 such sums as may be necessary for such purpose. Grants 
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1 and payments may be made pursuant to this authority for 

2 carrying out such activities during the first two quarters 

3 of fiscal year 2004 at the level provided for the first two 

4 quarters of fiscal year 2002. 

5 SEC. 103. PROVISIONS TREATED AS DIRECT SPENDING. 

6 For purposes of the Scorekeeping Guidelines, as ap7 plied by the chairman of the Committee on the Budget 

8 of the Senate and the chairman of the Committee on the 

9 Budget of the House of Representatives under the Con10 gressional Budget Act of 1974, and by the Director of the 

11 Office of Management and Budget (Appendix A, OMB 

12 Circular A–11, dated July 2003), the provisions of this 

13 title shall be treated as direct spending. 

14 TITLE II—TAX PROVISIONS 

15 SEC. 201. DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION TO 

16 CARRY OUT INCOME CONTINGENT REPAY17 MENT OF STUDENT LOANS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (D) of section 

19 6103(l)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relat20 ing to termination) is amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 

21 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2004’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 subsection (a) shall apply to requests made after Sep24 tember 30, 2003. 
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1 SEC. 202. EXTENSION OF INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE 

2 USER FEES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 (relating to miscellaneous provisions) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

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

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

8 a program requiring the payment of user fees for—

9 ‘‘(1) requests to the Internal Revenue Service 

10 for ruling letters, opinion letters, and determination 

11 letters, and 

12 ‘‘(2) other similar requests. 

13 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM CRITERIA.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The fees charged under the 

15 program required by subsection (a)—

16 ‘‘(A) shall vary according to categories (or 

17 subcategories) established by the Secretary, 

18 ‘‘(B) shall be determined after taking into 

19 account the average time for (and difficulty of) 

20 complying with requests in each category (and 

21 subcategory), and 

22 ‘‘(C) shall be payable in advance. 

23 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS, ETC.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

25 provide for such exemptions (and reduced fees)
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1 under such program as the Secretary deter2 mines to be appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN REQUESTS

4 REGARDING PENSION PLANS.—The Secretary 

5 shall not require payment of user fees under 

6 such program for requests for determination 

7 letters with respect to the qualified status of a 

8 pension benefit plan maintained solely by 1 or 

9 more eligible employers or any trust which is 

10 part of the plan. The preceding sentence shall 

11 not apply to any request—

12 ‘‘(i) made after the later of—

13 ‘‘(I) the fifth plan year the pen14 sion benefit plan is in existence, or 

15 ‘‘(II) the end of any remedial 

16 amendment period with respect to the 

17 plan beginning within the first 5 plan 

18 years, or 

19 ‘‘(ii) made by the sponsor of any pro20 totype or similar plan which the sponsor 

21 intends to market to participating employ22 ers. 

23 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—

24 For purposes of subparagraph (B)—
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1 ‘‘(i) PENSION BENEFIT PLAN.—The 

2 term ‘pension benefit plan’ means a pen3 sion, profit-sharing, stock bonus, annuity, 

4 or employee stock ownership plan. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—The 

6 term ‘eligible employer’ means an eligible 

7 employer (as defined in section 

8 408(p)(2)(C)(i)(I)) which has at least 1 

9 employee who is not a highly compensated 

10 employee (as defined in section 414(q)) 

11 and is participating in the plan. The deter12 mination of whether an employer is an eli13 gible employer under subparagraph (B) 

14 shall be made as of the date of the request 

15 described in such subparagraph. 

16 ‘‘(iii) DETERMINATION OF AVERAGE

17 FEES CHARGED.—For purposes of any de18 termination of average fees charged, any 

19 request to which subparagraph (B) applies 

20 shall not be taken into account. 

21 ‘‘(3) AVERAGE FEE REQUIREMENT.—The aver22 age fee charged under the program required by sub23 section (a) shall not be less than the amount deter24 mined under the following table:

Average 

‘‘Category Fee 

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

‘‘Category Fee 

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

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

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

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

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

2 this section with respect to requests made after December 

3 31, 2004.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

5 (1) The table of sections for chapter 77 of such 

6 Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new item:

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

8 (2) Section 10511 of the Revenue Act of 1987 

9 is repealed. 

10 (3) Section 620 of the Economic Growth and 

11 Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 is repealed. 

12 (c) LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, any fees collected pursuant to section 7528 

14 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by sub15 section (a), shall not be expended by the Internal Revenue 

16 Service unless provided by an appropriations Act. 

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply to requests made after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act. 
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1 TITLE III—TRADE PROVISIONS 

2 SEC. 301. EXTENSION OF COBRA FEES. 

3 Section 13031(j)(3) of the Consolidated Omnibus 

4 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)) 

5 is amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2003’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘March 31, 2004’’. 

7 TITLE IV—MEDICARE COST8 SHARING PROVISIONS 

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

10 CERTAIN QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS. 

11 (a) EXTENSION OF SUNSET.—Section 

12 1902(a)(10)(E)(iv) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 1396a(a)(10)(E)(iv)) is amended—

14 (1) by striking subclause (II); 

15 (2) beginning in the matter preceding subclause 

16 (I), by striking ‘‘ending with December 2002’’ and 

17 all that follows through ‘‘for medicare cost-sharing 

18 described’’ in subclause (I) and inserting ‘‘ending 

19 with March 2004) for medicare cost-sharing de20 scribed’’; and 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end and inserting 

22 a semicolon. 

23 (b) TOTAL AMOUNT AVAILABLE FOR ALLOCATION.—

24 Section 1933(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 1396u–3(c)) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (1)(E), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 

2 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2002 and 

3 2003’’; and 

4 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘the sum 

5 of’’ and all that follows through 

6 ‘‘1902(a)(10)(E)(iv)(II) in the State; to’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘the total number of individuals described in 

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

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

10 Section 1933 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 1396u–3) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

13 begins on January 1, 2004, and ends on March 31, 2004, 

14 a State shall select qualifying individuals, and provide 

15 such individuals with assistance, in accordance with the 

16 provisions of this section as in effect with respect to cal17 endar year 2003, except that for such purpose—

18 ‘‘(1) references in the preceding subsections of 

19 this section to ‘fiscal year’ and ‘calendar year’ shall 

20 be deemed to be references to such period; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the total allocation amount under sub22 section (c) for such period shall be $100,000,000.’’.

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