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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 699

To reward states that enact welfare policies and support programs that

truly lift families out of poverty.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 10, 1999

Ms. WOOLSEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To reward states that enact welfare policies and support

programs that truly lift families out of poverty.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Opportunities

5 Bonus Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. BONUS TO BUILD REAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR POOR

7 FAMILIES.

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

9 603(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(6) BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES BONUS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

2 make a grant pursuant to this paragraph to

3 each State for each bonus year for which the

4 State is a high performing State.

5 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

7 (ii), the Secretary shall determine the

8 amount of the grant payable under this

9 paragraph to a high performing State for

10 a bonus year, which shall be based on the

11 score assigned to the State under subpara12 graph (D)(i) for the fiscal year that imme13 diately precedes the bonus year.

14 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The amount pay15 able to a State under this paragraph for a

16 bonus year shall not exceed 5 percent of

17 the State family assistance grant and shall

18 be used to address the matters set forth in

19 subparagraph (C).

20 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR MEASURING STATE

21 PERFORMANCE.—Not later than 1 year after

22 the date of the enactment of this paragraph,

23 the Secretary, in consultation with the National

24 Governor’s Association and the Institute for

25 Women’s Policy Research, shall develop criteria
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1 for measuring State performance in operating

2 the State program funded under this part to

3 address the following matters as they relate to

4 the ability of recipients of assistance under the

5 State program to become economically self-suf6 ficient:

7 ‘‘(i) CHILD CARE.—Whether States

8 are—

9 ‘‘(I) ensuring an adequate supply

10 of safe, accessible, appropriate, and

11 quality child care slots;

12 ‘‘(II) helping women identify and

13 place children in safe, accessible, ap14 propriate, and quality child care;

15 ‘‘(III) ensuring that available

16 child care slots are filled;

17 ‘‘(IV) improving the quality of

18 child care by ensuring that child care

19 providers are adequately paid and

20 trained;

21 ‘‘(V) increasing access to safe,

22 accessible, appropriate, and quality

23 child care by making child care sub24 sidies available to recipients of assist25 ance under the State program funded
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1 under this part and families that earn

2 up to 85 percent of the State’s me3 dian income;

4 ‘‘(VI) collaborating with State

5 child care resource and referral agen6 cies and child care development ex7 perts in developing and implementing

8 child care programs and policies; and

9 ‘‘(VII) collaborating with State

10 domestic violence coalitions to address

11 the child care needs of families af12 fected by domestic violence.

13 ‘‘(ii) EMPLOYMENT.—Whether States

14 are—

15 ‘‘(I) providing education and

16 training for recipients of assistance

17 under the State program under this

18 part for employment that pays a sus19 tainable wage, such as apprenticeable,

20 technical, and professional occupa21 tions, and nontraditional employment;

22 ‘‘(II) placing such recipients in

23 such employment;

24 ‘‘(III) retaining such recipients in

25 such employment;
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1 ‘‘(IV) providing career develop2 ment assistance including job readi3 ness training, reliable, up-to-date ca4 reer counseling services, and employ5 ability assessments on available em6 ployment that pays a sustainable

7 wage, such as nontraditional training

8 and education options and employ9 ment opportunities to all women en10 tering welfare-to-work programs; and

11 ‘‘(V) utilizing resources available

12 under title I of the Workforce Invest13 ment Act of 1998, including section

14 134(a)(3)(A)(vi)(II) of such Act, to

15 support State efforts on education,

16 training, placement, retention, and ca17 reer development assistance, as de18 scribed in subclauses (I) through (IV).

19 ‘‘(iii) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—Whether

20 States are—

21 ‘‘(I) collaborating with State do22 mestic violence coalitions in imple23 menting substantive programs ad24 dressing domestic violence as an im25 pediment to women’s work and edu-
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1 cation (such as through demonstration

2 and model projects), programs placing

3 domestic violence advocates in welfare

4 offices, and programs providing em5 ployment and support services for vic6 tims of domestic violence that will

7 reach a substantial number of bat8 tered women;

9 ‘‘(II) collaborating with State do10 mestic violence coalitions in adopting

11 and implementing the option under

12 the State plan relating to domestic vi13 olence set forth in section 402(a)(7);

14 ‘‘(III) collaborating with State

15 domestic violence coalitions in requir16 ing training on domestic violence for

17 case workers for the State program

18 funded under this part;

19 ‘‘(IV) collaborating with State

20 domestic violence coalitions in requir21 ing training on domestic violence for

22 job training, education, and job place23 ment programs that are contracted by

24 the State program funded under this

25 part, and requiring that such pro-
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1 grams implement strategies and pro2 grams to support victims of domestic

3 violence in the workplace;

4 ‘‘(V) conducting outreach to em5 ployers of recipients of assistance to

6 ensure that employers are aware of

7 and are implementing strategies and

8 programs to support victims of domes9 tic violence in the workplace; and

10 ‘‘(VI) conducting public edu11 cation on domestic violence.

12 ‘‘(D) SCORING OF STATE PERFORMANCE;

13 SETTING OF PERFORMANCE THRESHOLDS.—

14 For each bonus year, the Secretary shall—

15 ‘‘(i) use the criteria developed under

16 subparagraph (C) to assign a score to each

17 eligible State for the fiscal year that imme18 diately precedes the bonus year; and

19 ‘‘(ii) prescribe a performance thresh20 old in such a manner so as to ensure

21 that—

22 ‘‘(I) the average annual total

23 amount of grants to be made under

24 this paragraph for each bonus year

25 equals $200,000,000; and
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1 ‘‘(II) the total amount of grants

2 to be made under this paragraph for

3 all bonus years equals

4 $1,000,000,000.

5 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this para6 graph:

7 ‘‘(i) BONUS YEAR.—The term ‘bonus

8 year’ means fiscal years 2001, 2002, 2003,

9 2004, and 2005.

10 ‘‘(ii) CHILD CARE.—The term ‘child

11 care’ means all programs and arrange12 ments utilized by parents for the care of

13 children from birth through age 14, and

14 for the care of children who are older than

15 age 14 and have special needs, including

16 day care services provided by centers, fam17 ily day care, group family day care, infor18 mal care, after hours care, and before- and

19 after-school programs.

20 ‘‘(iii) CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.—

21 The term ‘child with special needs’ has the

22 same meaning as the term ‘child with a

23 disability’ in section 602(3)(A)(i) of the In24 dividuals With Disabilities Education Act.
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1 ‘‘(iv) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The

2 term ‘domestic violence’ has the same

3 meaning as the term ‘battered or subjected

4 to extreme cruelty’, as defined in section

5 408(a)(7)(C)(iii).

6 ‘‘(v) HIGH PERFORMANCE STATE.—

7 The term ‘high performance State’ means,

8 with respect to a bonus year, an eligible

9 State whose score assigned pursuant to

10 subparagraph (D)(i) for the fiscal year im11 mediately preceding the bonus year equals

12 or exceeds the performance threshold pre13 scribed under subparagraph (D)(ii) for

14 such preceding fiscal year.

15 ‘‘(vi) SUSTAINABLE WAGE.—The term

16 ‘sustainable wage’ means a wage that is at

17 least 185 percent above the poverty line

18 and that takes into account costs related

19 to employment such as Federal, State, and

20 local taxes, child care, transportation, food,

21 and shelter costs for a particular geo22 graphic area.

23 ‘‘(vii) NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOY24 MENT.—The term ‘nontraditional employ25 ment’ means occupations or fields of work,
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1 including careers in computer science,

2 technology, and other emerging high skill

3 occupations, for which individuals from one

4 gender comprise less than 25 percent of

5 the individuals employed in each such oc6 cupation or field of work.

7 ‘‘(viii) POVERTY LINE.—The term

8 ‘poverty line’ has the meaning given such

9 term in section 673(2) of the Community

10 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.

11 9902(2)), including any revision required

12 by such section.

13 ‘‘(F) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA14 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated

15 for fiscal years 2001 through 2005 a total of

16 $1,000,000,000 for grants under this para17 graph.’’.

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