I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5011

To authorize the waiver of such provisions of law as may be necessary

to enable a limited amount of private sector earnings to be disregarded

in determining eligibility for assistance under welfare programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 21, 1994

Mr. BARCA of Wisconsin (for himself, Mr. SWETT, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr.

NADLER, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Operations

A BILL

To authorize the waiver of such provisions of law as may

be necessary to enable a limited amount of private sector

earnings to be disregarded in determining eligibility for

assistance under welfare programs.

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 ‘‘Welfare-to-Work In5 centives Act of 1994’’.
2

•HR 5011 IH

1 SEC. 2. APPLICATION FOR WAIVERS NECESSARY TO DIS2 REGARD PRIVATE SECTOR INCOME.

3 Any entity that administers a welfare program in a

4 State or a political subdivision of a State may submit to

5 the Secretary an application that contains the following:

6 (1) REQUEST FOR WAIVER.—A request that

7 compliance by the applicant with any Federal statu8 tory or regulatory requirement be waived to the ex9 tent necessary to enable the applicant in determining

10 eligibility for, or amount of, benefits under the pro11 gram to disregard private sector income in accord12 ance with rules set forth in the application.

13 (2) GEOGRAPHIC AREA.—The geographic area

14 in which the waiver is requested to apply.

15 (3) RECIPIENTS.—The particular groups of in16 dividuals, by age, service needs, economic cir17 cumstances, or other defining factors, with respect

18 to whom the waiver is requested to apply.

19 (4) OBJECTIVES AND PERFORMANCE CRI20 TERIA.—Specific objectives and criteria for measur21 ing levels of performance under the program during

22 the period for which the waiver is requested to

23 apply, a description of how such objectives and levels

24 of performance are expected to be achieved, a de25 scription of how such criteria are to be used to

26 measure performance, and a system for the com-
3

•HR 5011 IH

1 prehensive evaluation of the impact of the waiver on

2 participants, on the community, and on costs.

3 (5) COVERED PROGRAM.—The welfare program

4 to which the waiver is requested to apply, and the

5 criteria for determining eligibility for benefits under

6 the program.

7 (6) FISCAL CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—

8 Fiscal control and related accountability procedures

9 that are to apply under the program during the pe10 riod for which the waiver is requested to apply.

11 (7) WAIVER PERIOD.—The period during which

12 the waiver is requested to be in effect.

13 (8) OTHER INFORMATION.—Any other informa14 tion the Secretary may require to approve the appli15 cation.

16 SEC. 3. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS; WAIV17 ERS.

18 (a) REVIEW.—Upon receipt of an application submit19 ted in accordance with section 2, the Secretary shall—

20 (1) approve or disapprove the application within

21 90 days after such receipt;

22 (2) notify the applicant in writing of such ap23 proval or disapproval; and
4

•HR 5011 IH

1 (3) if the application is disapproved, include in

2 the notice of disapproval a written justification of

3 the reasons therefor.

4 (b) CONDITIONAL APPROVAL.—The Secretary may

5 condition approval of such an application on the accept6 ance by the applicant of specific modifications to the appli7 cation.

8 (c) APPROVAL.—

9 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall ap10 prove such an application, subject to paragraph (2),

11 if the Secretary determines that—

12 (A) granting the waiver requested in the

13 application will improve the effectiveness of the

14 covered program;

15 (B) the applicant has adequately consid16 ered, and the application appropriately address17 es, the effects that the administration of the

18 covered program will have on the administra19 tion of any other welfare program; and

20 (C) the applicant has or is developing data

21 bases, planning, and evaluation processes that

22 are adequate for operating the covered program

23 under the waiver and evaluating the effects of

24 the waiver.
5

•HR 5011 IH

1 (2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not ap2 prove such an application with respect to a covered

3 program if the Secretary determines that, over time,

4 the operation of the covered program under the

5 waiver requested in the application will result in a

6 net cost to the Federal Government. In making the

7 determination, the Secretary shall take into account

8 the estimated benefits of the covered program, in9 cluding any resulting reduction in the costs of other

10 welfare programs and any resulting increase in Fed11 eral revenues.

12 (3) IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD.—In approving

13 such an application, the Secretary shall specify the

14 period during which the waiver is to apply to the

15 covered program.

16 (d) WAIVERS.—If the Secretary approves an applica17 tion for the waiver under subsection (c), the Secretary

18 shall, subject to this subsection, waive compliance by the

19 applicant with any requirement of Federal law or regula20 tion that would prevent the applicant from disregarding

21 private sector income in determining eligibility for, or

22 amount of, benefits under the covered program.
6

•HR 5011 IH

1 SEC. 4. EVALUATIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any entity whose application is

3 approved under this Act shall, in accordance with regula4 tions issued by the Secretary—

5 (1) submit such reports on, and cooperate in

6 such audits of, the implementation of the assistance

7 plan contained in the application; and

8 (2) periodically evaluate the effects that imple9 mentation of the plan has had on—

10 (A) individuals who receive benefits under

11 the covered program included in the plan;

12 (B) communities where such individuals

13 live; and

14 (C) costs of administering the covered pro15 gram included in the plan.

16 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days after

17 the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date an ap18 plication is approved under this Act, and annually there19 after, the applicant shall submit to the Secretary a report

20 on the principal activities and achievements under the cov21 ered program operated in accordance with the approved

22 application during the period covered by the report, and

23 the report shall compare those achievements to the objec24 tives and performance criteria included in the application

25 pursuant to section 2(4).
7

•HR 5011 IH

1 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after

2 the end of the period for which the Secretary has initially

3 authorized an applicant to operate a covered program in

4 accordance with an approved application under this Act,

5 or at any time that the applicant determines that the plan

6 has demonstrated its worth and proven to be a superior

7 way to provide benefits under the covered program, the

8 entity shall submit to the Secretary a final report on such

9 implementation, including a full evaluation of the suc10 cesses and shortcomings of the covered program as so op11 erated and the effects of such implementation on individ12 uals who receive benefits under the covered program.

13 (d) EXTENSION OF PLANS.—The Secretary may ex14 tend, for such period as may be appropriate, the period

15 for which an applicant may operate a covered program in

16 accordance with an approved application under this Act,

17 based on the report of the applicant under subsection (c).

18 (e) SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may suspend

20 or terminate the effectivenesss of any waiver granted

21 under this Act with respect to a covered program if

22 the Secretary determines that—

23 (A) the applicant has failed to carry out

24 the covered program in accordance with any ap25 plicable provision of law or regulation; or
8

•HR 5011 IH

1 (B) the objectives and performance criteria

2 included in the application pursuant to section

3 2(4) have not been met.

4 (2) TIMING.—In suspending or terminating

5 waiver under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall

6 allow a reasonable period of time for appropriate

7 Federal, State, and local agencies to resume admin8 istration of the covered program in accordance with

9 otherwise applicable law.

10 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

11 As used in this Act:

12 (1) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered

13 program’’ means, with respect to an application for

14 a waiver, the welfare program to which the applica15 tion requests the waiver to apply.

16 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

17 means, with respect to a covered program, the Sec18 retary of Health and Human Services and the head

19 of the Federal agency responsible for the administra20 tion of the covered program.

21 (3) STATE.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘State’’

23 means the 50 States, the District of Columbia,

24 Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the

25 Virgin Islands.
9

•HR 5011 IH

1 (B) INDIAN TRIBES.—In the case of a wel2 fare program under which assistance is pro3 vided with respect to an Indian tribe, the In4 dian tribal organization is deemed to be a

5 State.

6 (4) WELFARE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘welfare

7 program’’ means any Federal or federally assisted

8 program eligibility for which is based, in whole or in

9 part, on financial need.

10 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the

12 United States shall submit to the Congress 2 reports

13 that—

14 (1) describe the extent to which welfare pro15 grams have been operated in accordance with waiv16 ers granted under this Act;

17 (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the welfare pro18 grams as so operated; and

19 (3) include recommendations with respect to

20 whether to continue activities under this Act.

21 (b) TIMING.—The Comptroller General shall submit

22 a report under subsection (a) not later than 3 years after

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, and another such

24 report not later than 6 years after such date of enactment.
10

•HR 5011 IH

1 SEC. 7. SUNSET.

2 Any authority provided under this Act shall expire

3 7 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ