I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1022

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to States to correct

Y2K problems in computers that are used to administer State and

local government programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 1999

Mr. UNDERWOOD (for himself, Mrs. CHRISTIAN-CHRISTENSEN, Ms. NORTON,

Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants

to States to correct Y2K problems in computers that

are used to administer State and local government 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 ‘‘Y2K State and Local

5 Government Assistance Programs Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to

8 carry out this Act, the Secretary of Commerce may make
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1 grants under this Act only to States for carrying out ac2 tivities described in section 3.

3 (b) TIME LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not make

4 a grant under this Act after the expiration of the 2-year

5 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

6 (c) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—Of grants made

7 under this Act during the period described in subsection

8 (b), the Secretary may not make more than—

9 (1) 2 grants to any single State; and

10 (2) 75 grants overall.

11 SEC. 3. USE OF AMOUNTS.

12 (a) Y2K COMPLIANCE PROJECT.—Amounts received

13 under a grant under this Act may be used only to carry

14 out a project that meets the following requirements:

15 (1) The project makes Y2K compliant the infor16 mation technology used by a State or local govern17 ment agency to administer one or more Federal,

18 State, or local government programs.

19 (2) The project uses amounts received under

20 the grant to supplement and not to supplant the

21 level of State and local funds that, in the absence of

22 such amounts, would have been expended on efforts

23 to achieve Y2K compliance.

24 (3) The project meets such other requirements

25 as the Secretary may prescribe.
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1 (b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to this subsection,

3 each recipient shall, as a condition of receiving grant

4 amounts under this Act, supplement the grant

5 amounts received under this Act with an amount of

6 funds from sources other than this Act that is not

7 less than 50 percent of the grant amount received

8 under this Act.

9 (2) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—In calculating the

10 amount of supplemental funds under paragraph (1),

11 a recipient may include the value of any donated

12 material or building, the value of any lease on a

13 building, and any salary paid to staff to carry out

14 the Y2K compliance project.

15 (3) WAIVER FOR HARDSHIP.—The Secretary

16 may waive or modify the matching requirement de17 scribed in paragraph (1) in the case of any State

18 that the Secretary determines would suffer undue

19 hardship as a result of being subject to the require20 ment.

21 SEC. 4. SELECTION CRITERIA.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants

23 under this Act in accordance with competitive criteria es24 tablished by the Secretary, which shall include the need
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1 for and the feasibility of the proposed Y2K compliance

2 project.

3 (b) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to

4 proposed projects that relate to making Y2K compliant

5 the information technology used to administer Federal

6 welfare programs.

7 SEC. 5. APPLICATION.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make a grant

9 under this Act only with respect to an application by a

10 State for a grant under this Act that meets the following

11 requirements:

12 (1) The application is submitted through the

13 executive office of the State.

14 (2) The application is submitted to the Sec15 retary within 45 days after the enactment of this

16 Act.

17 (3) The application contains a description of

18 the proposed project, including a proposed budget

19 and a request for a specific funding amount.

20 (4) The application describes the manner in

21 which the State proposes to satisfy the matching re22 quirement described in section 3(b) or describes the

23 circumstances justifying a determination that the

24 State would suffer undue hardship as a result of

25 being subject to the requirement.
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1 (5) The application contains such other infor2 mation, assurances, and certifications as the Sec3 retary may require.

4 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

5 (a) BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Each recipient of grant

6 amounts under this Act shall submit to the Secretary each

7 year a report that—

8 (1) describes the status and results of the Y2K

9 compliance project for which the grant was made;

10 (2) includes an independent evaluation of the

11 project; and

12 (3) contains such other information as the Sec13 retary may require.

14 (b) BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 90 days after

15 the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the date

16 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit

17 to Congress a final report describing and evaluating the

18 activities carried out under this Act.

19 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

20 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

21 shall apply:

22 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

23 the Secretary of Commerce.

24 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any

25 State of the United States, the District of Columbia,
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1 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United

2 States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the

3 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,

4 and any other territory or possession of the United

5 States.

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

7 program’’ means one or more of the following pro8 grams:

9 (A) TANF.—A State program funded

10 under part A of title IV of the Social Security

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

12 (B) MEDICAID.—The program of medical

13 assistance under title XIX of the Social Secu14 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).

15 (C) FOOD STAMPS.—The food stamp pro16 gram, as defined in section 3(h) of the Food

17 Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(h)).

18 (D) WIC.—The program of assistance

19 under the special supplemental nutrition pro20 gram for women, infants and children (WIC)

21 under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of

22 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786).

23 (E) CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—The

24 child support and paternity establishment pro-
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1 gram established under part D of title IV of the

2 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

3 (F) CHILD WELFARE.—A child welfare

4 program or a program designed to promote safe

5 and stable families established under subpart 1

6 or 2 of part B of title IV of the Social Security

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.).

8 (G) CHILD CARE.—The Child Care and

9 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42

10 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) (including funding pro11 vided under section 418 of the Social Security

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 618)).

13 (4) Y2K COMPLIANT.—The term ‘‘Y2K compli14 ant’’ means, with respect to information technology,

15 that the information technology accurately processes

16 (including calculating, comparing, and sequencing)

17 date and time data from, into, and between the 20th

18 and 21st centuries and the years 1999 and 2000,

19 and leap year calculations, to the extent that other

20 information technology properly exchanges date and

21 time data with it.

22 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS.

23 The Secretary shall issue any regulations necessary

24 to carry out this Act.
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1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

3 this Act, $40,000,000 for fiscal years 1999 to 2001 fund4 ed from the Y2K Emergency Supplemental Funds appro5 priated in the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Sup6 plemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–

7 277; 112 Stat. 2681).

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