II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1161 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to exempt preparation 

for high-skill, high-demand jobs from participation and time limits under 

the temporary assistance for needy families program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 6, 2005 

Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to exempt preparation for high-skill, high-demand jobs 

from participation and time limits under the temporary 

assistance for needy families program. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ENCOURAGING THE PREPARATION OF TANF 

4 RECIPIENTS FOR HIGH-SKILL, HIGH-DEMAND 

5 JOBS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 407(c)(2)(D) of the Social 

7 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607(c)(2)(D)) is amended to read 

8 as follows: 
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•S 1161 IS

1 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF PER2 SONS WHO MAY BE TREATED AS ENGAGED IN

3 WORK BY REASON OF PARTICIPATION IN EDU4 CATIONAL ACTIVITIES.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro6 vided in clause (ii), for purposes of para7 graphs (1)(B)(i) and (2)(B) of subsection 

8 (b), not more than 30 percent of the num9 ber of individuals in all families in a State 

10 who are treated as engaged in work for a 

11 month may consist of individuals who 

12 are— 

13 ‘‘(I) determined to be engaged in 

14 work for the month by reason of par15 ticipation in vocational educational 

16 training (but only with respect to such 

17 training that does not exceed 12 

18 months with respect to any indi19 vidual); or 

20 ‘‘(II) deemed to be engaged in 

21 work for the month by reason of sub22 paragraph (C) of this paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR EDUCATION IN

24 PREPARATION FOR SECTOR-SPECIFIC, 
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•S 1161 IS

1 HIGH-SKILL OCCUPATIONS TO MEET EM2 PLOYER DEMAND.— 

3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Notwith4 standing clause (i) and subsection 

5 (d)(8), for purposes of determining 

6 monthly participation rates under 

7 paragraphs (1)(B)(i) and (2)(B) of 

8 subsection (b) with respect to an indi9 vidual who is enrolled, in preparation 

10 for a sector-specific, high-skill occupa11 tion to meet employer demand (as de12 fined in subclause (II)), in a postsec13 ondary 2- or 4-year degree program 

14 or in vocational educational training— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the State may count 

16 the number of hours per week 

17 that the individual attends such 

18 program or training for purposes 

19 of determining the number of 

20 hours for which a family is en21 gaged in work for the month 

22 without regard to the 30 percent 

23 limitation under clause (i); and 

24 ‘‘(bb) the individual shall be 

25 permitted to complete the re-
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•S 1161 IS

1 quirements of the degree pro2 gram or vocational educational 

3 training within the normal time 

4 frame for full-time students seek5 ing the particular degree or com6 pleting such vocational edu7 cational training. 

8 ‘‘(II) SECTOR-SPECIFIC, HIGH9 SKILL OCCUPATION TO MEET EM10 PLOYER DEMAND DEFINED.—In sub11 clause (I), the term ‘sector-specific, 

12 high-demand, high-skill occupation to 

13 meet employer demand’ means an oc14 cupation— 

15 ‘‘(aa) that has been identi16 fied by the State workforce in17 vestment board established under 

18 section 111 of the Workforce In19 vestment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

20 2821) as within the needs of the 

21 State with regard to current and 

22 projected employment opportuni23 ties in specific industry sectors or 

24 that has been defined by the 

25 State agency administering the 
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1 State program funded under this 

2 part as within the needs of the 

3 State with regard to current and 

4 projected employment opportuni5 ties in specific industry sectors 

6 and is consistent with high de7 mand jobs identified in the State 

8 plan in accordance with section 

9 402(a)(1)(A)(vii); 

10 ‘‘(bb) that requires occupa11 tional training; and 

12 ‘‘(cc) that provides a wage 

13 of at least 75 percent of the 

14 State median hourly wage, as cal15 culated by the Bureau of Labor 

16 Statistics on the basis of the 

17 most recent Occupational Em18 ployment and Wage Survey.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING STATE PLAN AMENDMENT.—Sec20 tion 402(a)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 602(a)(1)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(vii) The document shall describe 

24 any strategies and programs the State 

25 plans to use to address employment place-
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1 ment, retention, and advancement for re2 cipients of assistance under the program, 

3 including placement into high-demand jobs 

4 and whether such jobs are identified using 

5 labor market information.’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section take effect on October 1, 2005. 

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