II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 111

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of

Health and Human Services to develop and implement an information

gathering system to permit the measurement, analysis, and reporting

of welfare dependency.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. MOYNIHAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the

Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and

implement an information gathering system to permit

the measurement, analysis, and reporting of welfare

dependency.

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 Dependency

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds:
2

•S 111 IS

1 (1) In the period since 1960 the average annual

2 caseload of the aid to families with dependent chil3 dren program (hereafter referred to in this section

4 as ‘‘AFDC’’) under title IV of the Social Security

5 Act has quintupled.

6 (2) In 1990 there were on average almost twice

7 as many households receiving AFDC payments as

8 the number of households and individuals receiving

9 unemployment compensation benefits.

10 (3) Nearly one-quarter of children born in the

11 period 1967 through 1969 were on welfare (AFDC)

12 before reaching age 18. For minority children this

13 ratio approached three-quarters.

14 (4) At any given time one-quarter of school

15 children are from single parent families, or house16 holds with neither parent. The National Assessment

17 of Educational Progress has documented the edu18 cational losses associated with single parent or no

19 parent households.

20 (5) Only one-quarter of father-absent families

21 receive full child support and over one-half receive

22 none.

23 (6) The average AFDC benefit has declined by

24 more than one-third since 1960.
3

•S 111 IS

1 (7) The burden of welfare dependency is an

2 issue of necessary concern to women, who in over3 whelming proportion are the heads of single parent

4 families.

5 (8) The rate of welfare dependency may be ris6 ing. However, the statistical basis on which to assess

7 this national issue is wholly inadequate, much as the

8 statistical basis for addressing issues of unemploy9 ment was inadequate prior to the Employment Act

10 of 1946, which required the creation of the annual

11 economic report of the President and the develop12 ment of unemployment rates.

13 (b) CONGRESSIONAL POLICY.—The Congress hereby

14 declares that—

15 (1) it is the policy and responsibility of the

16 Federal Government to reduce welfare dependency

17 to the lowest possible level, and to assist families to18 ward self-sufficiency, consistent with other essential

19 national goals;

20 (2) it is the policy of the United States to

21 strengthen families, to ensure that children grow up

22 in families that are economically self-sufficient and

23 to underscore the responsibility of parents to sup24 port their children;
4

•S 111 IS

1 (3) the Federal Government should help welfare

2 recipients as well as individuals at risk of welfare de3 pendency to improve their education and job skills,

4 to obtain access to necessary support services, and

5 to take such other steps as may assist them to meet

6 their responsibilities to become financially independ7 ent; and

8 (4) it is the purpose of this Act to aid in lower9 ing welfare dependency by providing the public with

10 generally accepted measures of welfare dependency

11 so that the public can track dependency over time

12 and determine whether progress is being made in re13 ducing welfare dependency and enabling families to

14 be self-sufficient.

15 SEC. 3. MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING OF WELFARE DE16 PENDENCY.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Social Security Act

18 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec19 tion 413 the following new section:

20 ‘‘MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING OF WELFARE

21 DEPENDENCY

22 ‘‘SEC. 414. (a) DEVELOPMENT OF WELFARE DE23 PENDENCY INDICATORS, RATES, AND PREDICTORS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta25 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall develop
5

•S 111 IS

1 indicators, rates, and predictors of welfare depend2 ency.

3 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall—

4 ‘‘(A) develop—

5 ‘‘(i) indicators and rates related to the

6 level of welfare dependency in the United

7 States; and

8 ‘‘(ii) predictors that are correlated

9 with welfare dependency;

10 ‘‘(B) assess the data needed to report an11 nually on the indicators, rates, and predictors,

12 including the ability of existing data collection

13 efforts to provide such data and any additional

14 data collection needs; and

15 ‘‘(C) not later than 2 years after the date

16 of the enactment of this section, provide an in17 terim report containing conclusions resulting

18 from the development and assessment described

19 in subparagraphs (A) and (B), to—

20 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Ways and

21 Means of the House of Representatives;

22 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Education and

23 Labor of the House of Representatives;

24 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Agriculture of

25 the House of Representatives;
6

•S 111 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Energy and

2 Commerce of the House of Representa3 tives;

4 ‘‘(v) the Committee on Finance of the

5 Senate;

6 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Labor and

7 Human Resources of the Senate; and

8 ‘‘(vii) the Committee on Agriculture,

9 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate.

10 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the indi11 cators, rates, and predictors, the Secretary shall con12 sider the complexity of patterns of welfare depend13 ency and self-sufficiency attainment, and the exter14 nal factors, including the economy, that affect wel15 fare dependency.

16 ‘‘(b) ADVISORY BOARD ON WELFARE DEPEND17 ENCY.—

18 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an

19 Advisory Board on Welfare Dependency (hereafter

20 referred to in this section as the ‘‘Board’’).

21 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com22 posed of 12 members with equal numbers to be ap23 pointed by the House of Representatives, the Senate,

24 and the President. The Board shall be composed of

25 experts in the fields of welfare research and statis-
7

•S 111 IS

1 tical methodology, representatives of State and local

2 welfare agencies, and organizations concerned with

3 welfare issues.

4 ‘‘(3) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy occurring in

5 the membership of the Board shall be filled in the

6 same manner as the original appointment for the po7 sition being vacated. The vacancy shall not affect

8 the power of the remaining members to execute the

9 duties of the Board.

10 ‘‘(4) DUTIES.—Duties of the Board shall in11 clude—

12 ‘‘(A) providing advice and recommenda13 tions to the Secretary on the development of in14 dicators, rates, and predictors of welfare de15 pendency, and the identification of data collec16 tion needs and existing data collection efforts,

17 described in subsection (a)(2)(B); and

18 ‘‘(B) providing advice on the development

19 and presentation of the annual report on wel20 fare dependency indicators, rates, and predic21 tors required under subsection (c).

22 ‘‘(5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the

23 Board shall not be compensated, but shall receive

24 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist25 ence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies
8

•S 111 IS

1 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United

2 States Code, for each day the member is engaged in

3 the performance of duties away from the home or

4 regular place of business of the member.

5 ‘‘(6) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—The

6 Secretary shall detail, without reimbursement, any

7 of the personnel of the Department of Health and

8 Human Services to the Board to assist the Board in

9 carrying out its duties. Any detail shall not interrupt

10 or otherwise affect the civil service status or privi11 leges of the Federal employee.

12 ‘‘(7) VOLUNTARY SERVICE.—Notwithstanding

13 section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the

14 Board may accept the voluntary services provided by

15 a member of the Board.

16 ‘‘(8) TERMINATION OF BOARD.—The Board

17 shall be terminated at such time as the Secretary

18 determines the duties described in paragraph (4)

19 have been completed, but in any case prior to the

20 submission of the first report required under sub21 section (c).

22 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL WELFARE DEPENDENCY REPORT.—

23 ‘‘(1) PREPARATION.—The Secretary shall pre24 pare an annual report on welfare dependency in the

25 United States. The report shall attempt to identify
9

•S 111 IS

1 indicators, rates, and predictors of welfare depend2 ency and trends in dependency, and provide informa3 tion and analysis on the causes of dependency.

4 ‘‘(2) COVERAGE.—The report shall include

5 analysis of families and individuals receiving assist6 ance under means-tested benefit programs, including

7 the program of aid to families with dependent chil8 dren under this part, the food stamp program under

9 the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and the Supplemental

10 Security Income program under title XVI, or as gen11 eral assistance under programs administered by

12 State and local governments.

13 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each report shall set forth—

14 ‘‘(A) for each of the means-tested benefit

15 programs described in paragraph (2)—

16 ‘‘(i) current trends in the number and

17 rates of recipients and the characteristics,

18 including age, sex, marital status, presence

19 of children, labor force participation, and

20 disability, of the recipients; and

21 ‘‘(ii) total expenditures;

22 ‘‘(B) the proportion of the total population

23 receiving each of the programs and patterns of

24 multiple program participation and recipiency

25 duration;
10

•S 111 IS

1 ‘‘(C)(i) characteristics of each such pro2 gram, including total expenditures broken down

3 by Federal and State shares, gross income

4 limit, need standards, and maximum potential

5 benefit by State; and

6 ‘‘(ii) a description of the interactions

7 among the programs;

8 ‘‘(D) in the case of the second, or a subse9 quent, report, changes in the information de10 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (C) from

11 the previous year, and trends in program par12 ticipation;

13 ‘‘(E) annual numerical goals for recipients,

14 and expenditures, within each program and

15 within significant subgroups within the popu16 lation, for the calendar year in which the report

17 is transmitted and for each of the following 4

18 calendar years, which goals shall, consistent

19 with other essential national goals, reflect the

20 objectives of—

21 ‘‘(i) reducing welfare dependency to

22 the lowest possible level; and

23 ‘‘(ii) increasing family self-sufficiency

24 at or above the Federal poverty level to the

25 greatest extent possible;
11

•S 111 IS

1 ‘‘(F)(i) the programs and policies as the

2 Secretary, in consultation with the Board, de3 termines are necessary to meet the goals for

4 each of the 5 years; and

5 ‘‘(ii) such recommendations for legislation,

6 which shall not include proposals to reduce eli7 gibility levels or impose barriers to program ac8 cess, as the Secretary may determine to be nec9 essary or desirable to reduce welfare depend10 ency; and

11 ‘‘(G) interim goals for reducing the propor12 tion of children, and families with children, who

13 are recipients of aid to families with dependent

14 children to 10 percent of families with children,

15 adjusted for economic conditions.

16 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall submit

17 such a report not later than 3 years after the date

18 of the enactment of this section, and annually there19 after, to the committees specified in subsection

20 (a)(2)(C). The report shall be transmitted during

21 the first 60 days of each regular session of Con22 gress.’’.

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

24 subsection (a) shall be effective on the date of the enact25 ment of this Act.
12

•S 111 IS

Æ