I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1490 

To amend title IV–A of the Social Security Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 4, 2019 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mrs. WALORSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title IV–A of the Social Security Act, and for 

other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Helping Americans 

5 Succeed by Measuring Outcomes Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCOUNTABILITY BY MEASURING 

7 WORK OUTCOMES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 407 of the Social Security 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 607), as amended by subsection (c) of this 


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1 section, is amended by inserting before subsection (b) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(a) PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY AND WORK

4 OUTCOMES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

6 is to provide for the establishment of performance 

7 accountability measures to assess the effectiveness of 

8 States in increasing employment, retention, and ad9 vancement among families receiving assistance under 

10 the State program funded under this part or any 

11 other State program funded with qualified State ex12 penditures. 

13 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—A State to which a grant 

14 is made under section 403 for a fiscal year shall 

15 achieve the requisite level of performance on an indi16 cator described in paragraph (3)(B) of this sub17 section for the fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(3) MEASURING STATE PERFORMANCE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State, in con20 sultation with the Secretary, shall collect and 

21 submit to the Secretary the information nec22 essary to measure the level of performance of 

23 the State for each indicator described in sub24 paragraph (B), for fiscal year 2020 and each 

25 fiscal year thereafter, and the Secretary shall 


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1 use the information collected for fiscal year 

2 2020 to establish the baseline level of perform3 ance for each State for each such indicator. 

4 ‘‘(B) INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE.— 

5 The indicators described in this subparagraph, 

6 for a fiscal year, are the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) The percentage of individuals who 

8 were work-eligible individuals as of the 

9 time of exit from the program, who are in 

10 unsubsidized employment during the 2nd 

11 quarter after the exit. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The percentage of individuals 

13 who were work-eligible individuals as of the 

14 time of exit from the program, who are in 

15 unsubsidized employment during the 2nd 

16 and 4th quarters after the exit. 

17 ‘‘(iii) The median earnings of individ18 uals who were work-eligible individuals as 

19 of the time of exit from the program, who 

20 are in unsubsidized employment during the 

21 2nd quarter after the exit. 

22 ‘‘(iv) The percentage of individuals 

23 who have not attained 24 years of age, are 

24 attending high school or enrolled in an 

25 equivalency program, and are work-eligible 


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1 individuals or were work-eligible individ2 uals as of the time of exit from the pro3 gram, who obtain a high school degree or 

4 its recognized equivalent while receiving as5 sistance under the State program funded 

6 under this part or within 1 year after the 

7 exit. 

8 ‘‘(C) LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each State 

10 submitting a State plan pursuant to sec11 tion 402(a), there shall be established, in 

12 accordance with this subparagraph, levels 

13 of performance for each of the indicators 

14 described in subparagraph (B) of this 

15 paragraph. 

16 ‘‘(ii) WEIGHT.—The weight assigned 

17 to such an indicator shall be the following: 

18 ‘‘(I) 40 percent, in the case of 

19 the indicator described in subpara20 graph (B)(i). 

21 ‘‘(II) 25 percent, in the case of 

22 the indicator described in subpara23 graph (B)(ii)(II). 


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1 ‘‘(III) 25 percent, in the case of 

2 the indicator described in subpara3 graph (B)(iii). 

4 ‘‘(IV) 10 percent, in the case of 

5 the indicator described in subpara6 graph (B)(iv). 

7 ‘‘(iii) AGREEMENT ON REQUISITE

8 PERFORMANCE LEVEL FOR EACH INDI9 CATOR.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec11 retary and the State shall jointly es12 tablish the requisite level of perform13 ance for the State with respect to 

14 each indicator described in clause (ii), 

15 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

16 2023, and in the case of each of fiscal 

17 years 2021 through 2023, shall do so 

18 before the beginning of the respective 

19 fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘(II) REQUIREMENTS IN ESTAB21 LISHING PERFORMANCE LEVELS.—In 

22 establishing the requisite levels of per23 formance, the State and the Secretary 

24 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) take into account how 

2 levels involved compare with the 

3 levels established for other 

4 States; 

5 ‘‘(bb) ensure the levels in6 volved are adjusted, using the ob7 jective statistical model referred 

8 to in clause (v), based on— 

9 ‘‘(AA) the differences 

10 among States in economic 

11 conditions, including dif12 ferences in unemployment 

13 rates or employment losses 

14 or gains in particular indus15 tries; 

16 ‘‘(BB) the characteris17 tics of participants on entry 

18 into the program, including 

19 indicators of prior work his20 tory, lack of educational or 

21 occupational skills attain22 ment, or other factors that 

23 may affect employment and 

24 earnings; and 


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1 ‘‘(cc) take into account the 

2 extent to which the levels in3 volved promote continuous im4 provement in performance by 

5 each State. 

6 ‘‘(iv) REVISIONS BASED ON ECONOMIC

7 CONDITIONS AND INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING

8 ASSISTANCE DURING THE FISCAL YEAR.— 

9 The Secretary shall, in accordance with the 

10 objective statistical model referred to in 

11 clause (v), revise the requisite levels of per12 formance for a State and a fiscal year to 

13 reflect the economic conditions and charac14 teristics of the relevant individuals in the 

15 State during the fiscal year. 

16 ‘‘(v) STATISTICAL ADJUSTMENT

17 MODEL.—The Secretary shall use an objec18 tive statistical model to make adjustments 

19 to the requisite levels of performance for 

20 the economic conditions and characteristics 

21 of the relevant individuals, and shall con22 sult with the Secretary of Labor to develop 

23 a model that is the same as or similar to 

24 the model described in section 

25 116(b)(3)(A)(viii) of the Workforce InnoVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:45 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1490.IH H1490

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1 vation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

2 3141(b)(3)(A)(viii)). 

3 ‘‘(vi) DEFINITION OF EXIT.—In this 

4 subsection, the term ‘exit’ means, with re5 spect to a State program funded under 

6 this part, ceases to receive assistance 

7 under the program. 

8 ‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—In order to ensure 

9 nationwide comparability of data, the Secretary, 

10 after consultation with the Secretary of Labor 

11 and with States, shall issue regulations gov12 erning the establishment of the performance ac13 countability system under this subsection and a 

14 template for performance reports to be used by 

15 all States.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. TRANSITIONAL PHASE-OUT OF BENEFITS FOR FAMI17 LIES TO SUPPORT SUCCESS IN WORK. 

18 Section 402(a)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)(B)) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(vi) The document shall include a de22 scription of how the State allows for a 

23 transitional period of benefits, such as 

24 through temporary earned income dis25 regards or a gradual reduction in the 


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1 monthly benefit amount, for an individual 

2 receiving assistance who obtains employ3 ment and becomes ineligible due to an in4 crease in income obtained through the em5 ployment or through an increase in 

6 wages.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

9 on October 1, 2019. 

Æ 


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