I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3055 

To reform the Federal supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) 

so that States have the option of conducting pilot projects to require 

that able-bodied individuals participate in work activities as a condition 

of receiving benefits under such program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mr. SOUTHERLAND (for himself, Mr. REED, Ms. JENKINS, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT

of Georgia, Mr. BENTIVOLIO, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. KINGSTON) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To reform the Federal supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) so that States have the option of conducting pilot projects to require that able-bodied individuals participate in work activities as a condition of receiving benefits under such 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Relief to 

5 Individuals Desiring Employment (PRIDE) Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROJECTS TO PROMOTE WORK AND IN2 CREASE STATE ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE 

3 SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 Effective October 1, 2013, section 17 of the Food and 

6 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2026) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(l) PILOT PROJECTS TO PROMOTE WORK AND IN9 CREASE STATE ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL

10 NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

12 out pilot projects to develop and test methods allow13 ing States to run a work program with certain fea14 tures comparable to the State program funded under 

15 part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), with the intent of increasing 

17 employment and self-sufficiency through increased 

18 State accountability and thereby reducing the need 

19 for supplemental nutrition assistance benefits. 

20 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this 

22 subsection, the Secretary shall enter into coop23 erative agreements with States in accordance 

24 with pilot projects that meet the criteria re25 quired under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a 

2 cooperative agreement under this paragraph, a 

3 State shall submit to the Secretary a plan that 

4 complies with requirements of this subsection 

5 beginning in fiscal year 2014. The Secretary 

6 may not disapprove applications which meet the 

7 requirements of this subsection as described 

8 through its amended supplemental nutrition as9 sistance State Plan. 

10 ‘‘(C) ASSURANCES.—A State shall include 

11 in its plan assurances that its pilot project 

12 will— 

13 ‘‘(i) operate for at least three 12- 

14 month periods but not more than five 12- 

15 month periods; 

16 ‘‘(ii) have a robust data collection sys17 tem for program administration that is de18 signed and shared with project evaluators 

19 to ensure proper and timely evaluation; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iii) intend to offer a work activity 

22 described in paragraph (4) to adults as23 signed and required to participate under 

24 paragraph (3)(A) and who are not exempt 

25 under paragraph (3)(F). 


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1 ‘‘(D) NUMBER OF PILOT PROJECTS.—Any 

2 State may carry out a pilot project that meets 

3 the requirements of this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(E) EXTENT OF PILOT PROJECTS.—Pilot 

5 projects shall cover no less than the entire 

6 State. 

7 ‘‘(F) OTHER PROGRAM WAIVERS.—Waivers 

8 for able-bodied adults without dependents pro9 vided under section 6(o) are void for States cov10 ered by a pilot project carried out under para11 graph (1). 

12 ‘‘(3) WORK ACTIVITY.—(A) For purposes of 

13 this subsection, the term ‘work activity’ means any 

14 of the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) Employment in the public or private 

16 sector that is not subsidized by any public pro17 gram. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Employment in the private sector for 

19 which the employer receives a subsidy from 

20 public funds to offset some or all of the wages 

21 and costs of employing an adult. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Employment in the public sector for 

23 which the employer receives a subsidy from 

24 public funds to offset some or all of the wages 

25 and costs of employing an adult. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) A work activity that— 

2 ‘‘(I) is performed in return for public 

3 benefits; 

4 ‘‘(II) provides an adult with an oppor5 tunity to acquire the general skills, knowl6 edge, and work habits necessary to obtain 

7 employment; 

8 ‘‘(III) is designed to improve the em9 ployability of those who cannot find unsub10 sidized employment; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) is supervised by an employer, 

12 work site sponsor, or other responsible 

13 party on an ongoing basis. 

14 ‘‘(v) Training in the public or private sec15 tor that is given to a paid employee while he or 

16 she is engaged in productive work and that pro17 vides knowledge and skills essential to the full 

18 and adequate performance of the job. 

19 ‘‘(vi) Job search, obtaining employment, or 

20 preparation to seek or obtain employment, in21 cluding— 

22 ‘‘(I) life skills training; 

23 ‘‘(II) substance abuse treatment or 

24 mental health treatment, determined to be 

25 necessary and documented by a qualified 


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1 medical, substance abuse, or mental health 

2 professional; or 

3 ‘‘(III) rehabilitation activities; 

4 supervised by a public agency or other respon5 sible party on an ongoing basis. 

6 ‘‘(vii) Structured programs and embedded 

7 activities— 

8 ‘‘(I) in which adults perform work for 

9 the direct benefit of the community under 

10 the auspices of public or nonprofit organi11 zations; 

12 ‘‘(II) that are limited to projects that 

13 serve useful community purposes in fields 

14 such as health, social service, environ15 mental protection, education, urban and 

16 rural redevelopment, welfare, recreation, 

17 public facilities, public safety, and child 

18 care; 

19 ‘‘(III) that are designed to improve 

20 the employability of adults not otherwise 

21 able to obtain unsubsidized employment; 

22 ‘‘(IV) that are supervised on an ongo23 ing basis; and 

24 ‘‘(V) with respect to which a State 

25 agency takes into account, to the extent 


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1 possible, the prior training, experience, and 

2 skills of a recipient in making appropriate 

3 community service assignments. 

4 ‘‘(viii) Career and technical training pro5 grams (not to exceed 12 months with respect to 

6 any adult) that are directly related to the prep7 aration of adults for employment in current or 

8 emerging occupations and that are supervised 

9 on an ongoing basis. 

10 ‘‘(ix) Training or education for job skills 

11 that are required by an employer to provide an 

12 adult with the ability to obtain employment or 

13 to advance or adapt to the changing demands 

14 of the workplace and that are supervised on an 

15 ongoing basis. 

16 ‘‘(x) Education that is related to a specific 

17 occupation, job, or job offer and that is super18 vised on an ongoing basis. 

19 ‘‘(xi) In the case of an adult who has not 

20 completed secondary school or received such a 

21 certificate of general equivalence, regular at22 tendance— 

23 ‘‘(I) in accordance with the require24 ments of the secondary school or course of 


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1 study, at a secondary school or in a course 

2 of study leading to such certificate; and 

3 ‘‘(II) supervised on an ongoing basis. 

4 ‘‘(xii) Providing child care to enable an5 other recipient of public benefits to participate 

6 in a community service program that— 

7 ‘‘(I) does not provide compensation 

8 for such community service; 

9 ‘‘(II) is a structured program de10 signed to improve the employability of 

11 adults who participate in such program; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(III) is supervised on an ongoing 

14 basis. 

15 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIONS.—Work activities under 

16 this subsection shall be subject to all applicable 

17 health and safety standards. Except as described in 

18 clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A), the 

19 term ‘work activity’ shall be considered work prepa20 ration and not defined as employment for purposes 

21 of other law. 

22 ‘‘(4) PILOT PROJECTS.—Pilot projects carried 

23 out under paragraph (1) shall include interventions 

24 to which adults are assigned that are designed to re25 duce unnecessary dependence, promote self suffiVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:51 Aug 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3055.IH H3055

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1 ciency, increase work levels, increase earned income, 

2 and reduce supplemental nutrition assistance benefit 

3 expenditures among households eligible for, applying 

4 for, or participating in the supplemental nutrition 

5 assistance program. 

6 ‘‘(A) Adults assigned to interventions by 

7 the State shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) be subject to mandatory partici9 pation in work activities specified in para10 graph (4), except those with 1 or more de11 pendent children under 1 year of age; 

12 ‘‘(ii) participate in work activities 

13 specified in paragraph (4) for a minimum 

14 of 20 hours per week per household; 

15 ‘‘(iii) be a maximum age of not less 

16 than 50 and not more than 60, as defined 

17 by the State; 

18 ‘‘(iv) be subject to penalties during a 

19 period of nonparticipation without good 

20 cause ranging from, at State option, a 

21 minimum of the removal of the adults from 

22 the household benefit amount, up to a 

23 maximum of the discontinuance of the en24 tire household benefit amount; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) not be penalized for nonparticipa2 tion if child care is not available for 1 or 

3 more children under 6 years of age. 

4 ‘‘(B) The State shall allow certain individ5 uals to be exempt from work requirements— 

6 ‘‘(i) those participating in work pro7 grams under a State program funded 

8 under part A of title IV of the Social Secu9 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) for an 

10 equal or greater number of hours; 

11 ‘‘(ii) 1 adult family member per 

12 household who is needed in the home to 

13 care for a disabled family member; 

14 ‘‘(iii) an adult who is receiving tem15 porary or permanent disability benefits 

16 issued by governmental sources; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) those with a good cause reason 

18 for nonparticipation, such as victims of do19 mestic violence, as defined by the State. 

20 ‘‘(5) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.— 

21 ‘‘(A) EVALUATION.— 

22 ‘‘(i) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec24 retary shall provide for each State 

25 that enters into an agreement under 


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1 paragraph (2) an independent, longi2 tudinal evaluation of its pilot project 

3 under this subsection to determine 

4 total program savings over the entire 

5 course of the pilot project with results 

6 reported in consecutive 12-month in7 crements. 

8 ‘‘(II) PURPOSE.—The purpose of 

9 the evaluation is to measure the im10 pact of interventions provided by the 

11 State under the pilot project on the 

12 ability of adults in households eligible 

13 for, applying for, or participating in 

14 the supplemental nutrition assistance 

15 program to find and retain employ16 ment that leads to increased house17 hold income and reduced dependency. 

18 ‘‘(III) REQUIREMENT.—The 

19 independent evaluation under sub20 clause (I) shall use valid statistical 

21 methods which can determine the dif22 ference between supplemental nutri23 tion assistance benefit expenditures, if 

24 any, as a result of the interventions as 

25 compared to a control group that— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) is not subject to the 

2 interventions provided by the 

3 State under the pilot project 

4 under this subsection; and 

5 ‘‘(bb) maintains services 

6 provided under 16(h) in the year 

7 prior to the start of the pilot 

8 project under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(IV) OPTION.—States shall 

10 have the option to evaluate pilot 

11 projects by matched counties or 

12 matched geographical areas using a 

13 constructed control group design to 

14 isolate the effects of the intervention 

15 of the pilot project. 

16 ‘‘(V) DEFINITION.—Constructed 

17 control group means there is no ran18 dom assignment, and instead program 

19 participants (those subject to inter20 ventions) and non-participants (con21 trol) are equated using matching or 

22 statistical procedures on characteris23 tics that may be associated with pro24 gram outcomes. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REPORTING.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the end of fiscal year 2014 and of each 

3 fiscal year thereafter, until the completion of 

4 the last evaluation under subparagraph (A), the 

5 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ag6 riculture of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

8 Forestry of the Senate, a report that includes 

9 a description of— 

10 ‘‘(i) the status of each pilot project 

11 carried out under paragraph (1); 

12 ‘‘(ii) the results of the evaluation com13 pleted during the previous fiscal year; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) to the maximum extent prac15 ticable— 

16 ‘‘(I) baseline information relevant 

17 to the stated goals and desired out18 comes of the pilot project; 

19 ‘‘(II) the impact of the interven20 tions on appropriate employment, in21 come, and public benefit receipt out22 comes among households participating 

23 in the pilot project; 


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1 ‘‘(III) equivalent information 

2 about similar or identical measures 

3 among control or comparison groups; 

4 ‘‘(IV) the planned dissemination 

5 of the report findings to State agen6 cies; and 

7 ‘‘(V) the steps and funding nec8 essary to incorporate into State em9 ployment and training programs the 

10 components of pilot projects that dem11 onstrate increased employment and 

12 earnings. 

13 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION.—In addi14 tion to the reporting requirements under sub15 paragraph (B), evaluation results shall be 

16 shared broadly to inform policy makers, service 

17 providers, other partners, and the public in 

18 order to promote wide use of successful strate19 gies, including by posting evaluation results on 

20 the Internet website of the Department of Agri21 culture. 

22 ‘‘(6) FUNDING.— 

23 ‘‘(A) AVAILABLE FUNDS.—From amounts 

24 made available under section 18(a)(1), the Sec25 retary shall make available— 


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1 ‘‘(i) up to $1,000,000 for each of the 

2 fiscal years 2014 through 2017 for evalua3 tions described in paragraph (5) to carry 

4 out this subsection, with such amounts to 

5 remain available until expended; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) amounts equal to one-half of the 

7 accumulated supplemental nutrition assist8 ance benefit dollars saved over each con9 secutive 12-month period according to the 

10 evaluation under paragraph (5) for bonus 

11 grants to States under paragraph (7)(B). 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A State operating a 

13 pilot project under this subsection shall not re14 ceive more funding under section 16(h) than 

15 the State received the year prior to commencing 

16 a project under this subsection and shall not 

17 claim funds under 16(a) for expenses that are 

18 unique to the pilot project under this sub19 section. 

20 ‘‘(C) OTHER FUNDS.—Any additional 

21 funds required by a State to carry out a pilot 

22 project under this subsection may be provided 

23 by the State from funds made available to the 

24 State for such purpose and in accordance with 


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1 State and other Federal laws, including the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(i) Section 403 of the Social Security 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 603). 

5 ‘‘(ii) The Workforce Investment Act 

6 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 9201 et seq.). 

7 ‘‘(iii) The Child Care and Develop8 ment Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C 

9 9858 et seq.) and section 418 of the Social 

10 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618). 

11 ‘‘(iv) The social services block grant 

12 under subtitle A of title XX of the Social 

13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.). 

14 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) SPECIFIC USES.—Funds provided 

16 under this subsection for evaluation of pilot 

17 projects shall be used only for— 

18 ‘‘(i) pilot projects that comply with 

19 this subsection; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the costs incurred in gathering 

21 and providing information and data used 

22 to conduct the independent evaluation 

23 under paragraph (5); and 

24 ‘‘(iii) the costs of the evaluation under 

25 paragraph (5). 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Funds provided for 

2 bonus grants to States for pilot projects under 

3 this subsection shall be used only for— 

4 ‘‘(i) pilot projects that comply with 

5 this subsection; 

6 ‘‘(ii) amounts equal to one-half of the 

7 accumulated supplemental nutrition assist8 ance benefit dollars saved over each con9 secutive 12-month period according to the 

10 evaluation under paragraph (5); and 

11 ‘‘(iii) any State purpose, not to be re12 stricted to the supplemental nutrition as13 sistance program or its beneficiary popu14 lation.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. IMPROVED WAGE VERIFICATION USING THE NA16 TIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES. 

17 Effective October 1, 2013, section 11(e) of the Food 

18 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)) is amend19 ed— 

20 (1) in paragraph (3) by inserting ‘‘and after 

21 compliance with the requirement specified in para22 graph (24)’’ after ‘‘section 16(e) of this Act’’, 

23 (2) in paragraph (22) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

24 end, 


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1 (3) in paragraph (23 by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 

3 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(24) that the State agency shall request wage 

5 data directly from the National Directory of New 

6 Hires established under section 453(i) of the Social 

7 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(i)) relevant to deter8 mining eligibility to receive supplemental nutrition 

9 assistance program benefits and determining the 

10 correct amount of such benefits.’’. 

Æ 


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