I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2990 

To provide for the conduct of demonstration projects to test the effectiveness 

of subsidized employment for TANF recipients. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2015 

Mr. DOLD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide for the conduct of demonstration projects to 

test the effectiveness of subsidized employment for 

TANF recipients. 

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 ‘‘Accelerating Individ5 uals into the Workforce Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO SUPPORT SUB7 SIDIZED EMPLOYMENT FOR TANF RECIPI8 ENTS. 

9 Section 403 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 603) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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1 ‘‘(c) SUBSIDIZED EMPLOYMENT DEMONSTRATION

2 PROJECTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

4 grants to States to conduct demonstration projects 

5 designed to implement and evaluate strategies that 

6 provide wage subsidies to enable low-income individ7 uals to enter into and retain employment. 

8 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec9 retary shall require each State that applies for a 

10 grant under this subsection to do the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Describe how wage subsidies will be 

12 provided (such as whether paid directly to the 

13 employer or the individual), the duration of the 

14 subsidies, the amount of the subsidies, the 

15 structure of the subsidies, and how employers 

16 will be recruited to participate in the subsidized 

17 employment program. 

18 ‘‘(B) Describe how the State expects those 

19 participating in subsidized employment to be 

20 able to retain employment after the subsidy 

21 ends. 

22 ‘‘(C) Describe how the State will coordi23 nate subsidized employment funded under this 

24 subsection with other efforts to help low-income 

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1 individuals enter work as conducted by the 

2 State. 

3 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State to which a 

5 grant is made under this subsection may use 

6 the grant to subsidize the wages of an eligible 

7 recipient for a period not exceeding 12 months, 

8 and only to the extent that the total of the 

9 funds paid under this project and any other 

10 Federal funds so used with respect to the re11 cipient does not exceed 50 percent of the 

12 amount of the wages received by the recipient 

13 during the period. 

14 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—For purposes 

15 of subparagraph (A), an eligible recipient is— 

16 ‘‘(i)(I) a recipient of assistance under 

17 the State program funded under this part; 

18 ‘‘(II) an adult with children; 

19 ‘‘(III) a noncustodial parent; or 

20 ‘‘(IV) an individual who has attained 

21 16 years of age but not 26 years of age; 

22 ‘‘(ii) who, at the time the subsidy be23 gins, is unemployed; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) whose income, at that time, is 

25 less than 200 percent of the poverty line 

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1 (as defined by the Office of Management 

2 and Budget, and revised annually in ac3 cordance with section 673(2) of the Omni4 bus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 

5 U.S.C. 9902(2))). 

6 ‘‘(4) REPORTS.—As a condition of receiving 

7 funds under this subsection for a fiscal year, a State 

8 shall submit to the Secretary, within 6 months after 

9 the end of the fiscal year, a report that— 

10 ‘‘(A) specifies, for each month of the fiscal 

11 year, the number of individuals whose employ12 ment is subsidized with these funds; 

13 ‘‘(B) specifies, for each month of the fiscal 

14 year, the number of the individuals who re15 mained employed by the same employer in an 

16 unsubsidized position in the month immediately 

17 succeeding the month in which the last subsidy 

18 payment was made with respect to the employ19 ment; and 

20 ‘‘(C) describes the structure of the State 

21 activities to use the funds to subsidize employ22 ment, including the amount and duration of the 

23 subsidies provided. 

24 ‘‘(5) EVALUATION.—The Secretary, in consulta25 tion with each State conducting a demonstration 

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1 project, shall conduct a high-quality evaluation of 

2 the demonstration project, and may reserve funds 

3 made available under this subsection to conduct the 

4 evaluation in accordance with the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) EVALUATOR QUALIFICATIONS.—The 

6 Secretary may not enter into a contract with an 

7 evaluator unless the evaluator has demonstrated 

8 experience in conducting rigorous evaluations of 

9 program effectiveness including, where available 

10 and appropriate, well-implemented randomized 

11 controlled trials. 

12 ‘‘(B) METHODOLOGIES TO BE USED.—The 

13 evaluation of a demonstration project shall use 

14 experimental designs using random assignment 

15 or other reliable, evidence-based research meth16 odologies that allow for the strongest possible 

17 causal inferences when random assignment is 

18 not feasible. 

19 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—The Secretary 

20 shall publish the results of the evaluation on the 

21 website of the Department of Health and 

22 Human Services in a location easily accessible 

23 by the public. 

24 ‘‘(6) RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS.—The 

25 Secretary shall submit recommendations to the Conmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 gress on how to increase the employment, retention, 

2 and advancement of individuals currently or for3 merly receiving assistance under a State program 

4 funded under this part or any other State program 

5 funded with qualified State expenditures (as defined 

6 in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)). 

7 ‘‘(7) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made avail8 able to carry out subsection (b) for fiscal year 2016 

9 and each succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

10 reserve $100,000,000 to carry out this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(8) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds pro12 vided to a State under this subsection for a fiscal 

13 year shall be expended by the State in the fiscal year 

14 or in the succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 

17 on October 1, 2015. 

Æ 

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