II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3214

To amend the Assets for Independence Act (Title IV of the Community

Opportunities, Accountability, and Training and Educational Services

Act of 1998) to enhance program flexibility, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 18 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Mr. GREGG (for himself, Mr. HARKIN, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Assets for Independence Act (Title IV of

the Community Opportunities, Accountability, and Training and Educational Services Act of 1998) to enhance

program flexibility, 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 That this Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assets for Inde5 pendence Act Amendments of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS UNAVAILABLE FOR

2 EMERGENCY WITHDRAWALS.

3 Section 404(5)(A)(v) of the Assets for Independence

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended by striking ‘‘, or

5 enabling the eligible individual to make an emergency

6 withdrawal’’.

7 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL QUALIFIED ENTITIES.

8 Section 404(7)(A) of the Assets for Independence Act

9 (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended—

10 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end

11 thereof;

12 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the

13 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new

15 clause:

16 ‘‘(iii) an entity that—

17 ‘‘(I) is—

18 ‘‘(aa) a credit union des19 ignated as a low-income credit

20 union by the National Credit

21 Union Administration (NCUA);

22 or

23 ‘‘(bb) an organization des24 ignated as a community develop25 ment financial institution by the

26 Secretary of the Treasury (or the
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1 Community Development Finan2 cial Institutions Fund); and

3 ‘‘(II) can demonstrate a collabo4 rative relationship with a local com5 munity-based organization whose ac6 tivities are designed to address pov7 erty in the community and the needs

8 of community members for economic

9 independence and stability.’’.

10 SEC. 4. HOME PURCHASE COSTS.

11 Section 404(8)(B)(i) of the Assets for Independence

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended by striking ‘‘100’’

13 and inserting ‘‘120’’.

14 SEC. 5. INCREASED SET-ASIDE FOR ECONOMIC LITERACY

15 TRAINING AND ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

16 Section 407(c)(3) of the Assets for Independence Act

17 (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended—

18 (1) by striking ‘‘9.5’’ and inserting ‘‘15’’; and

19 (2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol20 lowing: ‘‘Of the total amount specified in this para21 graph, not more than 7.5 percent shall be used for

22 administrative functions under paragraph (1)(C), in23 cluding program management, reporting require24 ments, recruitment and enrollment of individuals,

25 and monitoring. The remainder of the total amount
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1 specified in this paragraph (not including the

2 amount specified for use for the purposes described

3 in paragraph (1)(D)) shall be used for nonadminis4 trative functions described in paragraph (1)(A), in5 cluding case management, budgeting, economic lit6 eracy, and credit counseling. If the cost of non7 administrative functions described in paragraph

8 (1)(A) is less than 5.5 percent of the total amount

9 specified in this paragraph, such excess funds may

10 be used for administrative functions.’’.

11 SEC. 6. ALTERNATIVE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.

12 Section 408(a)(1) of the Assets for Independence Act

13 (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended by striking ‘‘does not

14 exceed’’ and inserting ‘‘is equal to or less than 200 percent

15 of the poverty line (as determined by the Office of Man16 agement and Budget) or’’.

17 SEC. 7. REVISED ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT DEADLINE.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 412(c) of the Assets for

19 Independence Act (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended by

20 striking ‘‘calendar’’ and inserting ‘‘project’’.

21 (b) TRANSITIONAL DEADLINE.—Notwithstanding the

22 amendment made by subsection (a), the submission of the

23 initial report of a qualified entity under section 412(c)

24 shall not be required prior to the date that is 90 days

25 after the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 8. REVISED INTERIM EVALUATION REPORT DEAD2 LINE.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 414(d)(1) of the Assets

4 for Independence Act (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended

5 by striking ‘‘calendar’’ and inserting ‘‘project’’.

6 (b) TRANSITIONAL DEADLINE.—Notwithstanding the

7 amendment made by subsection (a), the submission of the

8 initial interim report of the Secretary under section 412(c)

9 shall not be required prior to the date that is 90 days

10 after the date of enactment of this Act.

11 SEC. 9. INCREASED APPROPRIATIONS FOR EVALUATION

12 EXPENSES.

13 Subsection (e) of section 414 of the Assets for Inde14 pendence Act (42 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended to read

15 as follows:

16 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION EXPENSES.—Of the amount ap17 propriated under section 416 for a fiscal year, the Sec18 retary may expend not more than $500,000 for such fiscal

19 year to carry out the objectives of this section.’’.

20 SEC. 10. NO REDUCTION IN BENEFITS.

21 Section 415 of the Assets for Independence Act (42

22 U.S.C. 604 note) is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘SEC. 415. NO REDUCTION IN BENEFITS.

24 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law

25 (other than the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) that re26 quires consideration of 1 or more financial circumstances
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1 of an individual, for the purpose of determining eligibility

2 to receive, or the amount of, any assistance or benefit au3 thorized by such law to be provided to or for the benefit

4 of such individual, funds (including interest accruing) in

5 an individual development account under this Act shall be

6 disregarded for such purpose with respect to any period

7 during which such individual maintains or makes contribu8 tions into such an account.’’.

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