I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2249 

To authorize a State or a portion of a State to conduct a demonstration 

project designed to test methods of program integration and coordination 

of services with the goals of moving individuals and families towards 

self-sufficiency, reducing welfare dependence, and increasing work and 

earnings. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2017 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

PITTENGER, and Mr. COFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 

Committees on Agriculture, Financial Services, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, 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 authorize a State or a portion of a State to conduct 

a demonstration project designed to test methods of program integration and coordination of services with the 

goals of moving individuals and families towards selfsufficiency, reducing welfare dependence, and increasing 

work and earnings. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help Americans in 

3 Need Develop their Ultimate Potential Act’’ or the 

4 ‘‘HAND UP Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PROGRAM COORDINATION DEMONSTRATION 

6 PROJECTS. 

7 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es8 tablish a program of demonstration projects in a State or 

9 portion of a State to provide supports to individuals and 

10 families with the goal of moving them towards self-suffi11 ciency, reducing welfare dependence, and increasing work 

12 and earnings by testing methods of program integration 

13 and coordination of services which will result in more ef14 fective service delivery and better outcomes for recipients. 

15 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ADMINISTERING SECRETARY.—The term 

17 ‘‘administering Secretary’’ means, with respect to a 

18 qualified program, the head of the Federal agency 

19 responsible for administering the program. 

20 (2) QUALIFIED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘qualified 

21 program’’ means— 

22 (A) a program under part A of title IV of 

23 the Social Security Act; 

24 (B) the program under title XX of the So25 cial Security Act; 


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1 (C) activities funded under titles I and II 

2 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

3 Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.); 

4 (D) activities funded under the United 

5 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et 

6 seq.), except that such term shall not include 

7 the program under section 7 of such Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 1437e) for designating public housing 

9 for occupancy by certain populations; 

10 (E) the supplemental nutrition assistance 

11 program as defined in section 3 of the Food 

12 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012); or 

13 (F) the Medicaid program under title XIX 

14 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 

15 seq.). 

16 (c) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The head of a 

17 State entity or of a sub-State entity administering 2 or 

18 more qualified programs proposed to be included in a dem19 onstration project under this section shall (or, if the 

20 project is proposed to include qualified programs adminis21 tered by 2 or more such entities, the heads of the admin22 istering entities (each of whom shall be considered an ap23 plicant for purposes of this section) shall jointly) submit 

24 to the administering Secretary an application that con25 tains the following: 


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1 (1) PROGRAMS INCLUDED.—A statement identi2 fying each qualified program to be included in the 

3 project, and describing how the purposes of each 

4 such program will be achieved by the project. 

5 (2) POPULATION SERVED.—A statement identi6 fying the population to be served by the project and 

7 specifying the eligibility criteria to be used. 

8 (3) DESCRIPTION AND JUSTIFICATION.—A de9 tailed description of the project, including— 

10 (A) a description of how the project is ex11 pected to improve or enhance achievement of 

12 the purposes of the programs to be included in 

13 the project, from the standpoint of quality, of 

14 cost-effectiveness, or of both; 

15 (B) a description of the performance objec16 tives for the project, including any proposed 

17 modifications to the performance measures and 

18 reporting requirements used in the programs; 

19 (C) a description of how the project will 

20 achieve the goal of moving recipients to self-suf21 ficiency; and 

22 (D) the length of time a project will last. 

23 (4) WAIVERS REQUESTED.—A description of 

24 the statutory and regulatory requirements with re25 spect to which a waiver is requested in order to 


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1 carry out the project, and a justification of the need 

2 for each such waiver. 

3 (5) COST LIMITATION.—Such information and 

4 assurances as necessary to establish to the satisfac5 tion of the administering Secretary, in consultation 

6 with the Director of the Office of Management and 

7 Budget, that the proposed project is reasonably ex8 pected to meet the applicable cost limitation require9 ments of subsection (d)(4). 

10 (6) USE OF CERTAIN SAVINGS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the State or subState entity desires to use not more than 1 12 ⁄2 of 

13 the savings to be realized from carrying out the 

14 proposed project in a fiscal year, to meet 1 or 

15 more requirements imposed by or under a Fed16 eral law pertaining to education, a description 

17 of how the State or sub-State entity will so use 

18 that portion of the savings. 

19 (B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

20 (i) SAVINGS.—The term ‘‘savings’’ 

21 means, with respect to a proposed project 

22 and a fiscal year, the amount (if any) by 

23 which— 

24 (I) the total of the amount that 

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1 ernment for the fiscal year with re2 spect to the affected programs in the 

3 State in which the applicant is lo4 cated, if the proposed project were not 

5 conducted, as determined by the Di6 rector of the Office of Management 

7 and Budget; exceeds 

8 (II) the total of the amounts that 

9 would be payable by the Federal Gov10 ernment for the fiscal year with re11 spect to the programs if the proposed 

12 project were conducted (as so deter13 mined). 

14 (ii) AFFECTED PROGRAMS.—The term 

15 ‘‘affected programs’’ means, with respect 

16 to a proposed project, the programs that 

17 would be affected if the proposed project 

18 were conducted. 

19 (7) EVALUATION AND REPORTS.—An assurance 

20 that the applicant will— 

21 (A) obtain an evaluation by an independent 

22 contractor of the extent to which the project is 

23 meeting the purposes of this section, using an 

24 evaluation design that, to the maximum extent 

25 feasible, includes random assignment of clients 


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1 (or entities serving clients) to service delivery 

2 and control groups; and 

3 (B) make an interim report and a final re4 port to the administering Secretary, in such 

5 manner as the administering Secretary may re6 quire, and implement such data systems as are 

7 necessary for the reports to be so made. 

8 (8) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLAN.—In the 

9 case of an application proposing a demonstration 

10 project that includes activities referred to in sub11 section (b)(2)(D) of this section— 

12 (A) a certification that the applicable an13 nual public housing agency plan of any agency 

14 affected by the project that is approved under 

15 section 5A of the United States Housing Act of 

16 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c–1) by the Secretary of 

17 Housing and Urban Development includes the 

18 information specified in paragraphs (1) through 

19 (4) of this subsection; and 

20 (B) any resident advisory board rec21 ommendations, and other information, relating 

22 to the project that, pursuant to section 

23 5A(e)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 

24 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c–1(e)(2)), is required to 

25 be included in the public housing agency plan of 


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1 any public housing agency affected by the 

2 project. 

3 (9) OTHER INFORMATION AND ASSURANCES.— 

4 Such other information and assurances as the ad5 ministering Secretary may require. 

6 (d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The administering Secretary 

8 with respect to a qualified program that is identified 

9 in an application submitted pursuant to subsection 

10 (c) shall approve the application and, except as pro11 vided in paragraph (2), waive any requirement appli12 cable to the program, to the extent consistent with 

13 this section and necessary and appropriate for the 

14 conduct of the demonstration project proposed in the 

15 application if the administering Secretary determines 

16 that the project— 

17 (A) has a reasonable likelihood of achieving 

18 the objectives of the programs to be included in 

19 the project; 

20 (B) may reasonably be expected to meet 

21 the applicable cost limitation requirements of 

22 paragraph (4), as determined by the Director of 

23 the Office of Management and Budget; and 

24 (C) includes the coordination of 2 or more 

25 qualified programs. 


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1 (2) PROVISIONS EXCLUDED FROM WAIVER AU2 THORITY.—A waiver shall not be granted under 

3 paragraph (1)— 

4 (A) with respect to any provision of law re5 lating to— 

6 (i) civil rights or prohibition of dis7 crimination; 

8 (ii) purposes or goals of any program; 

9 (iii) maintenance of effort require10 ments; 

11 (iv) health or safety; 

12 (v) wage and hour requirements under 

13 sections 6 and 7 of the Fair Labor Stand14 ards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206; 207); or 

15 (vi) environmental protection; 

16 (B) with respect to any work requirement 

17 imposed pursuant to section 407 of the Social 

18 Security Act; 

19 (C) with respect to section 241(a) of the 

20 Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (29 

21 U.S.C. 3331(a)); 

22 (D) in the case of a program under the 

23 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

24 1437 et seq.), with respect to any requirement 

25 under section 5A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 


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1 1437c–1; relating to public housing agency 

2 plans and resident advisory boards); 

3 (E) in the case of a program under the 

4 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

5 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), with respect to any re6 quirement the waiver of which would violate 

7 section 189(i)(3)(A)(i) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

8 3249(i)(3)(A)(i)); 

9 (F) in the case of the supplemental nutri10 tion assistance program (as defined in section 3 

11 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

12 U.S.C. 2012)), with respect to any requirement 

13 under— 

14 (i) section 6 (if waiving a requirement 

15 under such section would have the effect of 

16 expanding eligibility for the program), 7(b) 

17 or 16(c) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 

18 seq.); or 

19 (ii) title IV of the Personal Responsi20 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 

21 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 

22 (G) with respect to any requirement that a 

23 State pass through to a sub-State entity part or 

24 all of an amount paid to the State; 


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1 (H) if the waiver would waive any funding 

2 restriction or limitation provided in an appro3 priations Act, or would have the effect of trans4 ferring appropriated funds from 1 appropria5 tions account to another; or 

6 (I) except as otherwise provided by statute, 

7 if the waiver would waive any funding restric8 tion applicable to a program authorized under 

9 an Act which is not an appropriations Act (but 

10 not including program requirements such as ap11 plication procedures, performance standards, 

12 reporting requirements, or eligibility standards), 

13 or would have the effect of transferring funds 

14 from a program for which there is direct spend15 ing (as defined in section 250(c)(8) of the Bal16 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

17 Act of 1985) to another program. 

18 (3) AGREEMENT OF EACH ADMINISTERING SEC19 RETARY REQUIRED.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—An applicant may not 

21 conduct a demonstration project under this sec22 tion unless each administering Secretary with 

23 respect to any program proposed to be included 

24 in the project has approved the application to 

25 conduct the project. 


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1 (B) AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO FUND2 ING AND IMPLEMENTATION.—Before approving 

3 an application to conduct a demonstration 

4 project under this section, an administering 

5 Secretary shall have in place an agreement with 

6 the applicant with respect to the payment of 

7 funds and responsibilities of the administering 

8 Secretary with respect to the project. 

9 (4) COST LIMITATION REQUIREMENT.— 

10 (A) GENERAL RULE.—Notwithstanding 

11 any other provision of law (except subparagraph 

12 (B)), the total of the amounts that may be paid 

13 by the Federal Government for a fiscal year 

14 with respect to the programs in the State in 

15 which an entity conducting a demonstration 

16 project under this section is located that are af17 fected by the project shall not exceed the esti18 mated total amount that the Federal Govern19 ment would have paid for the fiscal year with 

20 respect to the programs if the project had not 

21 been conducted, as determined by the Director 

22 of the Office of Management and Budget. 

23 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—If an applicant sub24 mits to the Director of the Office of Manage25 ment and Budget a request to apply the rules 


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1 of this subparagraph to the programs in the 

2 State in which the applicant is located that are 

3 affected by a demonstration project proposed in 

4 an application submitted by the applicant pur5 suant to this section, during such period of not 

6 more than 5 consecutive fiscal years in which 

7 the project is in effect, and the Director deter8 mines, on the basis of supporting information 

9 provided by the applicant, to grant the request, 

10 then, notwithstanding any other provision of 

11 law, the total of the amounts that may be paid 

12 by the Federal Government for the period with 

13 respect to the programs shall not exceed the es14 timated total amount that the Federal Govern15 ment would have paid for the period with re16 spect to the programs if the project had not 

17 been conducted. 

18 (5) 90-DAY APPROVAL DEADLINE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an administering 

20 Secretary receives an application to conduct a 

21 demonstration project under this section and 

22 does not disapprove the application within 90 

23 days after the receipt, then— 

24 (i) the administering Secretary is 

25 deemed to have approved the application 


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1 for such period as is requested in the ap2 plication, except to the extent inconsistent 

3 with subsection (e); and 

4 (ii) any waiver requested in the appli5 cation which applies to a qualified program 

6 that is identified in the application and is 

7 administered by the administering Sec8 retary is deemed to be granted, except to 

9 the extent inconsistent with paragraph (2) 

10 or (4) of this subsection. 

11 (B) DEADLINE EXTENDED IF ADDITIONAL

12 INFORMATION IS SOUGHT.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—The 90-day period 

14 referred to in subparagraph (A) shall not 

15 include any period that begins with the 

16 date the administering Secretary requests 

17 the applicant to provide additional infor18 mation with respect to the application and 

19 ends with the date the additional informa20 tion is provided. 

21 (ii) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF RE22 QUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.— 

23 An administering Secretary may not make 

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1 mation with respect to an application sub2 mitted pursuant to this section. 

3 (iii) 1-YEAR LIMIT ON RESPONSE PE4 RIOD.—If 1 year has elapsed since the date 

5 an administering Secretary made a request 

6 to an applicant under this subparagraph 

7 with respect to an application, and the ad8 ministering Secretary has not received 

9 from the applicant a response to the re10 quest, the administering Secretary shall 

11 immediately approve or disapprove the ap12 plication. 

13 (6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

14 Act shall be construed to require the payment of the 

15 minimum wage in effect under section 6 of the Fair 

16 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) to 

17 any individual other than an employee of an em18 ployer subject to such section. 

19 (7) DISAPPROVAL.—If an administering Sec20 retary disapproves an application submitted pursu21 ant to this section, the administering Secretary shall 

22 include with the notice of disapproval an explanation 

23 of the reasons for the disapproval with specific ref24 erence to the particular requirements of paragraph 

25 (1) not met by the application. 


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1 (e) DURATION OF PROJECT.—A demonstration 

2 project under this section may be approved for a term of 

3 not more than 5 years. 

4 (f) MODIFICATION OF PROJECT.— 

5 (1) REQUEST FOR MODIFICATION.—An entity 

6 conducting a demonstration project approved under 

7 this section may submit to each administering Sec8 retary with respect to any program included in the 

9 project a request to modify the project. 

10 (2) REQUIREMENT.—An administering Sec11 retary may not approve a request submitted under 

12 paragraph (1) with respect to a project, unless the 

13 administering Secretary determines that, if the re14 quest is not approved, the project will not achieve its 

15 performance objectives because economic conditions 

16 have changed since the project was approved. 

17 (3) 30-DAY APPROVAL DEADLINE AFTER RE18 SPONSE.—If an administering Secretary receives a 

19 request made under this subsection and does not 

20 disapprove the request within 30 days after the re21 ceipt, the administering Secretary is deemed to have 

22 approved the request, except to the extent incon23 sistent with subsection (d)(2), (d)(4), or (e). 

24 (4) AGREEMENT OF EACH ADMINISTERING SEC25 RETARY REQUIRED.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The entity conducting 

2 a demonstration project approved under this 

3 section may not modify the project, except in 

4 accordance with a request approved under this 

5 subsection by each administering Secretary with 

6 respect to any program included in the project. 

7 (B) AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO FUND8 ING AND IMPLEMENTATION.—Before approving 

9 a request to modify a demonstration project ap10 proved under this section, an administering 

11 Secretary shall have in place an agreement with 

12 the requestor with respect to the payment of 

13 funds and responsibilities of the administering 

14 Secretary with respect to the modified project. 

15 (g) EARLY TERMINATION OF PROJECT.—An admin16 istering Secretary with respect to a demonstration project 

17 conducted under this section may terminate the project 

18 if the administering Secretary— 

19 (1) determines that the entity conducting the 

20 project has violated the substantive terms or condi21 tions of the project; 

22 (2) notifies the entity in writing with sufficient 

23 detail describing the violation; and 

24 (3) determines that the State has not taken ac25 tion to correct the violation during the 90-day period 


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1 beginning with the date the entity received the no2 tice. 

3 (h) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

4 (1) REPORT ON DISPOSITION OF APPLICA5 TIONS.—Within 90 days after an administering Sec6 retary receives an application submitted pursuant to 

7 this section, the administering Secretary shall sub8 mit to each Committee of the Congress which has 

9 jurisdiction over a qualified program identified in 

10 the application notice of the receipt, a description of 

11 the decision of the administering Secretary with re12 spect to the application, and the reasons for approv13 ing or disapproving the application. 

14 (2) REPORTS ON PROJECTS.—Each admin15 istering Secretary that has jurisdiction over a quali16 fied program that is part of a demonstration project 

17 approved under this section shall provide annually to 

18 each Committee of the Congress that has jurisdic19 tion over the program a report, which shall in20 clude— 

21 (A) the number of waivers granted for the 

22 project under this section, and the specific stat23 utory provisions, if any, waived; 

24 (B) in the case of a project for which such 

25 a waiver is granted— 


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1 (i) how well the project is improving 

2 or enhancing program achievement from 

3 the standpoint of quality, cost-effective4 ness, or both; 

5 (ii) how well the project is meeting the 

6 performance objectives specified in sub7 section (c)(3)(B); and 

8 (iii) how the project is conforming 

9 with the cost limitation requirements of 

10 subsection (d)(4); 

11 (C) the number of individuals engaged in 

12 the program under the project; 

13 (D) the number of individuals so engaged 

14 who completed education or workforce develop15 ment programs; 

16 (E) the number of individuals so engaged 

17 who reduced their dependence on government 

18 benefits as a result of self-sufficiency; 

19 (F) an explanation of the functions the 

20 State or sub-State project employed to help in21 dividuals achieve self sufficiency; 

22 (G) an up-to-date statement of the cost of 

23 the project, and of the expected future costs of 

24 continuing the project; 


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1 (H) to the extent the administering Sec2 retary deems appropriate, recommendations for 

3 modifying programs based on project outcomes; 

4 and 

5 (I) if the project has been carried out for 

6 at least 30 months, a statement as to whether 

7 the project is meeting the goals of the project 

8 and a determination as to whether the project 

9 will be continued for the remainder of the term 

10 for which the project was approved. 

11 (3) FUNDING.—Each administering Secretary 

12 that has jurisdiction over a qualified program that 

13 is part of a demonstration project approved under 

14 this section shall reserve an amount equal to not 

15 more than 1 percent of the amount to be provided 

16 for the conduct of the project, and use the amount 

17 so reserved to carry out this subsection with respect 

18 to the project. 

19 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 

20 1937. 

21 Section 5A(d) of the United States Housing Act of 

22 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c–1(d)) is amended— 

23 (1) by redesignating paragraph (19) as para24 graph (20); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (18) the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(19) PROGRAM COORDINATION DEMONSTRA4 TION PROJECTS.—In the case of an agency that ad5 ministers an activity referred to in section 

6 2(b)(2)(D) of the HAND UP Act that, during such 

7 fiscal year, will be included in a demonstration 

8 project under section 2 of such Act, the information 

9 that is required to be included in the application for 

10 the project pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4) 

11 of section 2(c) of such Act.’’. 

Æ 


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