II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1937

To amend the Community Services Block Grant Act to establish a new

Community Initiative Program to carry out economic development activities in economically distressed communities, to make other amendments

to the Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 16 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994

Mr. DODD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To amend the Community Services Block Grant Act to establish a new Community Initiative Program to carry out

economic development activities in economically distressed communities, to make other amendments to the

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 AND REFERENCES.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—That this Act may be cited as

5 the ‘‘Community Services Block Grant Amendments of

6 1994’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly

2 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal

3 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of,

4 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid5 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the Com6 munity Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et

7 seq.).

8 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY INITIATIVE PRO9 GRAM.

10 (a) COMMUNITY INITIATIVE PROGRAM.—Section 681

11 (42 U.S.C. 9910) is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘COMMUNITY INITIATIVE PROGRAM

13 ‘‘SEC. 681. (a) GRANTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is au16 thorized to make grants to local, private, non17 profit community development corporations, or

18 to enter into contracts or cooperative agree19 ments with such community development cor20 porations, to plan for and carry out economic

21 development activities in economically distressed

22 communities.

23 ‘‘(B) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTIVI24 TIES.—Economic development activities under

25 this section shall be designed to address the

26 economic needs of low-income individuals and
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1 families by creating employment and business

2 development opportunities and by providing

3 support services that are designed to enhance

4 the ability of low-income individuals and fami5 lies to successfully avail themselves of such op6 portunities. In addition to any other activities

7 consistent with the purposes of this section,

8 such activities may include the development of

9 facilities through means such as the establish10 ment of partnerships with Head Start agencies,

11 agencies or organizations providing child care

12 or otherwise engaged in the field of child care

13 or child development, and agencies or organiza14 tions serving children, youth and families.

15 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall ex16 ercise the authority provided under paragraph (1) in

17 consultation with other relevant Federal officials.

18 ‘‘(b) GOVERNING BOARDS.—Each community devel19 opment corporation receiving funds under this section

20 shall be governed by a board that shall consist of residents

21 of the community and business and civic leaders.

22 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL STATEMENT.—The Secretary shall an23 nually publish a statement of the types of projects or ac24 tivities for which funding under this section will be a prior-
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1 ity, such as projects or activities designed to strengthen

2 or enhance activities funded by other Federal programs.

3 ‘‘(d) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In providing as4 sistance or entering into other arrangements under this

5 section, the Secretary shall take into consideration the ge6 ographic distribution of funds among States and the rel7 ative proportion of funding among rural and urban areas.

8 ‘‘(e) RESERVATION.—Of the amounts made available

9 to carry out this section, the Secretary may reserve not

10 to exceed 1 percent for each fiscal year to make grants

11 to private nonprofit organizations or to enter into con12 tracts with private nonprofit or for profit organizations to

13 provide technical assistance to aid community development

14 corporations in developing or implementing projects fund15 ed under this section and to evaluate projects funded

16 under this section.’’.

17 (b) REPEAL.—Section 505 of the Family Support Act

18 of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1315 note) is repealed.

19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

20 (1) STATE ALLOCATIONS.—Section 674(a) (42

21 U.S.C. 9903(a)) is amended—

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘which

23 remains after’’ and all that follows through

24 ‘‘allot to each State;’’ and inserting ‘‘which re25 mains after the Secretary makes the apportion-
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1 ment required in subsection (b)(1), allot to each

2 State’’; and

3 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking

4 ‘‘which remains after’’ and all that follows

5 through ‘‘exceeds’’ and inserting ‘‘which re6 mains after the Secretary makes the apportion7 ment required in subsection (b)(1), exceeds’’.

8 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 682(c) (42

9 U.S.C. 9911(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘section

10 681(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 672(b)’’.

11 (3) LIMITATION.—Section 680(a) (42 U.S.C.

12 9909(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 681(c)’’

13 and inserting ‘‘section 681’’.

14 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub16 section (b) of section 672 (42 U.S.C. 9901(b)) is amended

17 to read as follows:

18 ‘‘(b) There are authorized to be appropriated

19 $434,622,000 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as may

20 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1996 through 1998,

21 to carry out the provisions of this subtitle.’’.

22 (b) REPEALS.—

23 (1) COMMUNITY FOOD AND NUTRITION.—Sec24 tion 681A (42 U.S.C. 9910a) is repealed.
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1 (2) DEMONSTRATION PARTNERSHIP AGREE2 MENTS.—Section 408 of the Human Services Reau3 thorization Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 9910b) is re4 pealed.

5 SEC. 4. ALLOTMENTS.

6 (a) SECTION HEADING.—Section 674 (42 U.S.C.

7 9903) is amended in the section heading to read as fol8 lows:

9 ‘‘ALLOTMENTS’’.

10 (b) SET-ASIDES.—Section 674 (42 U.S.C. 9903) is

11 amended—

12 (1) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and

13 (c) as subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively; and

14 (2) by inserting before subsection (e) (as so re15 designated), the following new subsections:

16 ‘‘(a) With respect to amounts appropriated under sec17 tion 672(b), the Secretary shall make allotments in ac18 cordance with subsections (b) through (g).

19 ‘‘(b) Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to section

20 672(b) for fiscal year 1995 and each of the following 4

21 fiscal years, the Secretary shall reserve $35,000,000 for

22 each such fiscal year for carrying out section 681.

23 ‘‘(c) Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to section

24 672(b), the Secretary may reserve not to exceed one-half

25 of 1 percent of the amount remaining after the application

26 of subsection (b) for each of the fiscal years 1995 and
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1 1996, and up to 1 percent of such amount for fiscal year

2 1997 and each fiscal year thereafter, for training, tech3 nical assistance, planning, and evaluation activities related

4 to programs or projects carried out under this Act. Such

5 activities may be carried out by the Secretary directly or

6 through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements.

7 ‘‘(d) Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to section 672(b), the Secretary may reserve not to exceed 21 8 ⁄2

9 percent of the amount remaining after the application of

10 subsection (b) for fiscal year 1995, up to 4 percent of such

11 amount for fiscal year 1996, up to 5 percent of such

12 amount for fiscal year 1997, and up to 6 percent of such

13 amount for fiscal year 1998, for grants, contracts, or co14 operative agreements to address needs or problems of the

15 poor which are identified by the Secretary as priorities in

16 the effort to alleviate the causes of poverty.’’.

17 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS.

18 (a) ASSURED ACTIVITIES.—Section 675(c)(1)(B) (42

19 U.S.C. 9904(c)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘the

20 homeless, migrants, and’’ before ‘‘the elderly poor’’.

21 (b) STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section

22 675(c)(2)(B) (42 U.S.C. 9904(c)(2)(B)) is amended to

23 read as follows:

24 ‘‘(B) if less than 100 percent of the allotment

25 is expended under subparagraph (A), provide assur-
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1 ances that with respect to the remainder of the allot2 ment a reasonable amount shall be used for—

3 ‘‘(i) monitoring the activities of eligible en4 tities and providing training and technical as5 sistance to those entities in need of such assist6 ance;

7 ‘‘(ii) coordinating State-operated programs

8 and services targeted to low-income children

9 and families with services provided by eligible

10 entities funded under this Act; and

11 ‘‘(iii) considering the distribution of funds

12 under this Act within the State to determine if

13 such funds have been targeted to the areas of

14 highest need and, thereafter, not more than the

15 greater of $55,000 or 5 percent of its allotment

16 under section 674 for administrative expenses

17 at the State level;’’.

18 (c) TRIPARTITE BOARD.—Section 675(c)(3) (42

19 U.S.C. 9904(c)(3)) is amended—

20 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B),

21 and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively;

22 (2) by striking the comma after ‘‘provide assur23 ances that’’ and inserting ‘‘(A)’’; and

24 (3) by inserting before the semicolon at the end

25 thereof ‘‘, and (B) in the case of a public organiza-
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1 tion receiving funds under this subtitle, such organi2 zation either establish—

3 ‘‘(i) a board of which at least one-third of

4 the members are persons chosen in accordance

5 with democratic selection procedures adequate

6 to assure that they are representative of the

7 poor in the area served; or

8 ‘‘(ii) another mechanism specified by the

9 State to assure citizen participation in the plan10 ning, administration, and evaluation of projects

11 for which such organization has been funded;’’.

12 (d) COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY PLAN.—Section

13 675(c) (42 U.S.C. 9904(c)) is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (11)(B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at

15 the end thereof;

16 (2) in paragraph (12) by striking the period

17 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol19 lowing new paragraph:

20 ‘‘(13) secure from each eligible entity as a con21 dition to its receipt of funding under this Act a com22 munity action plan (which shall be available to the

23 Secretary for inspection) that includes—

24 ‘‘(A) a community needs assessment (in25 cluding food needs);
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1 ‘‘(B) a description of the service delivery

2 system targeted to low-income individuals and

3 families in the service area;

4 ‘‘(C) a description of how linkages will be

5 developed to fill identified gaps in services

6 through information, referral, case manage7 ment, and followup consultations;

8 ‘‘(D) a description of how funding under

9 this Act will be coordinated with other public

10 and private resources; and

11 ‘‘(E) a description of outcome measures to

12 be used to monitor success in promoting self13 sufficiency, family stability, and community

14 revitalization.’’.

15 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 The amendments made by this Act shall become

17 effective with respect to fiscal years beginning on or after

18 October 1, 1994.

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