II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3397 

To prohibit waivers relating to compliance with the work requirements for 

the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for 

needy families, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2012 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. 

ENZI, Mr. COBURN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. THUNE, Mr. BURR, Mr. KYL, and 

Mr. MCCONNELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To prohibit waivers relating to compliance with the work 

requirements for the program of block grants to States 

for temporary assistance for needy families, 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 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Work Re5 quirements for Welfare Programs Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The bipartisan 1996 welfare reforms suc2 ceeded as a result of their pro-work focus, as dem3 onstrated by the following: 

4 (A) Research has shown that 65 percent of 

5 families receiving welfare through the former 

6 Aid to Families with Dependent Children 

7 (AFDC) program, which lacked effective work 

8 requirements and was replaced by the 1996 

9 welfare reform law (Public Law 104–193), re10 mained on welfare for 8 or more years, and the 

11 average lifetime receipt of welfare for families 

12 then receiving benefits was 13 years. 

13 (B) The 1996 welfare reform law replaced 

14 the failed AFDC program with the Temporary 

15 Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block 

16 grant program, which made promoting work a 

17 central focus of each State’s efforts to assist 

18 low-income parents in achieving self-sufficiency. 

19 (C) The 1996 welfare reforms resulted 

20 in— 

21 (i) significant increases in the employ22 ment and earnings of single mothers; 

23 (ii) record declines in welfare depend24 ency as TANF rolls fell by more than 57 

25 percent; and 


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1 (iii) significant reductions in child 

2 poverty in female-headed households, which 

3 even after the impact of a deep recession 

4 are still below pre-reform levels. 

5 (2) The authors of the 1996 welfare reforms 

6 did not intend for States to be able to ‘‘waive’’ this 

7 pro-work focus, as indicated by the following: 

8 (A) In the 1996 welfare reform law, Con9 gress created specific new work requirements 

10 for welfare recipients. 

11 (B) In the 1996 welfare reform law, Con12 gress allowed States some limited waiver au13 thority over only TANF State plan require14 ments which require the State to describe how 

15 they intend to carry out various TANF pro16 gram requirements. 

17 (C) In section 1115 of the Social Security 

18 Act, Congress specifically did not authorize 

19 States to seek, or the Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services to award, waivers involving 

21 TANF work requirements. In section 415 of 

22 the Social Security Act, Congress specified that 

23 any waivers subsequently approved could not 

24 waive features of those work requirements. 


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1 (D) In a Congressional summary published 

2 immediately after enactment of the 1996 re3 forms, the authors of the 1996 welfare reform 

4 law summarized its intended treatment of waiv5 ers as follows: ‘‘Waivers granted after the date 

6 of enactment may not override provisions of the 

7 TANF law that concern mandatory work re8 quirements.’’. 

9 (3) The recent Department of Health and 

10 Human Services Information Memorandum dated 

11 July 12, 2012, suggesting States may waive this 

12 pro-work focus should be immediately withdrawn by 

13 the Obama Administration, or repealed through this 

14 legislation, for the following reasons: 

15 (A) In the 16 years since enactment of the 

16 1996 welfare reforms, no previous Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services has ever asserted 

18 that he or she has authority to grant waivers 

19 involving TANF work requirements. 

20 (B) Despite this fact, and without any 

21 prior Obama Administration legislative proposal 

22 or consultation with Congress, on July 12, 

23 2012, the Department of Health and Human 

24 Services unilaterally determined that the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 19, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3397.IS S3397

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1 retary could permit States to waive statutory 

2 work requirements for welfare recipients. 

3 (C) The Secretary should repeal the July 

4 12, 2012 Information Memorandum and make 

5 it clear once again that States do not have au6 thority to seek, and the Secretary does not have 

7 the authority to grant, waivers of work require8 ments under the TANF program, consistent 

9 with longstanding interpretation of TANF law. 

10 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON TANF WAIVERS RELATING TO 

11 COMPLIANCE WITH THE TANF WORK RE12 QUIREMENTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

15 may not do the following: 

16 (1) Finalize, implement, enforce, or otherwise 

17 take any action to give effect to the Information 

18 Memorandum dated July 12, 2012 (Transmittal No. 

19 TANF–ACF–IM–2012–03), or to any administrative 

20 action relating to the same subject matter set forth 

21 in the Information Memorandum or that reflects the 

22 same or similar policies as those set forth in the In23 formation Memorandum. 

24 (2) Authorize, approve, renew, modify, or ex25 tend any experimental, pilot, or demonstration 


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1 project under section 1115 of the Social Security 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 1315) that waives compliance with 

3 a requirement of section 407 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 607) through a waiver of section 402 of such Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 602) or that provides authority for an 

6 expenditure which would not otherwise be an allow7 able use of funds under a State program funded 

8 under part A of title IV of such Act (42 U.S.C. 601 

9 et seq.) with respect to compliance with the work re10 quirements in section 407 of such Act to be re11 garded as an allowable use of funds under that pro12 gram for any period. 

13 (b) RESCISSION OF WAIVERS.—Any waiver relating 

14 to the subject matter set forth in the Information Memo15 randum or described in subsection (a)(2) that is granted 

16 before the date of the enactment of this Act is hereby re17 scinded and shall be null and void. 

Æ 


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