I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4571 

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

of subsidized employment for TANF recipients. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 

Mrs. MILLER (for herself, Mrs. WALORSKI, and Mr. ESTES) 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 an 

16 adult recipient of assistance under the State 

17 program funded under this part or any other 

18 State program funded with qualified State ex19 penditures (as defined in section 

20 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) (or a noncustodial parent of a 

21 minor child who is receiving such assistance)— 

22 ‘‘(i) who, at the time the subsidy be23 gins, is unemployed; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) 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) NONDISPLACEMENT.—A State to which a 

7 grant is made under this subsection shall ensure 

8 that no participant in a subsidized employment pro9 gram funded in whole or in part under this sub10 section is employed or assigned to a job under the 

11 program when any other individual is on layoff from 

12 the same or any substantially equivalent job. 

13 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.—As a condition of receiving 

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

15 shall submit to the Secretary, within 12 months 

16 after the end of the fiscal year, a report that— 

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

18 year, the number of individuals whose employ19 ment is subsidized with these funds; 

20 ‘‘(B) 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 ‘‘(C) specifies the percentage of eligible re25 cipients who received a subsidy who are in unVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4571.IH H4571

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1 subsidized employment during the 2nd quarter 

2 after the subsidy ended; 

3 ‘‘(D) specifies the percentage of eligible re4 cipients who received a subsidy who are in un5 subsidized employment during the 4th quarter 

6 after the subsidy ended; and 

7 ‘‘(E) specifies the median earnings of eligi8 ble recipients who received a subsidy who are in 

9 unsubsidized employment during the 2nd quar10 ter after the subsidy ended. 

11 ‘‘(6) EVALUATION.—The Secretary, in consulta12 tion with each State conducting a demonstration 

13 project, shall conduct a high-quality impact evalua14 tion to determine the effects of the demonstration 

15 project, including on individual skill levels and earn16 ings and employment retention, and may reserve 

17 funds made available under this subsection to con18 duct the evaluation in accordance with the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) EVALUATOR QUALIFICATIONS.—The 

20 Secretary may not enter into a contract with an 

21 evaluator unless the evaluator has demonstrated 

22 experience in conducting rigorous evaluations of 

23 program effectiveness including, where available 

24 and appropriate, well-implemented randomized 

25 controlled trials. 


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

2 evaluation of a demonstration project shall use 

3 experimental designs using random assignment 

4 or other reliable, evidence-based research meth5 odologies that allow for the strongest possible 

6 causal inferences when random assignment is 

7 not feasible. 

8 ‘‘(C) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The evaluation 

9 of a demonstration project shall include rec10 ommendations relating to updated goals for the 

11 advancement and improvement of the program 

12 and a description of specific challenges encoun13 tered in the program and recommended solu14 tions. 

15 ‘‘(D) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—The Sec16 retary shall publish the results of the evaluation 

17 on the website of the Department of Health and 

18 Human Services in a location easily accessible 

19 by the public. 

20 ‘‘(7) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made avail21 able to carry out subsection (b) for fiscal year 2021, 

22 the Secretary shall reserve $100,000,000 to carry 

23 out this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(8) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds pro25 vided to a State under this subsection in a fiscal 


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

2 or in the succeeding 2 fiscal years.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 

5 on October 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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