II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 174

To provide funding for States to correct Y2K problems in computers that

are used to administer State and local government programs.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. MOYNIHAN (for himself, Mr. BENNETT, and Mr. DODD) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To provide funding for States to correct Y2K problems in

computers that are used to administer State and local

government programs.

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 ‘‘Y2K State and Local

5 GAP (Government Assistance Programs) Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) WELFARE PROGRAMS.—The welfare pro9 grams are as follows:
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1 (A) TANF.—The State program funded

2 under part A of title IV of the Social Security

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

4 (B) MEDICAID.—The program of medical

5 assistance under title XIX of the Social Secu6 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).

7 (C) FOOD STAMPS.—The food stamp pro8 gram, as defined in section 3(h) of the Food

9 Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(h)).

10 (D) WIC.—The program of assistance

11 under the special supplemental nutrition pro12 gram for women, infants and children (WIC)

13 under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of

14 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786).

15 (E) CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—The

16 child support and paternity establishment pro17 gram established under part D of title IV of the

18 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

19 (F) CHILD WELFARE.—A child welfare

20 program or a program designed to promote safe

21 and stable families established under subpart 1

22 or 2 of part B of title IV of the Social Security

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.).

24 (G) CHILD CARE.—The Child Care and

25 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42
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1 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) (including funding pro2 vided under section 418 of the Social Security

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 618)).

4 (2) Y2K.—The term ‘‘Y2K compliant’’ means,

5 with respect to information technology, that the in6 formation technology accurately processes (including

7 calculating, comparing, and sequencing) date and

8 time data from, into, and between the 20th and 21st

9 centuries and the years 1999 and 2000, and leap

10 year calculations, to the extent that other informa11 tion technology properly exchanges date and time

12 data with it.

13 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES TO MAKE STATE AND LOCAL

14 GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS Y2K COMPLIANT.

15 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

17 the Secretary of Commerce shall award grants in ac18 cordance with this section to States for purposes of

19 making grants to assist the States and local govern20 ments in making programs administered by the

21 States and local governments Y2K compliant. The

22 Secretary of Commerce shall give priority to grant

23 requests that relate to making Federal welfare pro24 grams Y2K compliant.

25 (2) LIMITATIONS.—
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1 (A) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—No more than

2 75 grants may be awarded under this section.

3 (B) PER STATE LIMITATION.—Not more

4 than 2 grants authorized under this section

5 may be awarded per State.

6 (C) APPLICATION DEADLINE.—45 days

7 after enactment.

8 (b) APPLICATION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State, through the State

10 Governor’s Office, may submit an application for a

11 grant authorized under this section at such time

12 within the constraints of paragraph Sec. 3(a)(2)(C)

13 and in such manner as the Secretary of Commerce

14 may determine.

15 (2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—An application

16 for a grant authorized under this section shall con17 tain the following:

18 (A) A description of a proposed plan for

19 the development and implementation of a Y2K

20 compliance program for the State’s programs or

21 for a local government program, including a

22 proposed budget for the plan and a request for

23 a specific funding amount.

24 (B) A description or identification of a

25 proposed funding source for completion of the
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1 plan (if applicable) and maintenance of the sys2 tem after the conclusion of the period for which

3 the grant is to be awarded.

4 (c) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL OF APPLICA5 TIONS.—

6 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State awarded a

8 grant under this section shall expend $1 for

9 every $2 awarded under the grant to carry out

10 the development and implementation of a Y2K

11 compliance program for the State’s programs

12 under the proposed plan.

13 (B) WAIVER FOR HARDSHIP.—The Sec14 retary of Commerce may waive or modify the

15 matching requirement described in subpara16 graph (A) in the case of any State that the Sec17 retary of Commerce determines would suffer

18 undue hardship as a result of being subject to

19 the requirement.

20 (C) NON-FEDERAL EXPENDITURES.—

21 (i) CASH OR IN KIND.—State expendi22 tures required under subparagraph (A)

23 may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated,

24 including equipment, or services.
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1 (ii) NO CREDIT FOR PRE-AWARD EX2 PENDITURES.—Only State expenditures

3 made after a grant has been awarded

4 under this section may be counted for pur5 poses of determining whether the State has

6 satisfied the matching expenditure require7 ment under subparagraph (A).

8 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In evaluating an appli9 cation for a grant under this section the Secretary

10 of Commerce shall consider the extent to which the

11 proposed system is feasible and likely to achieve the

12 purposes described in subsection (a)(1).

13 (d) LENGTH OF AWARDS.—No grant may be award14 ed under this section for a period of more than 2 years.

15 (e) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds provided to a

16 State under a grant awarded under this section shall re17 main available until expended without fiscal year limita18 tion.

19 (f) REPORTS.—

20 (1) ANNUAL REPORT FROM GRANTEES.—Each

21 State that is awarded a grant under this section

22 shall submit an annual report to the Secretary of

23 Commerce that contains a description of the ongoing

24 results of the independent evaluation of the plan for,
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1 and implementation of, the compliance program

2 funded under the grant.

3 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days

4 after the termination of all grants awarded under

5 this section, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit

6 to Congress a final report evaluating the programs

7 funded under such grants.

8 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

10 $40,000,000 for fiscal years 1999 to 2001 funded from

11 the Y2K Emergency Supplemental Funds appropriated in

12 the FY99 Omnibus Act, PL 105–277.

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