I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4324

To improve the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance

for needy families.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 28, 1996

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To improve the program of block grants to States for

temporary assistance for needy families.

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 ‘‘Welfare to Work Act

5 of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PROGRAM PURPOSE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401 of the Social Security

8 Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Re9 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

10 1996, is amended to read as follows:
2

•HR 4324 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 401. PURPOSE.

2 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to—

3 ‘‘(1) help low income families attain work and

4 economic self-sufficiency;

5 ‘‘(2) provide assistance to needy families so that

6 children may be cared for in their own homes or in

7 the homes of relatives;

8 ‘‘(3) break the cycle of dependence of needy

9 parents on government benefits by requiring job

10 preparation and work;

11 ‘‘(4) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of12 wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical

13 goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of

14 these pregnancies; and

15 ‘‘(5) encourage the formation and maintenance

16 of two-parent families.’’.

17 (b) CONFORMING CHANGE IN NAME OF PROGRAM.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—

19 (A) The title heading of title I of the Per20 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

21 Reconciliation Act of 1996 is amended by strik22 ing ‘‘TEMPORARY’’.

23 (B) The part heading of part A of title IV

24 of the Social Security Act, as in effect pursuant

25 to title I of the Personal Responsibility and
3

•HR 4324 IH

1 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996,

2 is amended by striking ‘‘TEMPORARY’’.

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

4 (A) The Balanced Budget and Emergency

5 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et

6 seq.) is amended in the first section 255(h) (2

7 U.S.C. 905(h)), by striking ‘‘temporary’’.

8 (B) The heading of clause (ii) of section

9 116(b)(1)(B) of the Personal Responsibility and

10 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is

11 amended by striking ‘‘TEMPORARY’’.

12 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO

13 WORK.

14 (a) MODIFICATIONS TO REQUIRED CONTENTS OF

15 STATE PLANS.—Section 402(a)(1) of the Social Security

16 Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Re17 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

18 1996, is amended—

19 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

20 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and become

21 self-sufficient’’ and inserting ‘‘, become self-suf22 ficient, or earn their benefits’’; and

23 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘24 months

24 (whether or not consecutive)’’ and inserting ‘‘3

25 months’’; and
4

•HR 4324 IH

1 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking clause (iv).

2 (b) NEW WORK REQUIREMENTS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 407 of the Social

4 Security Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the

5 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec6 onciliation Act of 1996, is amended to read as fol7 lows:

8 ‘‘SEC. 407. WORK REQUIREMENTS.

9 ‘‘(a) WORK REQUIRED AFTER 3 MONTHS.—Except

10 as provided in subsection (b), after a State has provided

11 assistance for 3 months (whether or not consecutive) to

12 an adult or a head of household under the State program

13 funded under this part, the State shall ensure that, for

14 any period for which the adult or head of household is

15 provided with such assistance, the adult or head of house16 hold is engaged in work activities for a number of hours

17 in the period that is not less than—

18 ‘‘(1) the dollar amount of the assistance so pro19 vided during the period; divided by

20 ‘‘(2) the minimum wage rate in effect for the

21 period under section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards

22 Act of 1938.

23 ‘‘(b) STATE AUTHORITY TO MAKE EXEMPTIONS FOR

24 GOOD CAUSE.—A State shall not be considered to be in

25 violation of subsection (a) for a period by reason of the
5

•HR 4324 IH

1 failure of the State to ensure that, during the period, an

2 adult or a head of household is engaged in work activities

3 as required by subsection (a) if—

4 ‘‘(1) the State determines that there is good

5 cause not to require the adult or head of household

6 to engage in work activities for the period; and

7 ‘‘(2) during the period, such a determination is

8 in effect with respect to not more than 10 percent

9 of the adults and heads of households receiving as10 sistance under the State plan funded under this

11 part.

12 ‘‘(c) WORK ACTIVITIES DEFINED.—As used in this

13 section, the term ‘work activities’ means—

14 ‘‘(1) unsubsidized employment;

15 ‘‘(2) subsidized private sector employment;

16 ‘‘(3) subsidized public sector employment;

17 ‘‘(4) work experience (including work associated

18 with the refurbishing of publicly assisted housing) if

19 sufficient private sector employment is not available;

20 ‘‘(5) on-the-job training;

21 ‘‘(6) community service programs;

22 ‘‘(7) vocational educational training (not to ex23 ceed 6 months with respect to any individual);

24 ‘‘(8) education directly related to employment,

25 in the case of a recipient who has not received a
6

•HR 4324 IH

1 high school diploma or a certificate of high school

2 equivalency; and

3 ‘‘(9) satisfactory attendance at secondary school

4 or in a course of study leading to a certificate of

5 general equivalence, in the case of a recipient who

6 has not completed secondary school or received such

7 a certificate.

8 ‘‘(d) NONDISPLACEMENT IN WORK ACTIVITIES.—

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

10 an adult in a family receiving assistance under a

11 State program funded under this part attributable to

12 funds provided by the Federal Government may fill

13 a vacant employment position in order to engage in

14 a work activity.

15 ‘‘(2) NO FILLING OF CERTAIN VACANCIES.—No

16 adult in a work activity which is funded, in whole or

17 in part, by funds provided by the Federal Govern18 ment shall be employed or assigned—

19 ‘‘(A) when any other individual is on layoff

20 from the same or any substantially equivalent

21 job; or

22 ‘‘(B) if the employer has terminated the

23 employment of any regular employee or other24 wise caused an involuntary reduction of its
7

•HR 4324 IH

1 workforce in order to fill the vacancy so created

2 with an adult described in paragraph (1).

3 ‘‘(3) GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE.—A State with a

4 program funded under this part shall establish and

5 maintain a grievance procedure for resolving com6 plaints of alleged violations of paragraph (2).

7 ‘‘(4) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this sub8 section shall preempt or supersede any provision of

9 State or local law that provides greater protection

10 for employees from displacement.

11 ‘‘(e) REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE WORK

12 PROGRAMS.—During fiscal year 1999, the Committee on

13 Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the

14 Committee on Finance of the Senate shall hold hearings

15 and engage in other appropriate activities to review the

16 implementation of this section by the States, and shall in17 vite the Governors of the States to testify before them re18 garding such implementation. Based on such hearings,

19 such Committees may introduce such legislation as may

20 be appropriate to remedy any problems with the State pro21 grams operated pursuant to this section.’’.

22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

23 (A) The heading of section 409(a)(3) of

24 the Social Security Act, as in effect pursuant to

25 title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work
8

•HR 4324 IH

1 Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is

2 amended by striking ‘‘SATISFY MINIMUM PAR3 TICIPATION RATES’’ and inserting ‘‘MEET WORK

4 REQUIREMENTS’’.

5 (B) Section 411(a)(1)(A)(xii) of the Social

6 Security Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of

7 the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor8 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended

9 by striking ‘‘calculate minimum participation

10 rates under’’ and inserting ‘‘determine degree

11 of compliance with’’.

12 (C) Section 411(a)(4) of the Social Secu13 rity Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the

14 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

15 Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended by

16 striking ‘‘407(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘407(c)’’.

17 (D) Section 107 of the Personal Respon18 sibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

19 Act of 1996 is repealed.

20 (E) Section 466(a)(15)(A)(ii) of the Social

21 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(15)(A)(ii)) is

22 amended by striking ‘‘407(d)’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘407(c)’’.

24 (c) STATES REQUIRED TO PROVIDE TO RECIPIENTS

25 ENGAGING IN REQUIRED WORK ACTIVITIES A CASH BEN-
9

•HR 4324 IH

1 EFIT BASED ON NUMBER OF HOURS OF WORK ACTIVI2 TIES.—Section 408(a) of the Social Security Act, as in

3 effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Responsibility

4 and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, and

5 as amended by section 5(a)(2) of this Act, is amended by

6 inserting after paragraph (6) the following:

7 ‘‘(7) CASH BENEFITS REQUIRED TO BE PRO8 VIDED FOR RECIPIENTS ENGAGING IN REQUIRED

9 WORK ACTIVITIES.—A State shall provide assistance

10 under the State program funded under this part to

11 a family engaging in work activities required pursu12 ant to section 407 in the form of a monthly cash

13 payment to the family of an amount equal to the

14 lesser of—

15 ‘‘(A) the dollar value of the assistance that

16 would otherwise be provided to the family for

17 the month under the State program funded

18 under this part; or

19 ‘‘(B)(i) the aggregate number of hours

20 during the immediately preceding month that

21 the adult (or adults) in the family is (or are)

22 engaged in such activities; multiplied by

23 ‘‘(ii) the minimum wage rate in effect

24 under section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards

25 Act of 1938.’’.
10

•HR 4324 IH

1 (d) PENALTY APPLICABLE TO STATES FOR FAILURE

2 TO MAKE REQUIRED MONTHLY CASH PAYMENTS TO

3 FAMILIES ENGAGING IN REQUIRED WORK ACTIVITIES.—

4 Section 409(a) of the Social Security Act, as in effect pur5 suant to title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work

6 Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, and as amended

7 by section 7(b)(1) of this Act, is amended by inserting

8 after paragraph (5) the following:

9 ‘‘(6) FAILURE TO MAKE REQUIRED MONTHLY

10 CASH PAYMENTS TO FAMILIES ENGAGING IN RE11 QUIRED WORK ACTIVITIES.—If the Secretary deter12 mines that, during a fiscal year, a State has not pro13 vided to a family engaging in work activities re14 quired pursuant to section 407 a monthly cash pay15 ment in the amount required by section 408(a)(7),

16 the Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to the

17 State under section 403(a)(1) for the immediately

18 succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 3 times

19 the difference (whether positive or negative) between

20 the amount so required to be paid to the family for

21 the month and the amount paid to the family for the

22 month under the State program funded under this

23 part.’’.

24 (e) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES EXCEPTION TO

25 MEDICAID DISQUALIFICATION FOR ADULTS WHO FAIL
11

•HR 4324 IH

1 TO MEET WORK REQUIREMENT.—Section 1931(b)(3) of

2 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396v(b)(3)), as in ef3 fect pursuant to title I of the Personal Responsibility and

4 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended

5 by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION FOR EMERGENCY MEDI7 CAL SERVICES.—Subparagraph (A) shall not

8 apply to terminate medical assistance for care

9 and services that are necessary for the treat10 ment of an emergency medical condition (as de11 fined in section 1903(v)(3)) and that are not

12 related to an organ transplant procedure.’’.

13 SEC. 4. INCREASED COMMITMENT TO CHILD CARE.

14 (a) INCREASED CHILD CARE FUNDING.—Section

15 418(a)(3) of the Social Security Act, as added by section

16 603(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor17 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended to read as

18 follows:

19 ‘‘(3) APPROPRIATION.—For grants under this

20 section, there are appropriated—

21 ‘‘(A) $2,967,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;

22 ‘‘(B) $3,067,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;

23 ‘‘(C) $3,167,000,000 for fiscal year 1999;

24 ‘‘(D) $3,367,000,000 for fiscal year 2000;
12

•HR 4324 IH

1 ‘‘(E) $3,567,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;

2 and

3 ‘‘(F) $3,717,000,000 for fiscal year

4 2002.’’.

5 (b) CHILD CARE REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED TO

6 FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN UNDER AGE 6.—Section

7 408(a) of the Social Security Act, as in effect pursuant

8 to title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor9 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended by adding

10 at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(12) PROVISION OF CHILD CARE TO FAMILIES

12 WITH A CHILD UNDER AGE 6.—A State to which a

13 grant is made under section 403 shall take such

14 steps as may be necessary to ensure that each family

15 receiving assistance under the State program funded

16 under this part is provided with child care for any

17 child in the family who has not attained 6 years of

18 age.’’.

19 (c) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO PROVIDE REQUIRED

20 CHILD CARE.—Section 409(a) of the Social Security Act,

21 as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Responsibil22 ity and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, as

23 amended by section 5(b) of this Act, is amended by insert24 ing after paragraph (8) the following:
13

•HR 4324 IH

1 ‘‘(9) FAILURE TO PROVIDE REQUIRED CHILD

2 CARE.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary deter4 mines that a State to which a grant is made

5 under section 403 for a fiscal year has violated

6 section 408(a)(12) during the fiscal year, the

7 Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to the

8 State under section 403(a)(1) for the imme9 diately succeeding fiscal year by an amount

10 equal to not more than 10 percent of the State

11 family assistance grant.

12 ‘‘(B) PENALTY BASED ON SEVERITY OF

13 FAILURE.—The Secretary shall impose reduc14 tions under subparagraph (A) with respect to a

15 fiscal year based on the degree of noncompli16 ance.’’.

17 (d) ELIMINATION OF PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO

18 MAINTAIN ASSISTANCE TO ADULT SINGLE CUSTODIAL

19 PARENTS WHO CANNOT OBTAIN CHILD CARE FOR CHILD

20 UNDER AGE 6.—Section 409(a) of the Social Security

21 Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Re22 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

23 1996, is amended by striking paragraph (11).

24 SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF 5-YEAR LIMIT ON ASSISTANCE.

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—
14

•HR 4324 IH

1 (1) Section 408(a)(1) of the Social Security

2 Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal

3 Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

4 Act of 1996, is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(1) NO ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES WITHOUT A

6 MINOR CHILD.—A State to which a grant is made

7 under section 403 shall not use any part of the

8 grant to provide assistance to a family, unless the

9 family includes—

10 ‘‘(A) a minor child who resides with a cus11 todial parent or other adult caretaker relative of

12 the child; or

13 ‘‘(B) a pregnant individual.’’.

14 (2) Section 408(a) of the Social Security Act,

15 as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Re16 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

17 Act of 1996, is amended by striking paragraph (7).

18 (b) ELIMINATION OF ASSOCIATED PENALTY.—Sec19 tion 409(a) of the Social Security Act, as in effect pursu20 ant to title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Op21 portunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended by strik22 ing paragraph (9).

23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

24 (1) Section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)(III) of the Social

25 Security Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the
15

•HR 4324 IH

1 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec2 onciliation Act of 1996, is amended by striking ‘‘sec3 tion 408(a)(7) of this Act or’’.

4 (2) Section 411(a)(1)(A)(xvi) of the Social Se5 curity Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the Per6 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec7 onciliation Act of 1996, is amended—

8 (A) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause

9 (II);

10 (B) by striking subclause (III); and

11 (C) by redesignating subclause (IV) as

12 subclause (III).

13 SEC. 6. CHANGES RELATED TO GRANTS TO STATES.

14 (a) AMOUNT OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE GRANT.—Sec15 tion 403(a)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act, as in effect

16 pursuant to title I of the Personal Responsibility and

17 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amend18 ed—

19 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘1992, 1993, and

20 1994’’ and inserting ‘‘1994, 1995, and 1996’’; and

21 (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘1994’’ and in22 serting ‘‘1996’’.

23 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL GRANT FOR

24 OPERATION OF WORK PROGRAMS IN LIEU OF SUPPLE25 MENTAL GRANT FOR POPULATION INCREASES IN CER-
16

•HR 4324 IH

1 TAIN STATES AND BONUS TO REWARD HIGH PERFORM2 ANCE STATES.—Section 403(a) of the Social Security Act,

3 as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Responsibil4 ity and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is

5 amended by striking paragraphs (3) and (4) and inserting

6 the following:

7 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTAL GRANT FOR OPERATION

8 OF WORK PROGRAMS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State

10 shall be entitled to receive from the Secretary

11 a grant, in an amount described in subpara12 graph (B), for each fiscal year specified in sub13 paragraph (C), which shall be used by the State

14 only to comply with section 407.

15 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount

16 described in this subparagraph with respect to

17 a State is the amount that bears the same ratio

18 to $1,000,000,000 as the amount of the State

19 family assistance grant bears to the total of the

20 State family assistance grants of all States.

21 ‘‘(C) APPROPRIATION.—There are author22 ized to be appropriated for grants under this

23 paragraph $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal

24 years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and

25 2002.’’.
17

•HR 4324 IH

1 (c) ELIMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO USE PORTION

2 OF GRANTS FOR OTHER PURPOSES.—Section 404 of the

3 Social Security Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the

4 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcili5 ation Act of 1996, is amended by striking subsection (d)

6 and redesignating subsections (e) through (j) as sub7 sections (d) through (i), respectively.

8 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF FEDERAL LOANS FOR STATE WELFARE

9 PROGRAMS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 406 of the Social Security

11 Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the Personal Re12 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

13 1996, is repealed.

14 (b) ELIMINATION OF ASSOCIATED PENALTY.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 409(a) of the Social

16 Security Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the

17 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec18 onciliation Act of 1996, is amended by striking para19 graph (6).

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

21 (A) Section 409(c) of the Social Security

22 Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the Per23 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

24 Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended by

25 striking paragraph (4).
18

•HR 4324 IH

1 (B) Section 412(f)(1) of the Social Secu2 rity Act, as in effect pursuant to title I of the

3 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

4 Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended by

5 striking ‘‘(a)(1), (a)(6),’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)(1)

6 and’’.

7 SEC. 8. MISCELLANEOUS.

8 (a) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CERTIFICATION REQUIRED

9 TO BE INCLUDED IN STATE PLAN.—Section 402(a)(7) of

10 the Social Security Act, as in effect pursuant to title I

11 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec12 onciliation Act of 1996, is amended—

13 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OPTIONAL CER14 TIFICATION’’ and inserting ‘‘CERTIFICATION’’;

15 (2) by striking ‘‘At the option of the State, a’’

16 and inserting ‘‘A’’;

17 (3) by inserting ‘‘being subjected to’’ before

18 ‘‘domestic violence’’ the first 2 places such term ap19 pears;

20 (4) by inserting ‘‘being subjected to’’ before

21 ‘‘further domestic violence’’; and

22 (5) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting

23 the following:

24 ‘‘(B) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFINED.—For

25 purposes of this paragraph, an individual has
19

•HR 4324 IH

1 been subjected to domestic violence if the indi2 vidual has been subjected to—

3 ‘‘(i) physical acts that resulted in, or

4 threatened to result in, physical injury to

5 the individual;

6 ‘‘(ii) sexual abuse;

7 ‘‘(iii) sexual activity involving a de8 pendent child;

9 ‘‘(iv) being forced as the caretaker rel10 ative of a dependent child to engage in

11 nonconsensual sexual acts or activities;

12 ‘‘(v) threats of, or attempts at, phys13 ical or sexual abuse;

14 ‘‘(vi) mental abuse; or

15 ‘‘(vii) neglect or deprivation of medi16 cal care.’’.

17 (b) STATES REQUIRED TO MAKE INITIAL ASSESS18 MENT OF RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—Section 408(b)

19 of the Social Security Act, as in effect pursuant to title

20 I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

21 Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended by striking para22 graph (4).

23 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

25 (b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect
20

•HR 4324 IH

1 as if included in title I of the Personal Responsibility and

2 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on the date

3 such Act became law.

4 (b) INCREASE IN CHILD CARE FUNDING.—The

5 amendment made by section 4(a) of this Act shall take

6 effect as if included in title VI of the Personal Responsibil7 ity and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on

8 the date such Act became law.

Æ