I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 513

To replace the program of aid to families with dependent children and

the job opportunities and basic skills training program with a program

of block grants to States for families with dependent children, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 13, 1995

Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas (for herself, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. GOSS, Mr. SOLOMON,

Mr. SCHAEFER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. STUMP, and Mr. WALSH) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and

Means and, in addition, to the Committee on Economic and Educational

Opportunities, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To replace the program of aid to families with dependent

children and the job opportunities and basic skills training program with a program of block grants to States

for families with dependent children, 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 ‘‘Welfare and Teenage

5 Pregnancy Reduction Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. BLOCK GRANTS TO STATES FOR FAMILIES WITH DE2 PENDENT CHILDREN.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Social Security Act

4 (42 U.S.C. 601–617) is amended by striking part A (ex5 cept sections 403(h) and 417) and inserting the following:

6 ‘‘PART A—BLOCK GRANTS TO STATES FOR FAMILIES WITH

7 DEPENDENT CHILDREN

8 ‘‘SEC. 401. ENTITLEMENT.

9 ‘‘For grants to which States meeting the require10 ments of this part are entitled, there is authorized to be

11 appropriated to the Secretary for each fiscal year an

12 amount equal to—

13 ‘‘(1) 103 percent of the aggregate amount of

14 Federal outlays under part A of this title, other than

15 under section 403(l), (as in effect immediately before

16 the effective date of this part) for fiscal year 1994;

17 plus

18 ‘‘(2) 100 percent of the aggregate amount of

19 Federal outlays under such section 403(l) for fiscal

20 year 1993.

21 ‘‘SEC. 402. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.

22 ‘‘To be entitled to a grant under this part for a fiscal

23 year, a State must, not later than June 30 of the imme24 diately preceding fiscal year, submit to the Secretary an

25 application which describes the State program to assist

26 families with dependent children (which may include job
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1 training and work programs for such families), including

2 the goals and objectives of the program.

3 ‘‘SEC. 403. BLOCK GRANT.

4 ‘‘The Secretary shall make a grant for a fiscal year

5 to each State that meets the requirement of section 402

6 for the fiscal year in an amount equal to—

7 ‘‘(1) 103 percent of the amount paid to the

8 State under part A of this title, other than under

9 section 403(l), (as in effect immediately before the

10 effective date of this part) for fiscal year 1994; plus

11 ‘‘(2) 100 percent of the amount paid to the

12 State under such section 403(l) for fiscal year 1993.

13 ‘‘SEC. 404. USE OF FUNDS.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State to which a grant is

15 made under section 403 for a fiscal year shall use the

16 grant to carry out the State program to assist families

17 with dependent children.

18 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITIONS.—Each State to which a grant

19 is made under section 403 for a fiscal year shall not use

20 any Federal funds provided to carry out the State pro21 gram to assist families with dependent children, to provide

22 assistance during the fiscal year with respect to a depend23 ent child if—

24 ‘‘(1) the mother or father of the dependent

25 child has not attained 19 years of age; or
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1 ‘‘(2) the paternity or maternity of the depend2 ent child has not been established.

3 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE.—During a period not exceeding

4 1 year from the date a family with a dependent child

5 moves to a State to which a grant is made under section

6 403 for a fiscal year from another State, the State may—

7 ‘‘(1) apply the same rules as apply with respect

8 to any other dependent child in the State, in provid9 ing assistance with respect to the dependent child

10 under the State program to assist families with

11 dependent children; or

12 ‘‘(2) treat the dependent child in the same man13 ner as such other State would have treated the de14 pendent child if the dependent child had not moved

15 from such other State.

16 ‘‘SEC. 405. DEFINITION OF DEPENDENT CHILD.

17 ‘‘As used in this part, the term ‘dependent child’

18 means an individual who—

19 ‘‘(1) is needy, as determined by the State in

20 which the child resides;

21 ‘‘(2) has been deprived of parental support or

22 care due to the death, continued absence from the

23 home (other than absence occasioned solely due to

24 the performance of active duty in the uniformed
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1 services of the United States), or physical or mental

2 incapacity of a parent;

3 ‘‘(3) is living with the individual’s father, moth4 er, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, step5 father, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle,

6 aunt, first cousin, nephew, or niece, in a place of

7 residence maintained by 1 or more of such relatives

8 as his, her, or their home; and

9 ‘‘(4) is—

10 ‘‘(A) not more than 18 years of age; or

11 ‘‘(B) at the option of the State—

12 ‘‘(i) not more than 19 years of age;

13 and

14 ‘‘(ii) a full-time student in a second15 ary school (or in the equivalent level of vo16 cational or technical training) who may

17 reasonably be expected to complete the

18 program of the secondary school (or the

19 training) before attaining 19 years of

20 age.’’.

21 ‘‘SEC. 406. ANNUAL REPORTS.

22 ‘‘Not later than 6 months after the end of each fiscal

23 year for which a State is made a grant under section 403,

24 the State shall submit to the Secretary a report which con25 tains—
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1 ‘‘(1) a statement of the average number of fam2 ilies with dependent children in the State during the

3 fiscal year, and of the number of such families to

4 which assistance was provided under State programs

5 funded under this part during the fiscal year;

6 ‘‘(2) in absolute and in percentage terms, the

7 extent to which there has been an increase or de8 crease, during the fiscal year and since the effective

9 date of this part, in—

10 ‘‘(A) teen pregnancies in the State;

11 ‘‘(B) births of children immediately eligible

12 for assistance through the State program of as13 sistance to families with dependent children;

14 ‘‘(C) families to whom such assistance has

15 been terminated due to the gainful employment

16 of 1 or more members of the family; and

17 ‘‘(D) absent parents who contribute finan18 cially to the support of families receiving such

19 assistance; and

20 ‘‘(3) the extent to which the State has met the

21 goals and objectives set forth in the application for

22 the grant.

23 ‘‘SEC. 407. WITHHOLDING OF BLOCK GRANT.

24 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this part,

25 beginning 4 years after the effective date of this part, the
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1 Secretary may suspend or withhold for any period a por2 tion or all of a grant to a State for a fiscal year under

3 this part if, after reviewing the State reports submitted

4 pursuant to section 406, the Secretary determines that the

5 State program of assistance to families with dependent

6 children during the immediately preceding fiscal year has

7 not adequately met the needs of the families.’’.

8 (b) REPEAL OF JOBS PROGRAM.—Part F of title IV

9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 681–687) is hereby repealed.

10 (c) TRANSFER OF PROVISION PROVIDING FOR PEN11 ALTIES FOR SUBSTANTIAL NONCOMPLIANCE WITH STATE

12 PLAN FOR CHILD AND SPOUSAL SUPPORT.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(h) of such Act

14 (42 U.S.C. 603(h)) is hereby transferred to section

15 455 of such Act, inserted after subsection (b) of

16 such section 455, and redesignated as subsection (c).

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

18 (A) Section 455(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

19 655(c)), as added by paragraph (1) of this sub20 section, is amended—

21 (i) in paragraph (1)—

22 (I) by striking ‘‘part D’’ and in23 serting ‘‘this part’’; and

24 (II) by striking ‘‘such part’’ and

25 inserting ‘‘this part’’; and
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1 (ii) by striking paragraph (3).

2 (B) Section 452(a)(4) of such Act (42

3 U.S.C. 652(a)(4)) is amended—

4 (i) by striking ‘‘403(h)(1)’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘455(c)(1)’’; and

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘403(h)(2)’’ and in7 serting ‘‘455(c)(2)’’.

8 (C) Section 452 of such Act (42 U.S.C.

9 652) is amended, in each of subsections (a)(4),

10 (d)(3)(A), (g)(1), and (g)(3)(A), by striking

11 ‘‘403(h)’’ and inserting ‘‘455(c)’’.

12 (d) TRANSFER OF PROVISION PROVIDING FOR AS13 SISTANT SECRETARY FOR FAMILY SUPPORT.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 417 of such Act (42

15 U.S.C. 617) is hereby transferred to section 452 of

16 such Act, added at the end of such section 452, and

17 redesignated as subsection (j).

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 452(j)

19 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 652(j)), as added by para20 graph (1) of this subsection, is amended—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘ASSISTANT SECRETARY

22 FOR FAMILY SUPPORT’’; and

23 (B) by striking ‘‘programs under this part,

24 part D, and part F’’ and inserting ‘‘program

25 under this part’’.
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1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments and repeal

2 made by this section shall take effect on October 1, 1995.

3 (f) REFERENCES IN OTHER LAWS.—Any reference in

4 any law, regulation, document, paper, or other record of

5 the United States to part A or F of title IV of the Social

6 Security Act, or to a provision of law contained in either

7 such part, shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be

8 considered to be a reference to such part A or F, or such

9 provision, as in effect immediately before October 1, 1995.

10 SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF FEDERAL AFDC ADMINISTRATIVE

11 COSTS.

12 (a) COST-REDUCTION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec13 retary of Health and Human Services shall, using any au14 thorities otherwise available, take such actions as may be

15 necessary to ensure that, for each fiscal year that begins

16 12 months or more after the date of the enactment of this

17 Act, the total administrative costs of the program de18 scribed in part A of title IV of the Social Security Act

19 shall not exceed 50 percent of the total administrative

20 costs of that program (as then in effect) for fiscal year

21 1994.

22 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1

23 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of Health and Human Services shall submit a writ25 ten report to Congress describing—
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1 (1) the actions which have been or will be taken

2 in order to achieve timely compliance with subsection

3 (a);

4 (2) the procedures and criteria used in deter5 mining what actions to take, including the reasons

6 why each such action was chosen;

7 (3) the savings anticipated from each action de8 scribed under paragraph (1); and

9 (4) the methodologies and assumptions used in

10 connection with any computations under this section.

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