I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2557

To discourage States and local governments from providing general welfare

assistance to able-bodied individuals unless such individuals are participating in workfare programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 29, 1993

Mr. SOLOMON (for himself, Mr. KING, and Mr. LEVY) introduced the following

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

A BILL

To discourage States and local governments from providing

general welfare assistance to able-bodied individuals unless such individuals are participating in workfare 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. AMENDMENT.

4 Section 403 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

5 603) is amended by inserting after subsection (b) the fol6 lowing new subsection:

7 ‘‘(c)(1)(A) If the Secretary determines—
2

•HR 2557 IH

1 ‘‘(i) that a State is operating a general welfare

2 assistance program described in paragraph (3) dur3 ing a calendar quarter, or

4 ‘‘(ii) that more than 20 percent of the local gov5 ernments within a State that provide general welfare

6 assistance are operating programs described in para7 graph (3) during a calendar quarter,

8 the Secretary shall reduce by 50 percent the amount that

9 such State would otherwise receive under subsection (a)

10 with respect to expenditures made by such State during

11 such quarter for the administration of the aid to families

12 with dependent children program under this part.

13 ‘‘(B) If a State receives a reduced payment in a cal14 endar quarter as a result of a determination by the Sec15 retary under subparagraph (A)(ii)—

16 ‘‘(i) such State shall reduce for such quarter

17 the payments made to each State office administer18 ing the aid to families with dependent children pro19 gram which is located within the jurisdiction of the

20 local governments described in subparagraph (A)(ii)

21 by an amount equal to 50 percent of the of Federal

22 share of the administrative expenses of such office;

23 and

24 ‘‘(ii) such State shall not, as a result of such

25 reduced payment, reduce for such quarter the pay-
3

•HR 2557 IH

1 ments made to any State office administering the

2 aid to families with dependent children program

3 which is not located within the jurisdiction of the

4 local governments described in subparagraph (A)(ii).

5 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary determines that any local gov6 ernment within a State that is not described in paragraph

7 (1)(A) is operating a general welfare assistance program

8 described in paragraph (3) during a calendar quarter, the

9 State shall reduce for such quarter the payments made

10 to any State office administering the aid to families with

11 dependent children program which is located within the

12 jurisdiction of such local government by an amount equal

13 to 50 percent of the of Federal share of the administrative

14 expenses of such office and such amount shall be paid by

15 the State to the Secretary.

16 ‘‘(3) A general welfare assistance program described

17 in this paragraph is a general welfare assistance program

18 that—

19 ‘‘(A) provides benefits to able-bodied individuals

20 (as determined by the Secretary) who have attained

21 age 18 and who have no dependents (hereafter re22 ferred to in this subsection as ‘able-bodied individ23 uals’);
4

•HR 2557 IH

1 ‘‘(B) does not have a workfare program that

2 meets the participation rate requirements under

3 paragraph (4); and

4 ‘‘(C) does not meet any other requirements set

5 forth in regulations issued by the Secretary.

6 ‘‘(4)(A) The participation rate requirements under

7 this paragraph are as follows:

8 ‘‘(i) In the case of a workfare program which

9 is implemented after the date of the enactment of

10 this subsection, the participation rate for such pro11 gram shall be—

12 ‘‘(I) for the second year that the program

13 is operated, 10 percent; and

14 ‘‘(II) for any succeeding year, the percent15 age for the preceding year plus 2 percent.

16 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a workfare program which

17 is operating on the date of the enactment of this

18 subsection, the participation rate for such program

19 shall be—

20 ‘‘(I) for 1994—

21 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a program with a

22 participation rate below 10 percent for

23 1993, 10 percent; and

24 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a program with a

25 participation rate between 10 percent and
5

•HR 2557 IH

1 50 percent for 1993, the program’s partici2 pation rate for 1993 plus 2 percent; and

3 ‘‘(II) for any succeeding year, the percent4 age for the preceding year plus 2 percent.

5 ‘‘(B) The participation rates required under clauses

6 (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 50 per7 cent.

8 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘par9 ticipation rate’ means the percentage of the able-bodied

10 individuals who receive general welfare assistance partici11 pating in a workfare program.

12 ‘‘(5) On or before the date which is 5 years after the

13 date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary

14 shall conduct a review of State and local participation

15 rates and submit to Congress a report containing any of

16 the Secretary’s recommendations with respect to the par17 ticipation rate requirements established under paragraph

18 (4).’’.

19 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.

20 (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the amend21 ment made by section 1 shall apply to calendar quarters

22 beginning on or after July 1, 1994.

23 (b) In the case of a State which the Secretary deter24 mines requires State legislation (other than legislation au25 thorizing or appropriating funds) in order to comply with
6

•HR 2557 IH

1 the amendments made by section 1, the State shall not

2 be regarded as failing to comply with such amendments

3 solely on the basis of its failure to meet the requirements

4 of such amendments before the first day of the first cal5 endar quarter beginning after the close of the first regular

6 session of the State legislature that begins after the date

7 of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preced8 ing sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legis9 lative session, each year of such session shall be deemed

10 to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.

Æ