The clearinghouse would assist states and communities in efforts to support marriage and responsible fatherhood by collecting and evaluating information regarding state media campaigns. Title I of S. 685, the Strengthening Working Families Act, contains the same fatherhood proposals as in S. 653. Members posed a number of questions to USDA staff, many of them dealing with the recent declines in program participation. Members also asked about the progress of nationwide implementation of food stamp electronic benefit transfer, which is mandated by October 2002. States have the option to request reinvestment of their potential sanction amounts in administrative improvements that would help reduce future errors, and most recent sanctions have been settled via this method.
States receive enhanced funding if they have very low levels of overpayments and underpayments.
The bill is intended to improve services and facilities of Federal Indian Health programs, including the Indian Health Service. Section 602 of the bill provides specifically for the establishment of an automated management information system for the Indian Health Service. The system would include financial management, patient care information, privacy protections, services-based cost accounting, interfaces for patient billing, and a training component. Although the bill authorizes funding for the information system, no specific amounts are provided. The bipartisan bill, cosponsored by 12 other senators, promotes Internet-based technology to enhance citizen access to government information and services.