I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3638
To require a preference for Federal contractors that hire welfare recipients,
to require the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to assist
States and other entities in financing transportation services for welfare
recipients, and to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to provide guarantees of State loans to current or recent welfare recipi-
ents.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 1, 1998
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, and Government Reform and Oversight, 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 com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To require a preference for Federal contractors that hire
welfare recipients, to require the Secretary of Transpor-
tation to make grants to assist States and other entities
in financing transportation services for welfare recipients,
and to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices to provide guarantees of State loans to current or
recent welfare recipients.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PREFERENCE FOR CONTRACTORS THAT HIRE
WELFARE RECIPIENTS.
(a) PREFERENCE.—In awarding a contract covered
by this section, the head of a department or agency of
the Federal Government shall give preference to an entity
that agrees to hire welfare recipients for jobs created to
carry out the contract.
(b) EVALUATION.—To carry out subsection (a), the
head of a department or agency shall develop a system
under which, in the evaluation of an offer from an entity
for a contract, the preference given to the entity will be
greater as the number of welfare recipients that the offer-
or agrees to hire increases.
(c) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement of subsection (a)
shall not apply in the evaluation of offers for a contract
if—
(1) the Secretary of Defense determines that
the subsection should not apply for national security
reasons; or
(2) the head of the department or agency deter-
mines that no entry-level jobs are expected to be cre-
ated to carry out the contract.
(d) COVERED CONTRACTS.—This section applies to
any contract in an amount in excess of $500,000 entered
into after the date of the enactment of this Act by a de-
partment or agency of the Federal Government using com-
petitive procedures.
(e) WELFARE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘welfare recip-
ient’’ means a recipient of assistance under a State pro-
gram funded under part A of title IV of the Social Secu-
rity Act.
SEC. 2. ACCESS TO JOBS GRANTS.
(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Trans-
portation shall make grants to States under this section
to assist State agencies, local governmental authorities,
and nonprofit organizations in financing transportation
services designed to transport welfare recipients to and
from jobs and activities related to their employment. The
Secretary shall coordinate activities under this section
with related activities under programs of other Federal de-
partments and agencies.
(b) GRANTS BY STATES.—Each State to which a
grant is made under this section shall use the grant pro-
ceeds to make grants to State agencies, local government
authorities, and nonprofit organizations. In selecting ap-
plicants for grants under this subsection, the State shall
consider the following:
(1) The percentage of the population in the
area to be served that are welfare recipients.
(2) promoting the use of transit by workers
with nontraditional work schedules;
(3) promoting the use by appropriate agencies
of transit vouchers for welfare recipients under spe-
cific terms and conditions developed by the Sec-
retary; and
(4) promoting the use of employer-provided
transportation including the transit pass benefit pro-
gram under subsections (a) and (f) of section 132 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
No planning or coordination activities are eligible for as-
sistance under this section.
(d) FEDERAL SHARE OF COSTS.—The Federal share
of costs under this section shall be provided from funds
apportioned under this section. The Federal share of the
costs for a project under this section shall not exceed 50
percent of the net project cost. The remainder shall be
provided in cash from sources other than revenues from
providing mass transportation. Funds appropriated to a
Federal department or agency (other than the Department
of Transportation) and eligible to be used for transpor-
tation may be used toward the nongovernment share pay-
able on a project under this section.
(e) PLANNING REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements
of sections 5303 through 5306 of title 49, United States
Code, apply to grants made under this section. Applica-
tions must reflect coordination with and the approval of
affected transit grant recipients and the projects financed
must be part of a coordinated public transit-human serv-
ices transportation planning process.
(f) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—A grant under this sec-
tion shall be subject to all of the terms and conditions
of grants made under section 5307 of title 49, United
States Code, and such terms and conditions as determined
by the Secretary.
(g) APPORTIONMENT
OF FUNDS.—The Secretary
shall apportion funds appropriated to carry out this sec-
tion for each fiscal year among the States in the ratio that
the amount paid to each State under section 403(a)(1)
of the Social Security Act for the fiscal year bears to the
total amount paid to all States under that section for the
fiscal year.
(h) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—
(1) COMPTROLLER
GENERAL.—Six months
after the date of the enactment of this Act and each
6 months thereafter, the Comptroller General shall
conduct a study to evaluate the access to jobs pro-
gram conducted under this section and transmit to
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Sen-
ate the results of the study.
(2) 
DEPARTMENT
OF
TRANSPORTATION.—
Within 2 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall conduct a study to
evaluate the access to jobs program conducted under
this section and transmit to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate the re-
sults of the study.
(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply:
(1) 
CAPITAL
PROJECT
AND
URBANIZED
AREA.—The terms ‘‘capital project’’ and ‘‘urbanized
area’’ have the meanings such terms have under sec-
tion 5302 of title 49, United States Code.
(2) EXISTING TRANSPORTATION SERVICE PRO-
VIDERS.—The term ‘‘existing transportation service
providers’’ means mass transportation operators and
governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations
that receive assistance from Federal, State, or local
sources for nonemergency transportation services.
(3) WELFARE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘welfare
recipient’’ means an individual who receives or re-
ceived aid or assistance under a State program fund-
ed under part A of title IV of the Social Security
Act (whether in effect before or after the effective
date of the amendments made by title I of the Per-
sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec-
onciliation Act of 1996) at any time during the 3-
year period ending on the date the applicant applies
for a grant under this section.
(j) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this section $500,000,000 per fiscal
year for fiscal years 1999 through 2004. Such sums shall
remain available until expended.
SEC. 3. GUARANTEES OF LOANS MADE BY STATES TO CUR-
RENT OR RECENT WELFARE RECIPIENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
Human Services may provide loan guarantees to States
in accordance with this section.
(b) LIMITATION
ON ANNUAL AMOUNT
OF LOAN
GUARANTEES.—The total dollar amount of loan guaran-
tees that may be provided under this section in a fiscal
year shall not exceed $50,000,000.
(c) LIMITATION
ON ANNUAL AMOUNT
OF LOAN
GUARANTEES PER STATE.—The total dollar amount of
loan guarantees that may be provided to a State under
this section in a fiscal year is the amount that bears the
same ratio to $50,000,000 as the total dollar amount pay-
able to the State under section 403(a)(1) of the Social
Security Act for the fiscal year (determined without re-
gard to any penalty imposed under section 409 of such
Act) bears to the total dollar amount payable to all States
under such section 403(a)(1) for the fiscal year (as so de-
termined).
(d) LOANS THAT MAY BE GUARANTEED.—The Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services may provide a loan
guarantee under this section with respect to a loan if—
(1) the loan is made by a State;
(2) the borrower is a recipient of assistance
under a State program funded under part A of title
IV of the Social Security Act;
(3) the principal amount of the loan is not less
than $20 and not more than $5,000; and
(4) the loan bears interest at an annual rate
that does not exceed the rate at which interest is
payable annually on bonds most recently issued by
the smallest political subdivision of the State in
which the borrower resides that has borrowing au-
thority.
(e) DEFINITION OF STATE.—In this section, the term
‘‘State’’ has the meaning given such term in section
419(5) of the Social Security Act.