I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2427
To provide emergency assistance for families receiving assistance under part
A of title IV of the Social Security Act and low-income working families.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 28, 2001
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. BALDACCI,
Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Ms. SOLIS) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and
Means
A BILL
To provide emergency assistance for families receiving assist-
ance under part A of title IV of the Social Security
Act and low-income working families.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Low-Income Gasoline
Assistance Program Act’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to create new emergency
assistance programs to assist families receiving assistance
under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act and
low-income working families to meet the increasing price
of gasoline.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) COVERED ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘covered
activities’’ means—
(A) work activities;
(B) education directly related to employ-
ment; or
(C) activities related to necessary sched-
uled medical treatment.
(2) GASOLINE.—The term ‘‘gasoline’’ has the
meaning given the term in section 4082 of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986.
(3) HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘household’’ has
the meaning given the term in section 2603 of the
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981
(42 U.S.C. 8622).
(4) POVERTY
LEVEL; 
STATE
MEDIAN
IN-
COME.—The terms ‘‘poverty level’’ and ‘‘State me-
dian income’’ have the meanings given the terms in
section 2603 of the Low-Income Home Energy As-
sistance Act of 1981.
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the several States, the District of Columbia, and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(7) WORK ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘work activi-
ties’’ has the meaning given the term in section
407(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
607(d)).
SEC. 4. EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.
The Secretary shall make grants to States, from al-
lotments made under section 5, to enable the States to
establish emergency assistance programs and to provide,
through the programs, payments to eligible households to
enable the households to purchase gasoline.
SEC. 5. STATE ALLOTMENTS.
From the funds appropriated under section 12 for a
fiscal year and remaining after the reservation made in
section 11, the Secretary shall allot to each State an
amount that bears the same relation to such remainder
as the amount the State receives under section 675B of
the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.
9906) for that year bears to the amount all States receive
under that section for that year.
SEC. 6. STATE APPLICATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant
under this Act, a State shall submit an application to the
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary may require.
(b) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, the application shall
contain—
(1) information designating a State agency to
carry out the emergency assistance program in the
State, which shall be—
(A) the State agency specified in the State
plan submitted under section 402 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602); or
(B) the State agency designated under sec-
tion 676(a) of the Community Services Block
Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9908(a)); and
(2) information describing the emergency as-
sistance program to be carried out in the State.
SEC. 7. ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a pay-
ment from a State under this Act, a household shall sub-
mit an application to the State at such time, in such man-
ner, and containing such information as the State may
require.
(b) CONTENTS.—The applicant shall include in the
application information demonstrating that—
(1) in the case of a household that is not lo-
cated in Hawaii, 1 or more individuals in the appli-
cant’s household individually drive not less than 30
miles per day, or not less than 150 miles per week,
to or from covered activities; and
(2)(A)(i) 1 or more individuals in that house-
hold were receiving assistance (including services)
under the State program funded under part A of
title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601
et seq.) within the 24-month period ending on the
date of submission of the application; and
(ii) no individual in that household is receiving
that assistance, as of the date of submission of the
application;
(B)(i) 1 or more individuals in that household
are receiving assistance (including services) under
that State program; and
(ii) such individuals are engaged in work activi-
ties and are meeting the other requirements of that
part A that are applicable to recipients of such as-
sistance;
(C) the household meets the eligibility require-
ments of section 2605(b)(2)(A) of the Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C.
8624(b)(2)(A)), other than clause (i) of that section;
or
(D) the household income for the household
does not exceed the greater of—
(i) an amount equal to 150 percent of the
poverty level for the State involved; or
(ii) an amount equal to 60 percent of the
State median income.
(c) RULE.—For purposes of subsection (b)(2)(D), a
State—
(1) may not exclude a household from eligibility
for a fiscal year solely on the basis of household in-
come if such income is less than 110 percent of the
poverty level for such State; but
(2) may give priority to those households with
the highest gasoline costs or needs in relation to
household income.
SEC. 8. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.
(a) DETERMINATION OF TRIGGER AMOUNT.—
(1) DETERMINATION OF GASOLINE.—The Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of Energy, shall determine a
grade of gasoline for which price determinations will
be made under this subsection, which shall be a type
of gasoline that has a specified octane rating or
other specified characteristic.