I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3612
To reform the Nation’s welfare system by requiring work and demanding
personal responsibility.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 11, 1996
Mr. GIBBONS (for himself, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. CARDIN, and
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committees on Agriculture, Banking and Financial Services, Eco-
nomic and Educational Opportunities, the Judiciary, Commerce, the
Budget, National Security, International Relations, and Government Re-
form 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 committee concerned
A BILL
To reform the Nation’s welfare system by requiring work
and demanding personal responsibility.
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 ‘‘Work First and Per-
sonal Responsibility Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS; AMENDMENT OF THE SOCIAL
SECURITY ACT.
(a) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—This Act is organized as
follows:
Section 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents; amendment of the Social Security Act.
TITLE I—WORK-BASED ASSISTANCE
Sec. 101. Purpose.
Subtitle A—Temporary Employment Assistance
Sec. 102. State plan.
Sec. 103. Conforming amendments relating to collection of overpayments.
Sec. 104. Territories.
Sec. 105. Effective dates.
Subtitle B—Make Work Pay
Sec. 111. Transitional medicaid benefits.
Sec. 112. Notice of availability required to be provided to applicants and former
recipients of temporary employment assistance, food stamps,
and medicaid.
Sec. 113. Advance payment of earned income tax credit through State dem-
onstration programs.
Sec. 114. Consolidated child care development block grant.
Sec. 115. Effective dates.
Subtitle C—Work First
Sec. 121. Work First program.
Sec. 122. Regulations.
Sec. 123. Applicability to States.
Sec. 124. One time increases in Work First program funds.
Subtitle D—Pregnancy and Family Stability
Sec. 131. Supervised living arrangements for minors.
Sec. 132. National Clearinghouse on Adolescent Pregnancy.
Sec. 133. Required completion of high school or other training for teenage par-
ents.
Sec. 134. Second chance homes.
TITLE II—CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT
Subtitle A—Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments
Sec. 201. State obligation to provide child support enforcement services.
Sec. 202. Distribution of payments.
Sec. 203. Privacy safeguards.
Sec. 204. Rights to notification.
Subtitle B—Locate and Case Tracking
Sec. 211. State case registry.
Sec. 212. Collection and disbursement of support payments.
Sec. 213. State directory of new hires.
Sec. 214. Amendments concerning income withholding.
Sec. 215. Locator information from interstate networks.
Sec. 216. Expansion of the Federal parent locator service.
Sec. 217. Collection and use of social security numbers for use in child support
enforcement.
Subtitle C—Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures
Sec. 221. Adoption of uniform State laws.
Sec. 222. Improvements to full faith and credit for child support orders.
Sec. 223. Administrative enforcement in interstate cases.
Sec. 224. Use of forms in interstate enforcement.
Sec. 225. State laws providing expedited procedures.
Subtitle D—Paternity Establishment
Sec. 231. State laws concerning paternity establishment.
Sec. 232. Outreach for voluntary paternity establishment.
Sec. 233. Cooperation requirement and good cause exception.
Subtitle E—Program Administration and Funding
Sec. 241. Performance-based incentives and penalties.
Sec. 242. Federal and State reviews and audits.
Sec. 243. Required reporting procedures.
Sec. 244. Automated data processing requirements.
Sec. 245. Technical assistance.
Sec. 246. Reports and data collection by the Secretary.
Subtitle F—Establishment and Modification of Support Orders
Sec. 251. Simplified process for review and adjustment of child support orders.
Sec. 252. Furnishing consumer reports for certain purposes relating to child
support.
Sec. 253. Nonliability for financial institutions providing financial records to
State child support enforcement agencies in child support
cases.
Subtitle G—Enforcement of Support Orders
Sec. 261. Internal Revenue Service collection of arrearages.
Sec. 262. Authority to collect support from Federal employees.
Sec. 263. Enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed
Forces.
Sec. 264. Voiding of fraudulent transfers.
Sec. 265. Work requirement for persons owing past-due child support.
Sec. 266. Definition of support order.
Sec. 267. Reporting arrearages to credit bureaus.
Sec. 268. Liens.
Sec. 269. State law authorizing suspension of licenses.
Sec. 270. Denial of passports for nonpayment of child support.
Sec. 271. International child support enforcement.
Sec. 272. Financial institution data matches.
Sec. 273. Enforcement of orders against paternal or maternal grandparents in
cases of minor parents.
Sec. 274. Nondischargeability in bankruptcy of certain debts for the support of
a child.
Subtitle H—Medical Support
Sec. 276. Correction to ERISA definition of medical child support order.
Sec. 277. Enforcement of orders for health care coverage.
Subtitle I—Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non-Residential
Parents
Sec. 281. Grants to States for access and visitation programs.
Subtitle J—Effect of Enactment
Sec. 291. Effective dates.
TITLE III—FOOD ASSISTANCE
Subtitle A—Food Stamps
Sec. 301. Short Title.
PART 1—BUDGETARY PROPOSALS
Sec. 311. Include children under 22 years old in their parents’ households.
Sec. 312. Use the cost of the thrifty food plan for allotment adjustments.
Sec. 313. Lower age for excluding students’ earnings.
Sec. 314. Count governmental energy assistance as income.
Sec. 315. Reduce the standard deduction.
Sec. 316. Provide a State option to mandate use of standard utility allowances.
Sec. 317. Revise indexation of vehicle asset limitation.
Sec. 318. Count vendor payments for transitional housing as income.
Sec. 319. Strengthen penalties for noncompliance with work requirements.
Sec. 320. Provide a State option to require cooperation with child support en-
forcement agencies.
Sec. 321. Provide for disqualification for receipt of multiple food stamp benefits.
Sec. 322. Establish additional work requirement.
Sec. 323. Establish comparable treatment for disqualification.
Sec. 324. Repeal minimum benefit adjustments.
Sec. 325. Prorate benefits on recertification.
Sec. 326. Prohibit allotment increases for penalties under other welfare and pub-
lic assistance programs.
Sec. 327. Permit States to determine most useful and reliable means of verifica-
tion.
Sec. 328. Expand claims collection methods.
Sec. 329. Authorize States to operate simplified food stamp programs.
Sec. 330. Reauthorize appropriations for the food stamp program.
PART 2—NONBUDGETARY PROPOSALS
Sec. 341. Expand definition of coupon.
Sec. 342. Clarify definition of homeless individual.
Sec. 343. Provide State option for eligibility standards.
Sec. 344. Double penalties for violating food stamp program requirements.
Sec. 345. Provide State option to lower age of caretaker exemption.
Sec. 346. Revise employment and training.
Sec. 347. Disqualify fleeing felons.
Sec. 348. Encourage electronic benefit transfer systems.
Sec. 349. Authorize exchange of law enforcement information.
Sec. 350. Simplify administration of expedited service.
PART 3—ADMINISTRATIVE FLEXIBILITY PROPOSALS
Sec. 361. Expand State authority to define certification period.
Sec. 362. Provide State option to combine allotments for expedited service
households.
Sec. 363. Revise treatment of allotments for households residing in centers.
Sec. 364. Improve operation of food stamp offices.
Sec. 365. Delete Federal requirement for State employee training.
Sec. 366. Authorize oral withdrawal of fair hearing requests.
Sec. 367. Delete redundant Federal standards for administration.
PART 4—PROPOSALS FOR STRENGTHENING RETAILER MANAGEMENT
Sec. 371. Provide authority to establish authorization periods.
Sec. 372. Provide authority to requirement information for verifying eligibility
for authorization.
Sec. 373. Establish waiting period for stores that initially fail to meet authoriza-
tion criteria.
Sec. 374. Disqualify retailers who intentionally submit falsified applications.
Sec. 375. Disqualify retailers who are disqualified under the WIC program.
Sec. 376. Authorize suspension of stores violating program requirements pend-
ing administrative and judicial review.
Sec. 377. Expand civil and criminal forfeiture for violations of the Food Stamp
Act.
Sec. 378. Expand authority for sharing information provided by retail food
stores and wholesale food concerns.
PART 5—CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND EFFECTIVE DATES
Sec. 381. Conforming amendments.
Sec. 382. Effective dates.
Subtitle B—Child Nutrition
Sec. 391. Family or group day care homes.
Sec. 392. Reimbursement rate adjustments.
Sec. 393. Elimination of start-up and expansion grants.
Sec. 394. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 395. Direct Federal expenditures.
TITLE IV—TREATMENT OF ALIENS
Sec. 401. Uniform alien eligibility criteria for public assistance programs.
Sec. 402. Deeming of sponsor’s income and resources to alien under TEA, SSI,
and food stamp programs.
Sec. 403. Continued liability of alien and sponsor for overpayments.
Sec. 404. Requirements for sponsor’s affidavit of support.
TITLE V—SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME REFORMS
Sec. 501. Definition and eligibility rules.
Sec. 502. Eligibility redeterminations and continuing disability reviews.
Sec. 503. Dedicated savings accounts.
Sec. 504. Denial of SSI benefits by reason of disability to drug addicts and alco-
holics.
Sec. 505. Denial of SSI benefits for 10 years to individuals found to have fraud-
ulently misrepresented residence in order to obtain benefits si-
multaneously in 2 or more States.
Sec. 506. Denial of SSI benefits for fugitive felons and probation and parole
violators.
Sec. 507. Allowance under the discretionary spending limits for increased ex-
penditures for continuing disability reviews and disability eligi-
bility redeterminations.
Sec. 508. Installment payment of large past-due Supplemental Security Income
benefits.
Sec. 509. Recovery of Supplemntal Security Income overpayments from Social
Security benefits.
Sec. 510. Allowance under the discretionary spending limits for administrative
expenses to implement changes to Supplemental Security In-
come program.
Sec. 511. Reduction in cash benefits payable to institutionalized individuals
whose medical costs are covered by medical insurance.
TITLE VI—SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANTS
Sec. 601. Reduction in title XX block grants to States for social services.
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly
provided, wherever in this Act an amendment or repeal
is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of,
a section or other provision, the reference is considered
to be made to a section or other provision of the Social
Security Act.
TITLE I—WORK-BASED
ASSISTANCE
SEC. 101. PURPOSE.
The primary purpose of this title is to provide true
welfare reform by repealing the program of Aid to Fami-
lies with Dependent Children and replacing it with a new
time-limited, conditional benefit based on work. Subtitle
A of this title creates the Temporary Employment Assist-
ance program which requires welfare recipients to work,
supports and protects their children, and gives States
broad new flexibility to run their welfare programs. The
Work First program, established by subtitle C, provides
the means to transform the system toward work, and the
new consolidated child care block grant, established by
subtitle B, contains sufficient resources to ensure that re-
cipients who work have safe and adequate care for their
children. This title offers the reform American taxpayers
and welfare recipients alike want and deserve.
Subtitle A—Temporary
Employment Assistance
SEC. 102. STATE PLAN.
Title IV (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by strik-
ing part A, except for section 415 which, consistent with
section 402 of this Act, is redesignated as section 407,
and inserting the following:
‘‘PART A—TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT
ASSISTANCE
‘‘SEC. 400. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘For the purpose of providing assistance to families
with needy children and assisting parents of children in
such families to obtain and retain private sector work to
the extent possible, and public sector or volunteer work
if necessary, through the Work First program established
under parts F, G, and H, there is authorized to be appro-
priated for each fiscal year a sum sufficient to carry out
the purposes of this part.
‘‘Subpart 1—State Plans for Temporary Employ-
ment Assistance
‘‘SEC. 401. ELEMENTS OF STATE PLANS.
‘‘A State plan for temporary employment assistance
shall provide a description of the State program which car-
ries out the purposes described in section 400 and shall
meet the requirements of the following sections of this
subpart.
‘‘SEC. 402. FAMILY ELIGIBILITY FOR TEMPORARY EMPLOY-
MENT ASSISTANCE.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The State plan shall provide that
any family—
‘‘(1) with 1 or more children (or any expectant
family, at the option of the State), defined as needy
by the State; and
‘‘(2) whose members have assigned their rights
to support to the State in accordance with section
403(b)(1)(E)(i) and fulfill the conditions set forth in
subsection (b), shall be eligible for assistance under
the plan, except as otherwise provided under this
part.
‘‘(b) WORK REQUIREMENT.—
the State is providing assistance under the
plan.
‘‘(C) EXCLUSION
FROM
60-MONTH
PE-
RIOD.—With respect to any family, the State
plan shall not include in the determination of
the 60-month period under subparagraph (A)
any month in which any of the following applies
to the family:
‘‘(i) TEEN PARENTS.—The parent—
‘‘(I) is under age 18 (or age 19,
at the option of the State); and
‘‘(II) 
is 
making 
satisfactory
progress while attending high school
or an alternative technical preparation
school.
‘‘(ii) INDIVIDUALS
EXEMPT
FROM
WORK REQUIREMENTS.—One parent in a
single-parent family or each parent in a
two-parent family—
‘‘(I) is seriously ill, incapacitated,
or of advanced age;
‘‘(II)(aa) except for a child de-
scribed in subclause (bb), is respon-
sible for a child under age 1 year (or