I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 699
To reward states that enact welfare policies and support programs that
truly lift families out of poverty.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 10, 1999
Ms. WOOLSEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To reward states that enact welfare policies and support
programs that truly lift families out of poverty.
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 ‘‘Building Opportunities
Bonus Act’’.
SEC. 2. BONUS TO BUILD REAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR POOR
FAMILIES.
Section 403(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
603(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(6) BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES BONUS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall
make a grant pursuant to this paragraph to
each State for each bonus year for which the
State is a high performing State.
‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause
(ii), the Secretary shall determine the
amount of the grant payable under this
paragraph to a high performing State for
a bonus year, which shall be based on the
score assigned to the State under subpara-
graph (D)(i) for the fiscal year that imme-
diately precedes the bonus year.
‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The amount pay-
able to a State under this paragraph for a
bonus year shall not exceed 5 percent of
the State family assistance grant and shall
be used to address the matters set forth in
subparagraph (C).
‘‘(C) CRITERIA
FOR
MEASURING
STATE
PERFORMANCE.—Not later than 1 year after
the date of the enactment of this paragraph,
the Secretary, in consultation with the National
Governor’s Association and the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research, shall develop criteria
under this part and families that earn
up to 85 percent of the State’s me-
dian income;
‘‘(VI) collaborating with State
child care resource and referral agen-
cies and child care development ex-
perts in developing and implementing
child care programs and policies; and
‘‘(VII) collaborating with State
domestic violence coalitions to address
the child care needs of families af-
fected by domestic violence.
‘‘(ii) EMPLOYMENT.—Whether States
are—
‘‘(I) providing education and
training for recipients of assistance
under the State program under this
part for employment that pays a sus-
tainable wage, such as apprenticeable,
technical, and professional occupa-
tions, and nontraditional employment;
‘‘(II) placing such recipients in
such employment;
‘‘(III) retaining such recipients in
such employment;
‘‘(IV) providing career develop-
ment assistance including job readi-
ness training, reliable, up-to-date ca-
reer counseling services, and employ-
ability assessments on available em-
ployment that pays a sustainable
wage, such as nontraditional training
and education options and employ-
ment opportunities to all women en-
tering welfare-to-work programs; and
‘‘(V) utilizing resources available
under title I of the Workforce Invest-
ment Act of 1998, including section
134(a)(3)(A)(vi)(II) of such Act, to
support State efforts on education,
training, placement, retention, and ca-
reer development assistance, as de-
scribed in subclauses (I) through (IV).
‘‘(iii) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—Whether
States are—
‘‘(I) collaborating with State do-
mestic violence coalitions in imple-
menting substantive programs ad-
dressing domestic violence as an im-
pediment to women’s work and edu-
cation (such as through demonstration
and model projects), programs placing
domestic violence advocates in welfare
offices, and programs providing em-
ployment and support services for vic-
tims of domestic violence that will
reach a substantial number of bat-
tered women;
‘‘(II) collaborating with State do-
mestic violence coalitions in adopting
and implementing the option under
the State plan relating to domestic vi-
olence set forth in section 402(a)(7);
‘‘(III) collaborating with State
domestic violence coalitions in requir-
ing training on domestic violence for
case workers for the State program
funded under this part;
‘‘(IV) collaborating with State
domestic violence coalitions in requir-
ing training on domestic violence for
job training, education, and job place-
ment programs that are contracted by
the State program funded under this
part, and requiring that such pro-
grams implement strategies and pro-
grams to support victims of domestic
violence in the workplace;
‘‘(V) conducting outreach to em-
ployers of recipients of assistance to
ensure that employers are aware of
and are implementing strategies and
programs to support victims of domes-
tic violence in the workplace; and
‘‘(VI) conducting public edu-
cation on domestic violence.
‘‘(D) SCORING OF STATE PERFORMANCE;
SETTING
OF
PERFORMANCE
THRESHOLDS.—
For each bonus year, the Secretary shall—
‘‘(i) use the criteria developed under
subparagraph (C) to assign a score to each
eligible State for the fiscal year that imme-
diately precedes the bonus year; and
‘‘(ii) prescribe a performance thresh-
old in such a manner so as to ensure
that—
‘‘(I) the average annual total
amount of grants to be made under
this paragraph for each bonus year
equals $200,000,000; and
‘‘(II) the total amount of grants
to be made under this paragraph for
all 
bonus 
years 
equals
$1,000,000,000.
‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this para-
graph:
‘‘(i) BONUS YEAR.—The term ‘bonus
year’ means fiscal years 2001, 2002, 2003,
2004, and 2005.
‘‘(ii) CHILD CARE.—The term ‘child
care’ means all programs and arrange-
ments utilized by parents for the care of
children from birth through age 14, and
for the care of children who are older than
age 14 and have special needs, including
day care services provided by centers, fam-
ily day care, group family day care, infor-
mal care, after hours care, and before- and
after-school programs.
‘‘(iii) CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.—
The term ‘child with special needs’ has the
same meaning as the term ‘child with a
disability’ in section 602(3)(A)(i) of the In-
dividuals With Disabilities Education Act.
‘‘(iv) 
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE.—The
term ‘domestic violence’ has the same
meaning as the term ‘battered or subjected
to extreme cruelty’, as defined in section
408(a)(7)(C)(iii).
‘‘(v) HIGH
PERFORMANCE
STATE.—
The term ‘high performance State’ means,
with respect to a bonus year, an eligible
State whose score assigned pursuant to
subparagraph (D)(i) for the fiscal year im-
mediately preceding the bonus year equals
or exceeds the performance threshold pre-
scribed under subparagraph (D)(ii) for
such preceding fiscal year.
‘‘(vi) SUSTAINABLE WAGE.—The term
‘sustainable wage’ means a wage that is at
least 185 percent above the poverty line
and that takes into account costs related
to employment such as Federal, State, and
local taxes, child care, transportation, food,
and shelter costs for a particular geo-
graphic area.
‘‘(vii) 
NONTRADITIONAL
EMPLOY-
MENT.—The term ‘nontraditional employ-
ment’ means occupations or fields of work,
including careers in computer science,
technology, and other emerging high skill
occupations, for which individuals from one
gender comprise less than 25 percent of
the individuals employed in each such oc-
cupation or field of work.
‘‘(viii) POVERTY
LINE.—The term
‘poverty line’ has the meaning given such
term in section 673(2) of the Community
Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.
9902(2)), including any revision required
by such section.
‘‘(F) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated
for fiscal years 2001 through 2005 a total of
$1,000,000,000 for grants under this para-
graph.’’.
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