I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4057
To replace the caseload reduction credit with an employment credit under
the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for
needy families, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2002
Mr. LEVIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means
A BILL
To replace the caseload reduction credit with an employment
credit under the program of block grants to States for
temporary assistance for needy families, and for other
purposes.
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 ‘‘Making Work Pay
Act’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Replacement of caseload reduction credit with employment credit.
Sec. 4. States to receive partial credit toward work participation rate for recipi-
ents engaged in part-time work.
Sec. 5. TANF recipients who qualify for supplemental security income benefits
removed from work participation rate calculation for entire
year.
Sec. 6. State option to include recipients of substantial child care or transpor-
tation assistance in work participation rate.
Sec. 7. Elimination of separate work participation rate for 2-parent families.
Sec. 8. Effective date.
SEC. 3. REPLACEMENT OF CASELOAD REDUCTION CREDIT
WITH EMPLOYMENT CREDIT.
(a) EMPLOYMENT CREDIT TO REWARD STATES IN
WHICH FAMILIES LEAVE WELFARE FOR WORK; ADDI-
TIONAL CREDIT FOR FAMILIES WITH HIGHER EARN-
INGS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 407(a) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607(a)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT CREDIT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The minimum partici-
pation rate otherwise applicable to a State
under this subsection for a fiscal year shall be
reduced by the number of percentage points in
the employment credit for the State for the fis-
cal year, as determined by the Secretary—
‘‘(i) using information in the National
Directory of New Hires, or
‘‘(ii) with respect to a recipient of as-
sistance under the State program funded
under this part who is placed with an em-
ployer whose hiring information is not re-
ported to the National Directory of New
Hires, using quarterly wage information
submitted by the State to the Secretary
not later than such date as the Secretary
shall prescribe in regulations.
‘‘(B) CALCULATION OF CREDIT.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The employment
credit for a State for a fiscal year is an
amount equal to—
‘‘(I) twice the average quarterly
number of families that ceased to re-
ceive cash payments under the State
program funded under this part dur-
ing the preceding fiscal year and that
were employed during the calendar
quarter immediately succeeding the
quarter in which the payments ceased,
plus, at State option, twice the num-
ber of families that received a non-re-
curring short-term benefit under the
State program funded under this part
during the preceding fiscal year and
that were employed in during the cal-
endar quarter immediately succeeding
the quarter in which the non-recur-
ring short-term benefit was so re-
ceived; divided by
‘‘(II) the average monthly num-
ber of families that include an adult
who received cash payments under the
State program funded under this part
during the preceding fiscal year, plus,
if the State elected the option under
subclause (I), twice the number of
families that received a non-recurring
short-term benefit under the State
program funded under this part dur-
ing the preceding fiscal year.
‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE FOR FORMER RE-
CIPIENTS
WITH
HIGHER
EARNINGS.—In
calculating the employment credit for a
State for a fiscal year, a family that, dur-
ing the preceding fiscal year, earned at
least 33 percent of the average wage in the
State (determined on the basis of State
unemployment data) shall be considered to
be 1.5 families.
‘‘(C) PUBLICATION OF AMOUNT OF CRED-
IT.—Not later than August 30 of each fiscal
year, the Secretary shall cause to be published
in the Federal Register the amount of the em-
ployment credit that will be used in determining
the minimum participation rate applicable to a
State under this subsection for the immediately
succeeding fiscal year.’’.
(2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO USE INFOR-
MATION IN NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.—
Section 453(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 653(i)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(5) CALCULATION
OF
EMPLOYMENT
CREDIT
FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING STATE WORK PAR-
TICIPATION
RATES
UNDER
TANF.—The Secretary
may use the information in the National Directory
of New Hires for purposes of calculating State em-
ployment credits pursuant to section 407(a)(3).’’.
(b) ELIMINATION OF CASELOAD REDUCTION CRED-
IT.—Section 407(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 607(b)) is
amended by striking paragraph (3) and redesignating
paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec-
tively.
SEC. 4. STATES TO RECEIVE PARTIAL CREDIT TOWARD
WORK PARTICIPATION RATE FOR RECIPI-
ENTS ENGAGED IN PART-TIME WORK.
Section 407(c)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 607(c)(1)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the
following flush sentence:
‘‘For purposes of subsection (b)(1)(B)(i), a
family that does not include a recipient who is
participating in work activities for an average
of 30 hours per week during a month but in-
cludes a recipient who is participating in such
activities during the month for an average of at
least 50 percent of the minimum average num-
ber of hours per week specified for the month
in the table set forth in this subparagraph shall
be counted as a percentage of a family that in-
cludes an adult or minor child head of house-
hold who is engaged in work for the month,
which percentage shall be the number of hours
for which the recipient participated in such ac-
tivities during the month divided by the number
of hours of such participation required of the
recipient under this section for the month.’’.
SEC. 5. TANF RECIPIENTS WHO QUALIFY FOR SUPPLE-
MENTAL SECURITY INCOME BENEFITS RE-
MOVED FROM WORK PARTICIPATION RATE
CALCULATION FOR ENTIRE YEAR.
Section 407(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 607(b)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended—
(1) in subclause (I), by inserting ‘‘who has not
become eligible for supplemental security income
benefits under title XVI during the fiscal year’’ be-
fore the semicolon; and
(2) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘, and that
do not include an adult or minor child head of
household who has become eligible for supplemental
security income benefits under title XVI during the
fiscal year’’ before the period.
SEC. 6. STATE OPTION TO INCLUDE RECIPIENTS OF SUB-
STANTIAL CHILD CARE OR TRANSPORTATION
ASSISTANCE IN WORK PARTICIPATION RATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 407(a)(1) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607(a)(1)) is amended by insert-
ing ‘‘(including, at the option of the State, a family that
includes an adult who is receiving substantial child care
or transportation assistance, as defined by the Secretary,
in consultation with directors of State programs funded
under this part, which definition shall specify for each type
of assistance a threshold which is a dollar value or a length
of time over which the assistance is received, and take ac-
count of large one-time transition payments, except any
family taken into account under paragraph (3)(B)(i)(I))’’
before the colon.
(b) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.—Section
411(a)(1)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 611(a)(1)(A)) is
amended in the matter preceding clause (i) by inserting
‘‘(including any family with respect to whom the State has
exercised its option under section 407(a)(1))’’ after ‘‘as-
sistance’’.
SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF SEPARATE WORK PARTICIPATION
RATE FOR 2–PARENT FAMILIES.
Section 407 (42 U.S.C. 607) of the Social Security
Act is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘ALL
FAMILIES’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL’’; and
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesig-
nating paragraph (3) (as added by section
3(a)(1) of this Act) as paragraph (2); and
(2) in subsection (b)—
(A) by striking paragraph (2);
(B) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated
by section 3(b) of this Act), by striking ‘‘para-
graphs (1)(B) and (2)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graph (1)(B)’’;
(C) in paragraph (4) (as so redesignated),
by striking ‘‘rates’’ and inserting ‘‘rate’’; and
(D) by redesignating such paragraphs (3)
and (4) (as so redesignated) as paragraphs (2)
and (3), respectively.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
(b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect
on October 1, 2003.
(b) STATE OPTION TO PHASE-IN REPLACEMENT OF
CASELOAD
REDUCTION
CREDIT
WITH
EMPLOYMENT
CREDIT AND DELAY APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVI-
SIONS.—A State may elect to have the amendments made
by sections 3(b) and 4 through 6 of this Act not apply
to the State program funded under part A of title IV of
the Social Security Act until October 1, 2004, and if the
State makes the election, then, in determining the partici-
pation rate of the State for purposes of sections 407 and
409(a)(3) of the Social Security Act for fiscal year 2004,
the State shall be credited with 1⁄2 of the reduction in the
rate that would otherwise result from applying section
407(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (as added by section
3(a)(1), and as so redesignated by section 7(1)(B), of this
Act) to the State for fiscal year 2004 and 1⁄2 of the reduc-
tion in the rate that would otherwise result from applying
section 407(b)(3) of the Social Security Act to the State
for fiscal year 2004.
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