105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4558
AN ACT
To make technical amendments to clarify the provision of
benefits for noncitizens, and to improve the provision
of unemployment insurance, child support, and supple-
mental security income benefits.
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 ‘‘Noncitizen Benefit
Clarification and Other Technical Amendments Act of
1998’’.
SEC. 2. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY FOR SSI AND RELATED
BENEFIT FOR NONQUALIFIED ALIENS WHO
WERE RECEIVING BENEFITS ON THE DATE
OF THE ENACTMENT OF THE PERSONAL RE-
SPONSIBILITY 
AND 
WORK 
OPPORTUNITY
RECONCILIATION ACT OF 1996.
Section 401(b) of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C.
1611(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (4) the
following new paragraph:
‘‘(5) Subsection (a) shall not apply to eligibility
for benefits for the program defined in section
402(a)(3)(A) (relating to the supplemental security
income program), or to eligibility for benefits under
any other program that is based on eligibility for
benefits under the program so defined, for an alien
who was receiving such benefits on August 22,
1996.’’.
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF SELF-EMPLOY-
MENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 507(e)
of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implemen-
tation Act (26 U.S.C. 3306 note) is hereby repealed.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (e) of
section 507 of such Act is further amended—
(1) by amending the heading after the sub-
section designation to read ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE.—’’;
and
(2) by striking ‘‘(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—’’ and
by running in the remaining text of subsection (e)
immediately after the heading therefor, as amended
by paragraph (1).
SEC. 4. CORRECTIONS TO THE CHILD SUPPORT PERFORM-
ANCE AND INCENTIVE ACT OF 1998.
(a) REDUCTION OF PENALTY FOR STATE FAILURE
TO MEET DEADLINE
FOR COMPLIANCE WITH CHILD
SUPPORT DATA PROCESSING
AND INFORMATION RE-
TRIEVAL REQUIREMENTS IF PERFORMANCE OF CERTAIN
ASPECT OF STATE IV-D PROGRAM MEETS PERFORM-
ANCE THRESHOLD.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(a)(4)(C) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(4)(C)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall reduce the amount of any
reduction that, in the absence of this clause, would be re-
quired to be made under this paragraph by reason of the
failure of a State to achieve compliance with section
454(24)(B) during the fiscal year, by an amount equal
to 20 percent of the amount of the otherwise required re-
duction, for each State performance measure described in
section 458A(b)(4) with respect to which the applicable
percentage under section 458A(b)(6) for the fiscal year
is 100 percent, if the Secretary has made the determina-
tion described in section 458A(b)(5)(B) with respect to the
State for the fiscal year.’’.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall take effect
as if included in the enactment of section 101(a) of
the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of
1998, and the amendment shall be considered to
have been added by section 101(a) of such Act for
purposes of section 201(f)(2)(B) of such Act.
(b) CLARIFICATION OF EFFECTIVE DATE FOR CER-
TAIN MEDICAL CHILD SUPPORT PROVISIONS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 401(c)(3) of the
Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of
1998 (42 U.S.C. 652 note) is amended by striking
‘‘of the enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘speci-
fied in subparagraph (A)’’.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall take effect
as if included in the enactment of section 401(c)(3)
of the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act
of 1998.
SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF NONRESIDENT ALIENS TO RENEW
PROFESSIONAL LICENSES.
(a) FEDERAL.—Section 401(c)(2) of the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611(c)(2)) is amended—
(1) at the end of subparagraph (A) by striking
‘‘or’’;
(2) at the end of subparagraph (B) by striking
the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph:
‘‘(C) to the issuance of a professional li-
cense to, or the renewal of a professional license
by, a foreign national not physically present in
the United States.’’.
(b) STATE OR LOCAL.—Section 411(c)(2) of the Per-
sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1621(c)(2)) is amended—
(1) at the end of subparagraph (A) by striking
‘‘or’’;
(2) at the end of subparagraph (B) by striking
the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph:
‘‘(C) to the issuance of a professional li-
cense to, or the renewal of a professional license
by, a foreign national not physically present in
the United States.’’.
SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF OBLIGATION OF WELFARE-TO-
WORK FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(a)(5)(A)(iv)(II) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(5)(A)(iv)(II))
is amended by striking ‘‘or sub-State entity’’ and inserting
‘‘, other than funds reserved by the State for distribution
under clause (vi)(III) and funds distributed pursuant to
clause (vi)(I) in any State in which the service delivery
area is the State’’.
(b) RETROACTIVITY.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall take effect as if included in the enactment
of section 5001 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
SEC. 7. DISREGARD OF LIMITED AWARDS MADE TO CHIL-
DREN WITH LIFE-THREATENING CONDITIONS
UNDER THE SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY IN-
COME PROGRAM.
(a) INCOME DISREGARD.—Section 1612(b) of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(b)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(20);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (21) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(22) any gift to, or for the benefit of, an indi-
vidual who has not attained 18 years of age and who
has a life-threatening condition, from an organiza-
tion described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 which is exempt from tax-
ation under section 501(a) of such Code—
‘‘(A) in the case of an in-kind gift, if the
gift is not converted to cash; or
‘‘(B) in the case of a cash gift, only to the
extent that the total amount excluded from the
income of the individual pursuant to this para-
graph in the calendar year in which the gift is
made does not exceed $2,000.’’.
(b) RESOURCE DISREGARD.—Section 1613(a) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382b(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(11);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (12) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(13) any gift to, or for the benefit of, an indi-
vidual who has not attained 18 years of age and who
has a life-threatening condition, from an organiza-
tion described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 which is exempt from tax-
ation under section 501(a) of such Code—
‘‘(A) in the case of an in-kind gift, if the
gift is not converted to cash; or
‘‘(B) in the case of a cash gift, only to the
extent that the total amount excluded from the
resources of the individual pursuant to this
paragraph in the calendar year in which the gift
is made does not exceed $2,000.’’.
(c) RETROACTIVITY.—The amendments made by this
section shall apply to gifts made on or after the date that
is 2 years before the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 8. ENHANCED RECOVERY OF SSI OVERPAYMENTS
FROM SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title XI of the Social
Security Act is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new section:
‘‘RECOVERY OF SSI OVERPAYMENTS FROM SOCIAL
SECURITY BENEFITS
‘‘SEC. 1147. (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Whenever the
Commissioner of Social Security determines that more
than the correct amount of any payment has been made
under the supplemental security income program under
title XVI of this Act (including, for purposes of this sec-
tion, under section 1616(a) of this Act or section 212(b)
of Public Law 93–66) to a person who is not currently
eligible for cash benefits under the program, the Commis-
sioner, notwithstanding section 207 of this Act but subject
to paragraph (2) of this subsection, may recover the
amount incorrectly paid by decreasing any amount which
is payable to the person under title II of this Act in any
month by not more than 10 percent of the amount payable
under such title II.
‘‘(2) The 10 percent limitation set forth in paragraph
(1) shall not apply to an overpayment made to a person
if—
‘‘(A) the person or the spouse of the person was
involved in willful misrepresentation or concealment
of material information in connection with the over-
payment; or
‘‘(B) the person so requests.
‘‘(b) NO EFFECT ON SSI ELIGIBILITY OR BENEFIT
AMOUNT.—In any case in which the Commissioner of So-
cial Security takes action in accordance with subsection
(a) to recover an amount incorrectly paid to any person,
neither that person, nor any individual whose eligibility
for benefits under the supplemental security income pro-
gram under title XVI, or whose amount of such benefits,
is determined by considering any part of that person’s in-
come, shall, as a result of such action—
‘‘(1) become eligible for benefits under such
program; or
‘‘(2) if such person or individual is otherwise so
eligible, become eligible for increased benefits under
such program.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 204 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 404) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(g) For payments which are adjusted or withheld
to recover an overpayment of supplemental security in-
come benefits paid under title XVI of this Act (including
State supplementary payments paid under an agreement
pursuant to section 1616(a) of this Act or section 212(b)
of Public Law 93–66), see section 1147.’’.
(2) Section 1631(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(5) For provisions relating to the recovery of bene-
fits incorrectly paid under this title from benefits payable
under title II, see section 1147.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment
of this Act and shall apply to amounts incorrectly paid
which remain outstanding on or after such date.
Passed the House of Representatives September 23,
1998.
Attest:
Clerk.