I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4498
To provide additional assistance to persons receiving aid to families with
dependent children who are most likely to use the assistance to end
their welfare dependence.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 1994
Mrs. MINK of Hawaii (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BECERRA, Mr.
CLAY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr.
EDWARDS of California, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA,
Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. HAM-
BURG, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. EDDIE BER-
NICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. MARTINEZ, Ms.
MCKINNEY, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. MFUME, Mr. MINETA, Mr.
NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PASTOR, Mr.
PAYNE of New Jersey, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Ms. ROY-
BAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. TOWNS,
Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mrs. UNSOELD, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. WASHINGTON,
Ms. WATERS, Mr. WATT, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WYNN, Mr. YATES, Mr.
CONYERS, and Mr. FOGLIETTA) introduced the following bill; which was
referred jointly to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and
Labor, Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, and Agriculture
A BILL
To provide additional assistance to persons receiving aid
to families with dependent children who are most likely
to use the assistance to end their welfare dependence.
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 ‘‘Job Start for America
Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I—AFDC AMENDMENTS
Sec. 101. Benefits for first phase families.
Sec. 102. Continuation of AFDC benefits for second phase families for 2 years
while working.
Sec. 103. Increase in resource threshold.
Sec. 104. Job training and job search counseling.
Sec. 105. Definitions.
Sec. 106. Elimination of the JOBS program.
Sec. 107. Elimination of rules that treat families differently based on number
of parents in the home.
TITLE II—HOUSING AMENDMENTS
Sec. 201. Temporary exclusion of earned income for purposes of determining
rent paid for units in federally assisted housing.
TITLE III—FOOD STAMP AMENDMENT
Sec. 301. Continuation of benefits.
Sec. 302. Application of amendment.
TITLE IV—HEAD START AMENDMENT
Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations for full-day and full-year services.
TITLE V—EFFECTIVE DATE
Sec. 501. Effective date.
TITLE I—AFDC AMENDMENTS
SEC. 101. BENEFITS FOR FIRST PHASE FAMILIES.
(a) CHILD CARE.—
(1) VOUCHERS.—Section 402 of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 602) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(j)(1) Each State agency shall provide to the care-
taker relative of each first phase family in the State vouch-
ers entitling any child care provider who meets applicable
standards of State and local law and who receives such
a voucher to payments from the State equal to the provid-
er’s cost of providing child care with respect to the family.
‘‘(2) The value of a voucher provided under this sub-
section—
‘‘(A) shall not be treated as income for pur-
poses of any Federal or federally assisted program
that bases eligibility for, or the amount of, benefits
upon need; and
‘‘(B) may not be claimed as an employment-re-
lated expense for purposes of the credit under sec-
tion 21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’.
(2) PAYMENTS
TO
STATES.—Section 403 of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 603) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(o) Each State shall be entitled to payment from
the Secretary of an amount equal to the expenditures by
the State under section 402(j) for any fiscal year.’’.
(3) AVAILABILITY FOR CHILDREN WHOSE PAR-
ENTS ARE IN JOB TRAINING.—Section 402(g)(1)(A)
of such Act, as amended by section 105(b)(3) of this
Act, is amended by striking ‘‘or remain employed’’
and inserting ‘‘, remain employed, or participate in
job training activities’’.
(b) CONTINUATION
OF AFDC BENEFITS
FOR 2
YEARS WHILE WORKING.—Section 402(a) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 602(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(44);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (45) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (45) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(46) provide that a first phase family (as de-
fined in section 406(d)(1)) shall not be eligible for
aid under the State plan after the earlier of—
‘‘(A) the 2-year period that begins with the
date the parent who is the principal earner for
the family becomes gainfully employed; or
‘‘(B) the 6-month period that begins with
the date the income of the family exceeds 300
percent of the poverty line.’’.
(c) 6-MONTH DISREGARD OF ASSETS OF SPOUSE
WHO MARRIES AFDC RECIPIENT.—Section 402(a)(7)(B)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)(7)(B)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iii);
and
(2) by inserting ‘‘, or (v) in the case of a family
receiving such aid the caretaker relative for whom
marries an individual in a month, any asset of the
individual, but only for the 6-month period that be-
gins with the month after the month in which the
marriage occurs’’ before the semicolon.
SEC. 102. CONTINUATION OF AFDC BENEFITS FOR SECOND
PHASE FAMILIES FOR 2 YEARS WHILE WORK-
ING.
Section 402(a)(46) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 602(a)(46)), as added by section 101(b)(3) of this
Act, is amended by inserting ‘‘or a second phase family
(as defined in section 406(d)(2))’’ before ‘‘shall not’’.
SEC. 103. INCREASE IN RESOURCE THRESHOLD.
Section 402(a)(7)(B) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 602(a)(7)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘$1,000 or
such lower amount as the State may determine’’ and in-
serting ‘‘$2,500’’.
SEC. 104. JOB TRAINING AND JOB SEARCH COUNSELING.
Section 402(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
602(a)), as amended by section 101(b) of this Act, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(45);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (46) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (46) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(47) provide that—
‘‘(A) the State agency shall provide job
training and job search counseling to all recipi-
ents of aid under the State plan, including—
‘‘(i) educational activities (as appro-
priate), including high school or equivalent
education (combined with training as need-
ed), basic and remedial education to
achieve a basic literacy level, and education
for individuals with limited English pro-
ficiency;
‘‘(ii) job skills training;
‘‘(iii) job readiness activities to help
prepare participants for work; and
‘‘(iv) job development and job place-
ment; and
‘‘(B) the State agency shall not make such
job training or job search counseling available
to any second phase family until such job train-
ing and job search counseling has been made
available to each first phase family, and shall
not make such job training or job search coun-
seling available to any family that is not a first
phase family or a second phase family until
such job training and job search counseling has
been made available to each second phase fam-
ily.’’.
SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS.
Section 406(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
606(d)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(d)(1) The term ‘first phase family’ means a quali-
fied family the parent who is the principal earner for
which has ever been gainfully employed for 3 or more
months (whether or not consecutive).
‘‘(2) The term ‘second phase family’ means a quali-
fied family the parent who is the principal earner for
which—
‘‘(A) has graduated from secondary school or
has a certificate of high school equivalency; and
‘‘(B) has never been gainfully employed.
‘‘(3) The term ‘qualified family’ means a family
that—
‘‘(A) is a recipient of aid to families with de-
pendent children under a State plan approved under
this part; and