I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1413 
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2019 
Mr. WENSTRUP (for himself, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. FERGUSON, and Mr. 
SMITH of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee 
on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, 
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 ‘‘Workforce Opportunity 
Realignment Kickstart Act’’ or the ‘‘WORK Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCOUNTABILITY BY MEASURING 
WORK OUTCOMES. 
Section 407(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
607(a)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY
AND WORK 
OUTCOMES.— 
‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 
is to provide for the establishment of performance 
accountability measures to assess the effectiveness of 
States in increasing employment, retention, and ad-
vancement among families receiving assistance under 
the State program funded under this part. 
‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—A State to which a grant 
is made under section 403 for a fiscal year shall 
achieve the requisite level of performance on an indi-
cator described in paragraph (3)(B) of this sub-
section for the fiscal year. 
‘‘(3) MEASURING STATE PERFORMANCE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State, in con-
sultation with the Secretary, shall collect and 
submit to the Secretary the information nec-
essary to measure the level of performance of 
the State for each indicator described in sub-
paragraph (B), for fiscal year 2021 and each 
fiscal year thereafter, and the Secretary shall 
use the information collected for fiscal year 
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2021 to establish the baseline level of perform-
ance for each State for each such indicator. 
‘‘(B) INDICATORS
OF
PERFORMANCE.— 
The indicators described in this subparagraph, 
for a fiscal year, are the following: 
‘‘(i) The percentage of individuals who 
were work-eligible individuals as of the 
time of exit from the program, who are in 
unsubsidized employment during the 2nd 
quarter after the exit. 
‘‘(ii) The percentage of individuals 
who were work-eligible individuals who 
were in unsubsidized employment in the 
2nd quarter after the exit, who are also in 
unsubsidized employment during the 4th 
quarter after the exit. 
‘‘(iii) The median earnings of individ-
uals who were work-eligible individuals as 
of the time of exit from the program, who 
are in unsubsidized employment during the 
2nd quarter after the exit. 
‘‘(iv) The percentage of individuals 
who have not attained 24 years of age, are 
attending high school or enrolled in an 
equivalency program, and are work-eligible 
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individuals or were work-eligible individ-
uals as of the time of exit from the pro-
gram, who obtain a high school degree or 
its recognized equivalent while receiving as-
sistance under the State program funded 
under this part or within 1 year after the 
exit. 
‘‘(C) LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE.— 
‘‘(i) AGREEMENT ON REQUISITE PER-
FORMANCE
LEVEL
FOR
EACH
INDI-
CATOR.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—For each 
State submitting a State plan pursu-
ant to section 402(a), the Secretary 
and the State shall negotiate the req-
uisite level of performance for the 
State with respect to each indicator 
described in subparagraph (B), for 
each of fiscal years 2021 through 
2024, and in the case of each of fiscal 
years 2022 through 2024, shall do so 
before the beginning of the respective 
fiscal year. 
‘‘(II) REQUIREMENTS IN ESTAB-
LISHING PERFORMANCE LEVELS.—In 
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establishing the requisite levels of per-
formance, the State and the Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(aa) take into account how 
the levels involved compare with 
the levels established for other 
States; and 
‘‘(bb) ensure the levels in-
volved are adjusted, using the ob-
jective statistical model referred 
to in clause (iii), based on— 
‘‘(AA) the differences 
among States in economic 
conditions, 
including 
dif-
ferences in unemployment 
rates or employment losses 
or gains in particular indus-
tries; and 
‘‘(BB) the characteris-
tics of participants on entry 
into the program, including 
indicators of prior work his-
tory, lack of educational or 
occupational skills attain-
ment, or other factors that 
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may affect employment and 
earnings; and 
‘‘(CC) take into account 
the extent to which the lev-
els involved promote contin-
uous improvement in per-
formance by each State. 
‘‘(ii) REVISIONS BASED ON ECONOMIC 
CONDITIONS AND INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING 
ASSISTANCE DURING THE FISCAL YEAR.— 
The Secretary shall, in accordance with the 
objective statistical model referred to in 
clause (iii), revise the requisite levels of 
performance for a State and a fiscal year 
to reflect the economic conditions and 
characteristics of the relevant individuals 
in the State during the fiscal year. 
‘‘(iii) 
STATISTICAL
ADJUSTMENT 
MODEL.—The Secretary shall use an objec-
tive statistical model to make adjustments 
to the requisite levels of performance for 
the economic conditions and characteristics 
of the relevant individuals, and shall con-
sult with the Secretary of Labor to develop 
a model that is the same as or similar to 
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