I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3742
To establish a commission to design a plan for transition from certain welfare,
job training, and child care programs to new programs providing tem-
porary financial aid and assistance in locating permanent employment.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 26, 1994
Mr. FINGERHUT introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to
the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, and Education and Labor
A BILL
To establish a commission to design a plan for transition
from certain welfare, job training, and child care pro-
grams to new programs providing temporary financial
aid and assistance in locating permanent employment.
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 ‘‘Welfare Elimination
Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION TO ELIMINATE
WELFARE.
There is established a commission to be known as the
‘‘Commission to Eliminate Welfare’’ (in this Act referred
to as the ‘‘Commission’’).
SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.
(a) WELFARE AND JOB TRAINING REFORM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall de-
sign a replacement for the program of aid to families
with dependent children under part A of title IV of
the Social Security Act, the food stamp program
under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, the programs
under the Job Training Partnership Act, and the
targeted jobs credit under section 51 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 that is composed of—
(A) the use of amounts equal to the State
and local shares under such programs for edu-
cation and job training assistance for unem-
ployed individuals in accordance with paragraph
(2);
(B) a temporary emergency assistance pro-
gram that meets the requirements of paragraph
(3);
(C) such modifications to the program of
supplemental security income benefits under
title XVI of the Social Security Act as may be
necessary to accomplish the goals described in
paragraph (4);
(D) a national service work program that
meets the requirements of paragraph (5);
(E) a targeted job training tax credit that
meets the requirements of paragraph (6); and
(F) an enhanced earned income tax credit
that meets the requirements of paragraph (7).
(2) USE OF STATE AND LOCAL SHARES FOR
EDUCATION
AND
JOB
TRAINING
ASSISTANCE
FOR
UNEMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS.—Each State and local
government is to ensure that amounts equal to the
aggregate amounts of State and local shares used to
carry out programs specified in the matter preceding
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) are to be used
to provide education and job training assistance to
unemployed individuals.
(3) TEMPORARY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAM.—The requirements of this paragraph are as
follows:
(A) 
ELIGIBILITY
FOR
BENEFITS.—A
household is to be eligible for benefits under the
program if—
(i) the total income of the members of
the household is less than 50 percent of
the poverty line; and
(ii) the head of the household is not a
recipient of supplemental security income
benefits under title XVI of the Social Secu-
rity Act.
(B) DISREGARD OF SSI RECIPIENTS.—Ex-
cept as provided in subparagraph (A)(ii), recipi-
ents of supplemental security income benefits
under title XVI of the Social Security Act are
to be disregarded in determining the eligibility
of a household for benefits, and the amount of
benefits payable to the household, under the
program.
(C) AMOUNT
OF
BENEFITS.—Benefits
under the program are to be paid to a house-
hold in an amount equal to the amount by
which 50 percent of the poverty line exceeds the
total income of the members of the household.
(D) DURATION OF BENEFITS.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clauses
(ii) and (iii), benefits under the program
are to be provided to a household for not
more than 6 months in any 24-month pe-
riod.
(ii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN HOUSE-
HOLDS THAT INCLUDE A NEWBORN BABY
OR DISABLED MINOR.—A household that
meets the requirement of subparagraph
(A) is to remain eligible for benefits under
the program for so long as—
(I) the household includes a sin-
gle parent or guardian of a member of
the household who—
(aa) has not attained 3
months of age; or
(bb) is disabled; and
(II) each member of the house-
hold who has not attained 18 years of
age is living in a living arrangement
supervised by an adult.
(iii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN FULL-
TIME STUDENTS.—An individual who has
not attained 20 years of age is to remain
eligible for benefits under the program for
so long as—
(I) the household of which the in-
dividual is a member (but for clause
(i)) would be eligible for such benefits;
and
(II) the individual is a full-time
student in a secondary school (or in
the equivalent level of vocational or
technical training).
(E) POVERTY LINE.—As used in this para-
graph, the term ‘‘poverty line’’ means, with re-
spect to a household the income official poverty
line (as defined by the Office of Management
and Budget, and revised annually in accordance
with section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1981) applicable to a fam-
ily of the same size as the household involved.
(4) MODIFICATIONS
TO
SSI
PROGRAM.—The
goals described in this paragraph are as follows:
(A) INCLUSION OF MINOR CHILDREN OF
ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—Expand the program
to include benefits for minor children of individ-
uals eligible for such benefits.
(B) PROVISIONS OF BENEFITS BASED ON
HOUSEHOLD
SIZE.—Provide benefits to a
household in an amount that is based on the
size of the household.
(C) REDUCE
NEED
FOR
STATE
ASSIST-
ANCE.—Ensure that all individuals who are eli-
gible for and have applied for such benefits re-
ceive such benefits in a timely manner, and ex-
pand the program to the extent necessary to
provide benefits to individuals and families who
cannot support themselves through work and
available benefits under State income assistance
programs.
(5) NATIONAL SERVICE WORK PROGRAM.—The
requirements of this paragraph are as follows:
(A) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
DELIVERY
SYS-
TEM.—
(i) 
GRANTS
TO
LOCAL
GOVERN-
MENTS.—The Federal government is to
provide grants on an annual basis to local
governments to provide job training and
job placement assistance under the pro-
gram to unemployed individuals for the
purpose of placing such individuals in
unsubsidized employment.
(ii) SUBGRANTS TO SERVICE PROVID-
ERS.—(I) A local government that receives
a grant under clause (i) is to use amounts
from such grant to provide subgrants on a
competitive basis to eligible service provid-
ers for the purpose of providing the assist-
ance described under subparagraph (B) to
participants.
(II) For purposes of this paragraph,
the term ‘‘eligible service providers’’ in-
cludes—
(aa) existing entities providing
services to unemployed individuals
under Federal, State, or local law, in-
cluding those entities providing serv-
ices under the Job Opportunities and
Basic Skills Training Program under
part F of title IV of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) and
the Job Training Partnership Act (29
U.S.C. 1501 et seq.); and
(bb) appropriate nonprofit and
for profit organizations.
(B) JOB TRAINING ASSISTANCE.—An eligi-
ble service provider that receives a subgrant
under subparagraph (A)(ii) is to use amounts
from such subgrant to provide the following as-
sistance to participants:
(i) INITIAL ASSESSMENT.—The serv-
ice provider is to conduct an initial assess-
ment of each participant to determine the
level of education and work experience of
each such participant. After such assess-
ment, the participant, in consultation with
a trained counselor, is to choose to receive
either intensive placement assistance under
clause (ii) or work/study assistance under
clause (iii).
(ii) INTENSIVE
PLACEMENT
ASSIST-
ANCE.—(I) The service provider is to pro-
vide intensive placement assistance to par-
ticipants for the purpose of preparing par-
ticipants for and placing participants in
unsubsidized employment. Such assistance
is to include—
(aa) training to improve and up-
date the work skills of participants;
(bb) training to improve and up-
date the job interviewing skills and re-
sume preparation skills of partici-
pants;
(cc) instruction in personal finan-
cial management;