I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3438 
To increase the employment, job retention, and earnings of former TANF 
recipients. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 26, 2017 
Mrs. NOEM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To increase the employment, job retention, and earnings 
of former TANF recipients. 
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 ‘‘Improving Employ-
ment Outcomes of TANF Recipients Act’’. 
SEC. 2. IMPROVING ECONOMIC MOBILITY OF TANF RECIPI-
ENTS. 
Section 403(a)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 603(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘(4) IMPROVING ECONOMIC MOBILITY OF TANF 
RECIPIENTS.— 
‘‘(A) MEASURING STATE PERFORMANCE.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Each State, in 
consultation with the Secretary, shall col-
lect and report information necessary to 
measure the level of performance of the 
State for each indicator described in clause 
(ii), for fiscal year 2019 and each fiscal 
year thereafter, and the Secretary shall use 
the information collected for fiscal year 
2019 to establish the baseline level of per-
formance of each State for each such indi-
cator. 
‘‘(ii) INDICATORS.—The indicators de-
scribed in this clause, for a fiscal year, are 
the following: 
‘‘(I) The employment percentage 
for the fiscal year, which is equal to— 
‘‘(aa) the number of families 
receiving assistance under the 
State program funded under this 
part or any other State program 
funded with qualified State ex-
penditures (as defined in section 
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409(a)(7)(B)(ii)) who, during a 
quarter in the fiscal year, exited 
from the program, and who, dur-
ing the 2nd quarter after the 
exit, include an adult in unsub-
sidized employment; divided by 
‘‘(bb) the number of families 
who received assistance from the 
program in the exit quarter re-
ferred to in subclause (aa). 
‘‘(II) The retention percentage 
for the fiscal year, which is equal to— 
‘‘(aa) the number of families 
receiving assistance from the 
State program funded under this 
part or any other State program 
funded with qualified State ex-
penditures (as defined in section 
409(a)(7)(B)(ii)) who, during a 
quarter in the fiscal year, exited 
from the program, and who, dur-
ing the 4th quarter after the exit, 
include an adult in unsubsidized 
employment; divided by 
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‘‘(bb) the number of families 
who received assistance under the 
program in the exit quarter re-
ferred to in subclause (aa). 
‘‘(III) The advancement measure 
for the fiscal year, which is equal to 
the median earnings of the adults re-
ceiving assistance under the State 
program funded under this part or 
any other State program funded with 
qualified State expenditures (as de-
fined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(ii)) who, 
during a quarter in the fiscal year, 
exited from the program, and who 
during the 2nd quarter after the exit, 
are in unsubsidized employment. 
‘‘(iii) AGREEMENT
ON
REQUISITE 
PERFORMANCE
LEVEL
FOR
EACH
INDI-
CATOR.— 
‘‘(I) FISCAL
YEARS 2020 AND 
2021.—The State shall reach agree-
ment with the Secretary on the req-
uisite level of performance for each in-
dicator described in clause (ii), for 
each of fiscal years 2020 and 2021. 
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In establishing the requisite levels of 
performance, the State and the Sec-
retary shall— 
‘‘(aa) take into account how 
the levels involved compare with 
the levels established for other 
States; 
‘‘(bb) ensure the levels in-
volved are adjusted, using the ob-
jective statistical model referred 
to in clause (v), based on— 
‘‘(AA) the differences 
among States in actual eco-
nomic conditions, including 
differences in unemployment 
rates and job losses or gains 
in particular industries; 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 levels in-
volved promote continuous im-
provement in performance by 
each State. 
‘‘(II) FISCAL
YEAR 2022.—The 
State shall reach agreement with the 
Secretary, before fiscal year 2022, on 
the requisite level of performance for 
each indicator described in clause (ii), 
for fiscal year 2022, which shall be es-
tablished in accordance with subclause 
(I) of this clause. 
‘‘(iv) 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 (v), revise the requisite levels of per-
formance for a fiscal year and a State to 
reflect the actual economic conditions and 
characteristics of participants during that 
fiscal year in the State. 
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‘‘(v) 
STATISTICAL
ADJUSTMENT 
MODEL.—The Secretary shall use an objec-
tive statistical model to make adjustments 
to the requisite levels of performance for 
actual economic conditions and characteris-
tics of participants, and shall consult with 
the Secretary of Labor to develop a model 
that is the same as or similar to the model 
described in section 116(b)(3)(viii) of the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 
(29 U.S.C. 3141). 
‘‘(B) REPORT ON STATE PERFORMANCE.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Oc-
tober 1, 2018, the Secretary shall develop 
a template which each State shall use to 
report on outcomes achieved under the 
State program funded under this part or 
any other State program funded with 
qualified State expenditures (as defined in 
section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)). 
‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—Each such report 
shall include— 
‘‘(I) the number of individuals 
who exited the program during the 
year, and their reasons for doing so, 
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including a separate accounting of the 
number of work-eligible individuals 
(as so defined) who exited the pro-
gram during the year and their rea-
sons for doing so; 
‘‘(II) the characteristics of the 
individuals who exited the program 
during the year, including information 
on the length of time the individual 
received assistance under the pro-
gram, the educational level of the in-
dividual, and the earnings of the indi-
vidual in the 4 quarters preceding the 
exit; and 
‘‘(III) information specifying the 
levels of performance achieved on each 
indicator described in subparagraph 
(A)(ii). 
‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 
September 30 of fiscal year 2021 and of 
each succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary 
shall make available electronically to the 
public each report submitted under this 
subparagraph during the fiscal year. 
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‘‘(C) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall 
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary 
to provide for the measurement of State per-
formance on the indicators described in this 
paragraph.’’. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
on October 1, 2017. 
Æ 
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