LIFT the BAR Act of 2022
Bill: S.4311 | Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. (D-HI)
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration Act of 2022 or the LIFT the BAR Act of 2022
This bill repeals certain limits on the eligibility of noncitizens who lawfully reside in the United States for federal means-tested programs, including Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), programs funded through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and certain nutrition and housing programs.

To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide certain benefits to noncitizens, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Lifting Immigrant Families Through 
Benefits Access Restoration Act of 2022'' or the ``LIFT the BAR Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF BASIC ASSISTANCE TO LAWFULLY PRESENT 
              NONCITIZENS.

    (a) Elimination of Arbitrary Eligibility Restrictions.--
            (1) In general.--Sections 402, 403, 411, 412, 421, and 422 
        of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
        Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612, 1613, 1621, 1622, 
        1631, and 1632) are repealed.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Title IV of the Personal 
        Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 
        (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended--
                    (A) in section 401(b)(5) (8 U.S.C. 1611(b)(5)), by 
                striking ``the program defined in section 402(a)(3)(A) 
                (relating to the supplemental security income 
                program)'' and inserting ``the Supplemental Security 
                Income Program under title XVI of the Social Security 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.)'';
                    (B) in section 404(a) (8 U.S.C. 1614(a)), by 
                striking ``, 402, or 403'';
                    (C) in section 413 (8 U.S.C. 1625)--
                            (i) by striking ``A State'' and inserting 
                        the following:
    ``(a) State or Local Public Benefit Defined.--In this section, 
except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), the term `State or local 
public benefit'--
            ``(1) means--
                    ``(A) any grant, contract, loan, professional 
                license, or commercial license provided by an agency of 
                a State or local government or by appropriated funds of 
                a State or local government; and
                    ``(B) any retirement, welfare, health, disability, 
                public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, 
                food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other 
                similar benefit for which payments or assistance are 
                provided to an individual, household, or family 
                eligibility unit by an agency of a State or local 
                government or by appropriated funds of a State or local 
                government;
            ``(2) shall not apply--
                    ``(A) to any contract, professional license, or 
                commercial license for a nonimmigrant whose visa for 
                entry is related to such employment in the United 
                States, or to a citizen of a freely associated state, 
                if section 141 of the applicable compact of free 
                association approved in Public Law 99-239 or 99-658 (or 
                a successor provision) is in effect;
                    ``(B) with respect to benefits for an alien who as 
                a work authorized nonimmigrant or as an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration 
                and Nationality Act qualified for such benefits and for 
                whom the United States under reciprocal treaty 
                agreements is required to pay benefits, as determined 
                by the Secretary of State, after consultation with the 
                Attorney General; or
                    ``(C) to the issuance of a professional license to, 
                or the renewal of a professional license by, a foreign 
                national not physically present in the United States; 
                and
            ``(3) does not include any Federal public benefit.
    ``(b) Proof of Eligibility Requirement.--A State''; and
                            (ii) in subsection (b), as redesignated, by 
                        striking ``(as defined in section 411(c))'';
                    (D) in section 432(d) (8 U.S.C. 1642(d)), by 
                striking ``(as defined in section 411(c))'' and 
                inserting ``(as defined in section 413(a))'';
                    (E) in section 435 (8 U.S.C. 1645), by striking 
                ``(as provided under section 403)''; and
                    (F) in section 436 (8 U.S.C. 1646)--
                            (i) by striking ``the food stamp program 
                        (as defined in section 402(a)(3)(B))'' and 
                        inserting ``the supplemental nutrition 
                        assistance program established under the Food 
                        and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 
                        seq.)''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``the supplemental 
                        security income program (as defined in section 
                        402(a)(3)(A))'' and inserting ``the 
                        Supplemental Security Income Program under 
                        title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
                        1381 et seq.)''.
    (b) Qualified Noncitizens.--Title IV of the Personal Responsibility 
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 
is amended--
            (1) in the title header, by striking ``ALIENS'' and 
        inserting ``NONCITIZENS'';
            (2) in the header of section 401--
                    (A) by striking ``aliens'' and inserting 
                ``noncitizens''; and
                    (B) by striking ``qualified aliens'' and inserting 
                ``qualified noncitizens'';
            (3) by striking ``qualified alien'' each place such term 
        appears and inserting ``qualified noncitizen'';
            (4) by striking ``qualified aliens'' each place such term 
        appears and inserting ``qualified noncitizens'';
            (5) by striking ``qualified alien's'' each place such term 
        appears and inserting ``qualified noncitizen's'';
            (6) by striking ``an alien'' each place such term appears 
        and inserting ``a noncitizen'';
            (7) by striking ``alien'' each place such term appears and 
        inserting ``noncitizen'';
            (8) by striking ``aliens'' each place such term appears and 
        inserting ``noncitizens''; and
            (9) by striking ``alien's'' each place such term appears 
        and inserting ``noncitizen's''.
    (c) Access to Basic Services for Lawfully Residing Noncitizens.--
Section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the header, by striking ``Qualified Alien'' 
                and inserting ``Qualified Noncitizen'';
                    (B) by striking ``qualified alien'' and inserting 
                ``qualified noncitizen'';
                    (C) by striking ``alien'' and inserting 
                ``noncitizen'';
                    (D) by striking ``an alien'' and inserting ``a 
                noncitizen''; and
                    (E) by striking ``benefit'' and all that follows 
                through the period at the end of the subsection and 
                inserting ``benefit, is lawfully present in the United 
                States.'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the header, by striking ``Qualified Aliens'' 
                and inserting ``Qualified Noncitizens'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``or'' after the 
                semicolon;
                    (C) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) a noncitizen--
                    ``(A) in a category that was treated as lawfully 
                present for purposes of section 1101 of the Patient 
                Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 
                18001);
                    ``(B) who met the requirements of section 
                402(a)(2)(D) of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
                Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 
                1612(a)(2)(D)) on or before January 1, 2021;
                    ``(C) who is granted special immigrant juvenile 
                status as described by section 101(a)(27)(J) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1101(a)(27)(J));
                    ``(D) who has a pending, bona fide application for 
                nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(U) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1101(1)(15)(U));
                    ``(E) who was granted relief under the Deferred 
                Action for Childhood Arrivals program; or
                    ``(F) any other person who is not a citizen of the 
                United States but who resides in a State or territory 
                of the United States and is federally authorized to be 
                present in the United States.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Noncitizen.--In this title, the term `noncitizen' means any 
individual who is not a citizen of the United States.''.
    (d) Child Nutrition Programs.--Section 742 of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 
U.S.C. 1615) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the header by striking ``School Lunch and 
                Breakfast Programs'' and inserting ``Child Nutrition 
                Programs'';
                    (B) by striking ``the school lunch program'' and 
                inserting ``any program''; and
                    (C) by striking ``the school breakfast program 
                under section 4 of the'' and inserting ``any program 
                under''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``Nothing in this Act shall 
                prohibit or require a State to provide to an individual 
                who is not a citizen or a qualified alien, as defined 
                in section 431(b),'' and inserting ``A State shall not 
                deny''; and
                    (B) by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting 
                ``paragraph (2) on the basis of an individual's 
                citizenship or immigration status''.
    (e) Exclusion of Medical Assistance Expenditures for Citizens of 
Freely Associated States.--Section 1108(h) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1308(h)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Expenditures'' and inserting:
            ``(1) Expenditures''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) With respect to eligibility for benefits for the 
        designated Federal program defined in paragraph (3)(C) 
        (relating to the Medicaid program), paragraph (1) shall not 
        apply to any individual who lawfully resides in 1 of the 50 
        States or the District of Columbia in accordance with the 
        Compacts of Free Association between the Government of the 
        United States and the Governments of the Federated States of 
        Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 
        Republic of Palau and shall not apply, at the option of the 
        Governor of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, or American Samoa as communicated to the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing, to any 
        individual who lawfully resides in the respective territory in 
        accordance with such Compacts.''.
    (f) Child Health Insurance Program.--Section 2107(e)(1) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking subparagraph (O); and
            (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (P), (Q), (R), (S), (T), 
        and (U) as subparagraphs (O), (P), (Q), (R), (S), and (T).
    (g) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Supplemental food assistance program.--The Food and 
        Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended--
                    (A) in section 5 (7 U.S.C. 2014)--
                            (i) by striking subsection (i); and
                            (ii) by redesignating subsections (j) 
                        through (n) as subsections (i) through (m), 
                        respectively;
                    (B) in section 6 (7 U.S.C. 2015)--
                            (i) in subsection (f), by striking ``an 
                        alien lawfully admitted for permanent'' and all 
                        that follows through the end of the subsection 
                        and inserting ``a noncitizen lawfully present 
                        in the United States.''; and
                            (ii) in subsection (s)(2), by striking 
                        ``(m), and (n)'' and inserting ``and (m)''; and
                    (C) in section 11(e)(2)(B)(v)(II) by striking 
                ``aliens'' each place it appears and inserting 
                ``noncitizens''.
            (2) Medicaid.--Section 1903(v) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``admitted for'' 
                and all that follows through the end of the paragraph 
                and inserting ``present in the United States.''; and
                    (B) striking paragraph (4).
            (3) Housing assistance.--Section 214(a) of the Housing and 
        Community Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(a)) is 
        amended by--
                    (A) redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 
                paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
                    (B) inserting after paragraph (5):
            ``(6) a qualified noncitizen as defined in section 431 of 
        the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 
        Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641);''.
            (4) Assistance not treated as debt absent fraud.--Section 
        213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1183a) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``(as 
                        provided under section 403 of the Personal 
                        Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
                        Reconciliation Act of 1996)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), in the 
                        undesignated matter following clause (ii), by 
                        striking ``(as provided under section 403 of 
                        the Personal Responsibility and Work 
                        Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b)(1)(A) is amended by striking 
                ``benefit,'' and inserting ``benefit by fraud,''.
    (h) Preserving Access to Health Care.--Section 36B(c)(1)(B) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(B) Special rule for certain individuals lawfully 
                present in the united states.--If--
                            ``(i) a taxpayer has a household income 
                        which is not greater than 100 percent of an 
                        amount equal to the poverty line for a family 
                        of the size involved,
                            ``(ii) the taxpayer is a noncitizen 
                        lawfully present in the United States,
                            ``(iii) the taxpayer is ineligible for 
                        minimum essential coverage under section 
                        5000A(f)(1)(A)(ii), and
                            ``(iv) under the Medicaid eligibility 
                        criteria for noncitizens in effect on December 
                        26, 2020, the taxpayer would be ineligible for 
                        such minimum essential coverage by reason of 
                        the taxpayer's immigration status,
                the taxpayer shall, for purposes of the credit under 
                this section, be treated as an applicable taxpayer with 
                a household income which is equal to 100 percent of the 
                poverty line for a family of the size involved.''.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL AGENCY GUIDANCE.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, each Federal agency affected by any of the amendments made by this 
Act shall issue guidance with respect to the implementation of such 
amendments.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act--
            (1) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
        Act; and
            (2) shall apply to services furnished on or after the date 
        that is 180 days after the date on which any guidance is issued 
        pursuant to section 3.
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