Title: EMPOWERS Act of 2017
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Economic Mobility, Prosperity, and Opportunity with Waivers that Enable Reforms for States Act of 2017 or the EMPOWERS Act of 2017
This bill establishes the Interagency Board for Empowering Low-Income Families and allows a governor to apply to the board for a four-year waiver from certain federal assistance program requirements. Specifically, under such a waiver, the governor's state may consolidate, replace, or alter eligibility requirements for two or more specified federal assistance programs related to nutrition, housing, income, foster care and adoption, and other social and community services. The board must evaluate waiver applications on the basis of whether a proposed project promotes employment, family stability, and financial literacy and savings with respect to program participants. Specified provisions are excluded from waiver authority.
The bill specifies waiver application requirements, deadlines and processes for review of applications, and limitations on project funding.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1427 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1427

    To provide States with the option of applying for and receiving 
temporary waivers for the States to experiment with new approaches that 
  integrate Federal programs in order to provide more coordinated and 
    holistic solutions to families in need, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2017

  Mrs. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide States with the option of applying for and receiving 
temporary waivers for the States to experiment with new approaches that 
  integrate Federal programs in order to provide more coordinated and 
    holistic solutions to families in need, 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 TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Economic Mobility, Prosperity, and 
Opportunity with Waivers that Enable Reforms for States Act of 2017'' 
or the ``EMPOWERS Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) each State is in the best position to determine--
                    (A) the specific needs of the population of the 
                State; and
                    (B) how those needs should be addressed; and
            (2) the purpose of expanding the use of State waivers in 
        Federal antipoverty programs--
                    (A) is not to cut the aggregate amount of Federal 
                antipoverty spending; but
                    (B) is to allow States the flexibility to improve 
                the effectiveness of that spending.

SEC. 3. TEMPORARY WAIVERS FOR FEDERAL ANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Board.--The term ``Board'' means the Interagency Board 
        for Empowering Low-Income Families established by subsection 
        (b)(1).
            (2) Covered program.--The term ``covered program'' means--
                    (A) in the case of nutrition programs--
                            (i) the supplemental nutrition assistance 
                        program established under the Food and 
                        Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.);
                            (ii) the special supplemental nutrition 
                        program for women, infants, and children 
                        established by section 17 of the Child 
                        Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786);
                            (iii) the commodity supplemental food 
                        program established under section 5 of the 
                        Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 
                        (7 U.S.C. 612c note; Public Law 93-86);
                            (iv) the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition 
                        Program of the Department of Agriculture;
                            (v) the emergency food assistance program 
                        established under the Emergency Food Assistance 
                        Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.);
                            (vi) the congregate nutrition services 
                        program carried out under subpart 1 of part C 
                        of title III of the Older Americans Act of 1965 
                        (42 U.S.C. 3030e);
                            (vii) the home delivered nutrition services 
                        program carried out under subpart 2 of part C 
                        of title III of the Older Americans Act of 1965 
                        (42 U.S.C. 3030f et seq.); and
                            (viii) the nutrition services incentives 
                        program carried out under section 311 of the 
                        Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030a);
                    (B) in the case of housing programs--
                            (i) the tenant-based rental assistance 
                        program under section 8 of the United States 
                        Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f);
                            (ii) the project-based rental assistance 
                        program under section 8 of the United States 
                        Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f);
                            (iii) assistance to public housing agencies 
                        from the Capital Fund and Operating Fund 
                        established under subsections (d) and (e), 
                        respectively, of section 9 of the United States 
                        Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g);
                            (iv) the single family rural housing loan 
                        program under section 502 of the Housing Act of 
                        1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472);
                            (v) the rural rental assistance program 
                        under section 521 of the Housing Act of 1949 
                        (42 U.S.C. 1490a);
                            (vi) the community development block grant 
                        program under title I of the Housing and 
                        Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 
                        5301 et seq.);
                            (vii) the Home Investment Partnerships 
                        Program under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
                        National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
                        12721 et seq.); and
                            (viii) the neighborhood stabilization 
                        program under title III of division B of the 
                        Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (42 
                        U.S.C. 5301 note);
                    (C) the temporary assistance for needy families 
                program established under part A of title IV of the 
                Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
                    (D) the child and family services programs carried 
                out under subparts 1 and 2 of part B of title IV of the 
                Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.);
                    (E) the program to provide Federal payments for 
                foster care and adoption assistance under part E of 
                title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et 
                seq.), including the John H. Chafee Foster Care 
                Independence Program established under section 477 of 
                the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677);
                    (F) the block grant to States for social services 
                established under subtitle A of title XX of the Social 
                Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.);
                    (G) the community services block grant program 
                carried out under the Community Services Block Grant 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.);
                    (H) the Weatherization Assistance Program for Low-
                Income Persons established under part A of title IV of 
                the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 
                6861 et seq.);
                    (I) the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program 
                carried out under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 
                Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.);
                    (J) programs carried out under the Child Care and 
                Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et 
                seq.); and
                    (K) programs carried out under the Workforce 
                Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et 
                seq.).
            (3) Governor.--The term ``Governor'' means the Governor or 
        chief executive of a State.
            (4) Participating state.--The term ``participating State'' 
        means any of the States that apply for and receive approval to 
        carry out a project.
            (5) Project.--The term ``project'' means a project 
        described in subsection (c).
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' means a State, the District 
        of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory, or a 
        possession that is eligible to participate in the applicable 
        covered program.
    (b) Interagency Board for Empowering Low-Income Families.--
            (1) In general.--There is established an interagency board, 
        to be known as the ``Interagency Board for Empowering Low-
        Income Families'', which shall carry out this section.
            (2) Membership.--The Board shall be composed of the 
        following individuals:
                    (A) A Chairperson, who shall be appointed by the 
                President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
                Senate.
                    (B) The following agency heads (or a designee of 
                any of the agency heads):
                            (i) The Secretary of Agriculture.
                            (ii) The Secretary of Health and Human 
                        Services.
                            (iii) The Secretary of Housing and Urban 
                        Development.
                            (iv) The Secretary of Labor.
                            (v) The Attorney General.
                            (vi) The Director of the Office of 
                        Management and Budget.
    (c) Temporary Waivers for Covered Programs.--
            (1) In general.--A Governor may apply to the Board for the 
        State to carry out a project for a 4-year waiver to 
        consolidate, replace, or alter eligibility requirements for two 
        or more covered programs.
            (2) Provisions excluded from waiver authority.--A waiver 
        shall not be granted under paragraph (1)--
                    (A) with respect to any provision of law relating 
                to--
                            (i) civil rights or the prohibition of 
                        discrimination;
                            (ii) the purposes or goals of any covered 
                        program;
                            (iii) maintenance of effort requirements;
                            (iv) health or safety;
                            (v) labor standards under the Fair Labor 
                        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 
                        or
                            (vi) environmental protection;
                    (B) in the case of a covered program described in 
                clauses (i) through (iii) of subsection (a)(2)(B), with 
                respect to any requirement under section 5A of the 
                United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1);
                    (C) in the case of the supplemental nutrition 
                assistance program established under the Food and 
                Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), with 
                respect to any requirement under--
                            (i) section 6 (if waiving a requirement 
                        under that section would have the effect of 
                        expanding eligibility for the program), 7(b), 
                        or 16(c) of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2015, 2016(b), 
                        2025(c)); or
                            (ii) title IV of the Personal 
                        Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
                        Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et 
                        seq.);
                    (D) with respect to--
                            (i) any requirement that a State pass 
                        through to a sub-State entity part or all of an 
                        amount paid to the State;
                            (ii) the work requirements under section 
                        407 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607);
                            (iii) section 241(a) of the Adult Education 
                        and Family Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 3331(a)); or
                            (iv) section 189(i)(3)(A)(i) of the 
                        Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 
                        U.S.C. 3249(i)(3)(A)(i));
                    (E) if the waiver would--
                            (i) waive any funding restriction or 
                        limitation provided in an appropriations Act; 
                        or
                            (ii) have the effect of transferring 
                        appropriated funds from one appropriations 
                        account to another appropriations account; or
                    (F) except as otherwise provided by statute, if the 
                waiver would--
                            (i) waive any funding restriction 
                        applicable to a program authorized under an Act 
                        that is not an appropriations Act (but not 
                        including program requirements, such as 
                        application procedures, performance standards, 
                        reporting requirements, or eligibility 
                        standards); or
                            (ii) have the effect of transferring funds 
                        from a program for which there is direct 
                        spending (as defined in section 250(c) of the 
                        Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
                        Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900(c))) to another 
                        program.
    (d) Application Requirements.--To obtain a waiver for two or more 
covered programs under a project, a Governor shall submit to the Board 
an application that describes--
            (1) the programs and requirements of the covered programs 
        under the project;
            (2) the goals of the project;
            (3) each change the State intends to make under the 
        project, including the manner in which the change will--
                    (A) promote, with respect to program participants--
                            (i) employment;
                            (ii) savings and financial literacy; and
                            (iii) family stability;
                    (B) reduce the dependence of program participants 
                on government assistance; and
                    (C) reduce poverty;
            (4) the manner in which--
                    (A) program participants will be served under the 
                project, including eligibility criteria;
                    (B) program benefits will be reduced under the 
                project as the income of program participants is 
                modified;
                    (C) funds will be used under the project, including 
                an assurance that all program funds will be used to 
                assist program participants, subject to subsection 
                (h)(2);
                    (D) the State will evaluate the project by 
                contracting with an independent, third-party evaluator, 
                including a description of--
                            (i) the methodology that will be used to 
                        evaluate the project;
                            (ii) the impacts and outcomes that will be 
                        measured, and how those impacts and outcomes 
                        relate to the goals of the project described 
                        under paragraph (2); and
                            (iii) the data that the State will collect 
                        and provide to the evaluator that describes 
                        program participants and control group members, 
                        including--
                                    (I) demographic characteristics;
                                    (II) financial well-being;
                                    (III) history of receipt of 
                                government benefits; and
                                    (IV) if a program seeks to increase 
                                the employment or employability of 
                                participants, any barriers to 
                                employment or work expenses;
                    (E) the project will be deficit neutral; and
                    (F) the State will use any potential cost savings 
                on assistance to meet the needs of program 
                participants, subject to subsection (h)(2); and
            (5) in the case of a waiver for a covered program described 
        in subsection (a)(2)(B), an assurance that public housing 
        agencies received an opportunity to provide input in the 
        preparation of the application.
    (e) Evaluating and Approving Applications.--
            (1) In general.--A waiver to carry out a project for a 
        covered program under this section shall be authorized only if 
        the Board approves the application for the project submitted 
        under subsection (d).
            (2) Public comment.--The Board shall receive comments from 
        the public, including stakeholders in the State, for a 30-day 
        period beginning on the date of receipt of an application 
        submitted by a Governor.
            (3) Decision deadline.--The Board shall make a decision on 
        an application submitted by a Governor not later than 90 days 
        after the date of receipt of the application.
            (4) Disapproval.--If the Board disapproves the application 
        of a Governor--
                    (A) the Board shall provide the Governor with a 
                detailed explanation of the decision;
                    (B) the Governor may submit a modified application 
                to the Board for approval; and
                    (C) if a modified application is submitted, the 
                Board shall make a decision not later than 30 days 
                after the date of receipt of the modified application.
            (5) Evaluating applications.--In evaluating an application 
        to carry out a project, the Board shall--
                    (A) evaluate the application on the basis of the 
                whether the project--
                            (i) promotes, with respect to program 
                        participants--
                                    (I) employment;
                                    (II) savings and financial 
                                literacy; and
                                    (III) family stability;
                            (ii) reduces the dependence of program 
                        participants on government assistance; and
                            (iii) reduces poverty;
                    (B) ensure that the project does not have phase-out 
                rates that result in a net loss in the income of a 
                program participant when the program participant 
                increases wages or hours worked;
                    (C) define the value of $1.00 in benefits as equal 
                to $1.00 in earnings; and
                    (D) consider the extent to which the methodology of 
                the project evaluation and data collection under 
                subsection (d)(4)(D) will--
                            (i) produce rigorous results, using 
                        experimental designs that use--
                                    (I) random assignment; or
                                    (II) if random assignment is not 
                                feasible, another reliable, evidence-
                                based research methodology that allows 
                                for the strongest practicable causal 
                                inference; and
                            (ii) provide sufficient contextual 
                        information on the characteristics of the 
                        population served by the project, including 
                        demographic and geographic information, to 
                        assess the applicability of the project in 
                        other settings.
            (6) Notification.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        approval of an application to carry out a project, the Board 
        shall notify the congressional committees of jurisdiction of 
        the approval.
    (f) Coordination of Data and Information.--Each head of an agency 
that administers a covered program shall cooperate with each 
participating State that obtains a waiver of eligibility requirements 
for the covered program to coordinate access to data and other 
information relating to the covered program.
    (g) Modifying or Terminating Projects.--
            (1) In general.--A participating State may submit a request 
        to the Board to modify or terminate a project if the 
        participating State determines that--
                    (A) the project is not meeting the goals of the 
                project; or
                    (B) the economic situation in the participating 
                State makes the project no longer viable to meet the 
                needs of program participants.
            (2) Approval.--The Board may modify or terminate a project 
        if the Board determines that--
                    (A) the project is not meeting the goals of the 
                project; or
                    (B) the economic situation in the participating 
                State makes the project no longer viable to meet the 
                needs of program participants.
    (h) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Board shall 
        ensure that--
                    (A) the level of funding for each participating 
                State and the program participants of the participating 
                States receive for each program year for the covered 
                programs that are subject to a project; equals
                    (B) the level of funding the participating State 
                and program participants of the participating State 
                would receive for the program year for the covered 
                programs but for obtaining a waiver to carry out the 
                project.
            (2) Cap on federal funding.--
                    (A) In general.--With respect to any year in which 
                a participating State obtains a waiver of eligibility 
                requirements for a covered program described in 
                subparagraph (B), the total amount that the head of the 
                agency that administers the covered program shall pay 
                to the participating State under the covered program 
                shall not exceed an amount that is equal to the amount 
                that the head of the agency paid to the participating 
                State under the covered program for the previous year, 
                as adjusted to reflect changes in the Consumer Price 
                Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 
                the Department of Labor.
                    (B) Covered program described.--A covered program 
                referred to in subparagraph (A) is a covered program 
                under which the amount that the Federal Government 
                provides to a State is dependent on the amount that the 
                State provides to the covered program.
            (3) Administrative expenses.--A participating State may use 
        amounts received through a covered program for administrative 
        expenses of carrying out the project in accordance with any 
        requirements of the covered program for the use of amounts for 
        administrative expenses.
    (i) Existing Contracts.--In the case of a covered program described 
in subsection (a)(2)(B), a participating State shall fund any contract 
in effect on the day before the date of commencement of the project for 
the term of the contract.
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