Title: Compact Impact Fairness Act of 2020
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Compact Impact Fairness Act of 2020
This bill eliminates residency requirements for a citizen of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, or Palau to be eligible to receive certain federal public benefits. (A citizen of one of these countries may stay and work in the United States as a nonresident alien without a visa. But as a nonresident alien, that individual is ineligible for most federal public benefits under current law.)

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8911 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8911

       To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
 Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide public benefits to citizens of 
         the freely associated states, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 9, 2020

Mr. Case (for himself, Mr. Womack, Mr. San Nicolas, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. 
  Smith of Washington, and Mr. Sablan) introduced the following bill; 
      which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
 Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide public benefits to citizens of 
         the freely associated states, 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 ``Compact Impact Fairness Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC BENEFITS FOR CITIZENS OF FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.

    Section 431(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) 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.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle D of title IV of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 
U.S.C. 1641 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 437. SPECIAL RULE FOR CITIZENS OF FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.

    ``In the case of an alien described in paragraph (8) of section 
431(b), any otherwise applicable residency requirement related to 
eligibility for benefits shall not apply.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is 
amended by inserting after the item related to section 436 the 
following:

``437. Special rule for citizens of freely associated states.''.
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