PRIDE Act

Bill: 108-hr-4
Sponsor: Rep. Pryce, Deborah [R-OH-15]
Introduced: 2003-02-04 in the House
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Academic performance
Adoption
Agriculture and Food
Aid to dependent children
Alimony
Appropriations
Armed Forces and National Security
Auditing
Automobiles
Blind
Block grants
California
Caregivers
Cash welfare block grants
Census
Child abuse
Child development
Child health
Child support
Child welfare
Church and social problems
Collection of accounts
Commerce
Commuting
Computer matching
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Consumer credit
Counseling
Crime and Law Enforcement
Crime prevention
Day care
Directories
Disability evaluation
Disabled
Dropouts
Drug abuse
Drug abuse treatment
Drugs and youth
Earnings
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Employment subsidies
Evaluation research (Social action programs)
Families
Family services
Fathers
Federal aid to Indians
Federal aid to child health services
Federal-Indian relations
Federal-state relations
Finance and Financial Sector
Food relief
Food stamps
Foster home care
Gambling
Garnishment
Government Operations and Politics
Government contractors
Government lending
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Health
Health counseling
Health insurance
Identification devices
Immigration
Income tax
Indian children
Insurance
Interest
Interstate banking
Interstate relations
Job hunting
Jurisdiction
Juvenile delinquency
Labor and Employment
Longshoremen
Marriage
Married people
Maternal health services
Medicaid
Medically uninsured
Mentoring
Minorities
Nonmarital births
Nonprofit organizations
Parent and child
Parents
Passports
Performance measurement
Personal budgets
Poor children
Premarital sex
Preschool education
Public service advertising
Public-private partnerships
Puerto Rico
Recruiting of employees
Religion
School-age child care
Science, Technology, Communications
Searches and seizures
Sex education
Sexual abstinence
Single people
Social security numbers
Social surveys
Sports and Recreation
State courts
Suicide
Supplemental security income program
Tax refunds
Taxation
Teenage pregnancy
Territories (U.S.)
Transportation and Public Works
Travel costs
Unemployment
Unemployment insurance
Unmarried couples
User charges
Veterans' disability compensation
Vocational and technical education
Wages
Welfare eligibility
Welfare work participation
Wisconsin
Women
Workers' compensation
Youth

Summary:
action_date: 2003-02-04
text: Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2003 - Amends title IV (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to reauthorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to award state family assistance grants.
Authorizes States to use grants for marriage promotion activities and requires the Secretary to make bonus grants to each State that has achieved formulated employment goals.
Revises: (1) requirements for the consideration of certain child care expenditures in determining State compliance with contingency fund requirements; (2) State work participation requirements, incorporating a 40-hour work week standard, and creating a State superachiever participation rate credit; and (3) requirements for the use of TANF grants.
Authorizes the Secretary to establish TANF performance goals and plans. Makes appropriations for research, demonstrations, and technical assistance. Repeals waiver continuation authority.
Promotion and Support of Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage Act of 2003 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to authorize the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit community entities for demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of various approaches to create a Fatherhood Program.
Permits States the option to make TANF programs mandatory partners with one-stop employment training centers.
Caring for Children Act of 2003 - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to specify consumer education information States are required to collect and disseminate.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to income tax benefits.
Reauthorizes funding for State child care entitlement programs and revises State requirements for child support payments.
Amends: (1) SSA title XI (General Provisions) to eliminate specified limitations on the Secretary's authority to approve demonstration projects and grant waivers; and (2) SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to require the Commissioner of Social Security to review State agency blindness and disability determinations.
Authorizes the administering Secretary to authorize innovative State demonstration projects involving individual programs, or integrating multiple public assistance, employment security, and other programs to support working families.
Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to require the Secretary to establish a program to make grants to States to provide food assistance and funds to operate employment and training programs for needy individuals.
Extends abstinence education funding and reauthorizes transitional medical assistance.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: 
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced in the House on February 4, 2003. However, because action occurred on the measure, the summary has been expanded.)

Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2003 - (Sec. 4) Expresses the sense of Congress that increasing success in moving families from welfare to work, as well as in promoting healthy marriage and other means of improving child well-being, are very important Government interests and the policy contained in part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) (as amended by this Act) is intended to serve these ends.

Title I: TANF
 - (Sec. 102) Amends SSA title IV part A to reauthorize, revise, and extend State family assistance grants for FY 2004 through 2008 and make annual appropriations.
(Sec. 103) Requires States to express in their State TANF plans how they would operate programs to encourage equitable treatment of married, two-parent families. Provides for healthy marriage promotion grants, replacing current bonuses to reward State decreases in illegitimacy ratio (hereby repealed). Makes appropriations for such grants for FY 2003 through FY 2008.
Provides that mandatory qualified State maintenance of effort expenditures include those on non-TANF-eligible families to prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies and to encourage the formation and maintenance of healthy, two-parent married families and responsible fatherhood.
(Sec. 104) Reauthorizes and extends annual supplemental grants for population increases in certain States through FY 2007 and makes appropriations. 
(Sec. 105) Replaces the high performance bonus with a bonus to reward employment achievement, and makes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009. 
(Sec. 106) Reestablishes a $2 billion contingency fund in FY 2004 through 2008 and permits States to count child care spending and all spending in separate State programs toward the maintenance of effort requirement for accessing the contingency fund. Revises the annual reconciliation process and the definition of a "needy State" under the food stamp program.
(Sec. 107) Modifies requirements on the use of grants: (1) allowing States to use grant funds for any purposes or activities for which the State was authorized to use amounts received under TANF or permitted before enactment of TANF; (2) repealing requirements on treatment of interstate immigrants (which after enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (the 1996 law) were found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court); (3) increasing to 50 percent the overall limit on transfers from State TANF grants for other purposes (including child care); (4) increasing the limit on transfers from State TANF grants to carry out State programs pursuant to SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) (restoring the original limit established in the 1996 law) for FY 2004 and each succeeding fiscal year; (5) permitting States to use carry-over TANF funds for any TANF benefit or service without fiscal year limitation; and (6) expressly allowing a State or tribe to designate any portion of a grant made to it under TANF as a contingency reserve.
(Sec. 108) Repeals the authority for Federal loans for State welfare programs.
(Sec. 109) Eliminates the current: (1) State plan requirement for a parent or caretaker receiving TANF assistance to engage in work, replacing it with requirements for parents in families receiving TANF assistance to engage in work or alternative self-sufficiency activities; and (2) State option to develop individual responsibility plans, replacing it with requirements for a State receiving a TANF grant to establish for each family that includes a work-eligible individual receiving TANF assistance a self-sufficiency plan that specifies appropriate activities designed to assist the family in achieving its maximum degree of self-sufficiency, and that provides for the ongoing participation of the individual in the activities.
(Sec. 110) Replaces mandatory work requirements with work participation requirements. Sets the minimum participation rate for States for FY 2004 at 50 percent, raising it by five percentage points each subsequent fiscal year until it reaches 70 percent in FY 2008. Eliminates the separate standard for two-parent families. Incorporates a 40-hour work week standard in monthly participation rates, under which a work-eligible individual must, for an average of 40 hours per week for four weeks per month, 48 weeks per year, engage in: (1) a direct work activity, of which an average total of at least 24 hours per week must be in unsubsidized employment, subsidized private sector employment, subsidized public sector employment, on-the-job training, supervised work experience, or supervised community service; or (2) a qualified activity under a family sufficiency plan, of which an average of up to 16 hours per week of activities specified by the State must be in substance abuse counseling or treatment, rehabilitation treatment and services, work-related education or training directed at enabling the family member to work, job search or job readiness assistance, and any other activity that addresses a purpose specified for TANF. Recalibrates the current credit for caseload reduction (thus reducing the effective State work participation rate target for States with falling caseloads). Allows States to qualify for superachiever credit if the State caseload for FY 2001 has declined by at least 60 percent from the State caseload for FY 1995. Provides that States must reduce the amount of assistance payable to the family pro-rata or terminate assistance if the individual refuses to engage in work or in activities under a family sufficiency plan.
(Sec. 111) Continues the existing maintenance of effort requirement through FY 2009 and authorizes a State, territorial, or tribal organization to which a Federal TANF grant is made for marriage promotion to use a grant made under any other provision of TANF for marriage promotion activities, and the amount of any such grant so used shall be considered State funds for purposes of such grant program. Declares that any Federal TANF funds so used, however, may not be counted towards State maintenance of effort requirements.
(Sec. 112) Requires each State in its TANF plan to outline how it would encourage the formation and maintenance of married, two-parent families and describe any strategies it may be undertaking to address: (1) employment retention and advancement for recipients; (2) efforts to reduce teen pregnancy; (3) services for struggling and noncompliant families and for clients with special problems; and (4) program integration, including the extent to which employment and training services are provided through the One-Stop delivery system created under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
Repeals the State TANF plan special requirement for community service employment after two months of benefits. Requires a State to describe strategies and programs it is undertaking to engage religious organizations in the provision of services and strategies to improve program management and performance.
Requires a tribal assistance plan to provide assurance that the State in which the tribe is located has been consulted regarding the plan and its design.
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop uniform performance measures designed to assess the degree of effectiveness, and the degree of improvement, of State programs funded under TANF in accomplishing the purposes of TANF.
Revises the factors for the annual ranking of States for success in placing TANF recipients. Repeals the requirement that private sector jobs be long-term. Adds employment retention and wage increase factors.
(Sec. 113) Modifies data collection and reporting requirements. Permits the Secretary of HHS to limit the use of sampling by designating core elements that must be reported for all families. Adds race and educational level of each minor parent to the core reporting elements. Repeals the requirement for States to report on the education level of each child. Requires annual State reports to the Secretary of HHS on the characteristics of the State TANF program. Describes additional State reports required. Requires annual State reports to the Secretary on State program characteristics. Requires the Secretary to analyze State single audit reports within three months after receipt to identify problems related to State oversight of non-governmental contractors.
(Sec. 114) Continues Indian tribal family assistance grants and grants for Indian tribes that received JOBS funds through FY 2008.
(Sec. 115) Makes appropriations for FY 2003 through 2008 to the Secretary of HHS for: (1) research and demonstration projects by public or private entities; and (2) technical assistance to States, Indian tribal organizations, and other entities receiving a TANF grant, primarily for activities described under the marriage promotion grants.
Earmarks a specified amount of such funds for demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of tribal governments or tribal consortia in coordinating the provision of child welfare services and services to tribal families at risk of child abuse or neglect.
Continues funding of studies and demonstrations through FY 2008 under research, evaluations, and national studies requirements.
Directs the Secretary of HHS to report to Congress on the enforcement of affidavits of support and sponsor deeming as required under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Requires the Secretaries of HHS and of Labor to report jointly to Congress on common or conflicting data elements, definitions, performance measures, and reporting requirements in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the TANF program, and, to the degree each Secretary deems appropriate, at the discretion of either Secretary, any other program administered by the respective Secretary, to allow greater coordination between the welfare and workforce development systems.
(Sec. 116) Directs the Bureau of the Census to: (1) implement or enhance a new longitudinal survey of program participation to allow for the assessment of the outcomes of continued welfare reform on the economic and child well-being of low-income families with children, including those who received assistance or services from a State TANF program; and (2) provide State representative samples to the extent possible.
Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the combined effect of the phase-out rates for Federal programs and policies which provide support to low-income families and individuals as they move from welfare to work, at all earning levels up to $35,000 per year, for at least five States including Wisconsin and California, and any potential disincentives the combined phase-out rates create for families to achieve independence or to marry.
(Sec. 117) Defines "assistance" as payment, by cash, voucher, or other means (except on a short-term, non-recurring basis), to or for an individual or family to meet a subsistence need (excluding costs of transportation or child care).
(Sec. 119) Promotion and Support of Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage Act of 2003 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to add a new SSA title IV Part C (Fatherhood Program) to provide for projects and activities by public entities and by nonprofit community entities to test promising approaches for: (1) promoting responsible, caring, and effective parenting and encouraging positive father involvement; (2) enhancing the abilities and commitment of unemployed or low-income fathers to provide material support for their families and to avoid or leave welfare; (3) improving fathers' ability to manage family business affairs effectively; and (4) encouraging and supporting healthy marriages and married fatherhood.
Requires the Fatherhood Program to: (1) improve outcomes for children such as increased family income and economic security, improved school performance, better health, improved emotional and behavioral stability and social adjustment, and reduced risk of delinquency, crime, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, teen sexual activity, and teen suicide; and (2) evaluate approaches and disseminate findings to encourage and facilitate replication of effective approaches to accomplishing the desired outcomes for both parents and children.
Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 and 2008.
(Sec. 120) Amends the TANF program to provide that a State TANF program shall be considered a mandatory one-stop employment training center partner unless after enactment of this Act the Governor of the State notifies the Secretaries of HHS and of Labor of his or her decision not to make the State program a mandatory partner.
(Sec. 121) Expresses the sense of Congress that a State welfare-to-work program should include a mentoring program.

Title II: Child Care
 - Caring for Children Act of 2003 - (Sec. 202) Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to make it the goals of such Act to: (1) assist States to provide child care to low-income parents; (2) encourage States to improve the quality of child care available to families; and (3) promote school readiness by encouraging the exposure of young children in child care to nurturing environments and developmentally-appropriate activities.
(Sec. 203) Reauthorizes, revises, and extends the child care block grant program at increased levels through FY 2008. Revises State plan requirements for dissemination of information on child care, coordination with other early child care services and early childhood education programs, public-private partnerships, child care service quality, and access to care for certain populations, and activities to improve the quality of child care services.
(Sec. 206) Requires the Secretary of HHS, not later than October 1, 2005, and biennially thereafter, to report to specified congressional committees: (1) a summary and analysis of the data and information in State audit reports; (2) aggregate statistics on the supply of, demand for, and quality of child care, early education, and non-school-hours programs; and (3) an assessment of, and appropriate recommendations for Congress concerning, efforts that should be undertaken to improve the access of the public to quality and affordable child care.
(Sec. 207) Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to revise the definition of "eligible child" from an individual whose family income does not exceed 85 percent of the State median income for a same size family to an individual whose family income does not exceed income levels as established by the State, prioritized by need.
(Sec. 208) Amends the TANF program to make appropriations for FY 2004 through 2008 for child care block grants to States.

Title III: Child Support
 - Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to provide for Federal matching funds to a State for a specified limited pass-through of child support payments to families receiving TANF.
(Sec. 302) Provides that if the family has left TANF, a State may distribute to it the full amount of child support collected on its behalf.
(Sec. 304) Requires the State to impose a $25 annual user fee for each case in which successful child support collection services are furnished on behalf of an individual who has never been on TANF and for whom the State has collected at least $500 of support.
(Sec. 305) Directs the Secretary of HHS to report to specified congressional committees on the procedures that the States use generally to locate custodial parents for whom child support has been collected but not yet distributed.
(Sec. 306) Amends SSA title IV part D to provide that if a State agency responsible for the administration of an unemployment compensation program under Federal or State law transmits to the Secretary an individual's name and social security number, the Secretary shall, if the information in the National Directory of New Hires indicates that the individual may be employed, disclose to the State agency the individual's name, address, and the employer identification number of any putative employer. Requires the Secretary to make such a disclosure only to the extent that it would not interfere with the effective operation of the program.
(Sec. 307) Reduces from $5,000 to $2,500 the amount of child support arrearage that triggers passport denial, revocation, or limitation.
(Sec. 308) Allows the Federal income tax refund offset program to be used to collect child support arrearages on behalf of a child who is not a minor.
(Sec. 309) Changes the treatment of disability compensation benefits of veterans for purposes of paying child support. Allows withholding from veterans benefits to pay child support if the veteran is 60 days or more in arrears, but not to pay alimony. Limits to not more than 50 percent of any compensation payment the amount of disability payment that can be withheld.
(Sec. 310) Expands the Federal administrative offset program to allow certain social security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (SSA title XVI) benefits to be offset to collect past due support being enforced by the State.
(Sec. 311) Revises funding for technical assistance and for the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS). Authorizes the Secretary to use: (1) one percent of the Federal share of child support collected the preceding year, or the amount appropriated for FY 2002, whichever is greater, to provide for specified technical assistance and other activities; and (2) two percent of the Federal share of child support collected the preceding year, or the amount appropriated for FY 2002, whichever is greater, to operate FPLS to the extent that system costs are not recovered by user fees.

Title IV: Child Welfare
 - Amends SSA title XI with respect to demonstration projects which the Secretary finds are likely to promote the objectives of part B (Child-Welfare Services) or E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of SSA title IV to: (1) extend through FY 2008 the Secretary's authority to permit States to conduct demonstration projects; (2) remove the limitation on the number of demonstration projects the Secretary may authorize in each fiscal year; (3) prohibit the Secretary from refusing to grant a waiver to a State to conduct the same or similar demonstration projects, or from imposing a limit on the number of waivers that may be granted to, or the number of demonstration projects that may be conducted by, a State; (4) direct the Secretary to develop a streamlined process for consideration of amendments and extensions proposed by States to demonstration projects; and (5) require the Secretary to make available to any State or other interested party any evaluation report provided to or made by the Secretary with respect to a demonstration project, with a focus on information that may promote best practices and program improvements.

Title V: Supplemental Security Income
 - Amends SSA title XVI to require the Commissioner of Social Security to review State agency determinations that adult applicants are blind or disabled as of a specified onset date before any action is taken to implement the determination.

Title VI: State and Local Flexibility
 - Prescribes procedures for Federal administration of a program of demonstration projects in a State or portion of a State to coordinate multiple public assistance, workforce development, and other programs, for the purpose of supporting working individuals and families, helping families escape welfare dependency, promoting child well-being, or helping build stronger families, using innovative approaches to strengthen service systems and provide more coordinated and effective service delivery.
(Sec. 602) Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to make grants to States to provide: (1) food assistance to needy individuals and families residing in the State; (2) funds to operate an employment and training program for needy individuals under the program; and (3) funds for administrative costs incurred in providing the assistance.

Title VII: Abstinence Education
 - Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to continue the appropriation for the separate program for abstinence education through FY 2008.

Title VIII: Transitional Medical Assistance
 - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend through FY 2004 the authorization for transitional medical assistance for families that cease to be eligible for TANF.
(Sec. 802) Makes adjustments to payments for Medicaid administrative costs under State plans for medical assistance requirements to prevent duplicative payments and to fund the extension through FY 2005 of transitional medical assistance.

Title IX: Effective Date
 - Establishes the effective date of this Act.
action_date: 2003-10-03
text: 
Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone Act or PRIDE Act - 
Title I: TANF
 - (Sec. 101) Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to require State TANF plans to: (1) establish specific measurable performance objectives for pursuing TANF purposes; (2) describe any strategies and programs the State plans to use to address employment retention and advancement, reduction of teen pregnancy, services for struggling and noncompliant families, and for clients with special problems, and program integration; and (3) describe any strategies and programs the State is undertaking to engage faith-based organizations in the provision of services funded by TANF.
 
Directs the Secretary to develop a proposed Standard State Plan Form for use by the States to submit their FY 2005 TANF plans. Requires States to ensure that the State plan that is in effect for any fiscal year is available to the public through an appropriate State maintained Internet website and through other means the State deems appropriate. Directs the Secretary to develop uniform performance measures designed to evaluate State TANF programs. Requires the Secretary annually to rank States receiving State family assistance grants in order of their success in placing State TANF recipients into private sector jobs, the success of recipients in retaining employment, the ability of recipients to increase wages, and the degree to which recipients have workplace attachment and advancement. 
 
(Sec. 102) Amends SSA title IV part A, as amended by the Welfare Reform Extension Act of 2003, to reauthorize, revise, and extend State family assistance grants for FY 2004 through 2008 and make annual appropriations. 
 
(Sec. 103) Requires States to express in their State TANF plans how they would operate programs to encourage equitable treatment of healthy two-parent married families. Provides for healthy marriage promotion grants, replacing current bonuses to reward State decreases in illegitimacy ratio (hereby repealed). Makes appropriations for such grants for FY 2004 through 2008. Requires such funds to remain available to the Secretary until expended. Provides that mandatory qualified State maintenance of effort expenditures include those on non-TANF-eligible families to: (1) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies; (2) establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and (3) encourage the formation and maintenance of healthy, two-parent married families and responsible fatherhood. Makes one purpose of the State TANF program the encouragement of the formation and maintenance of healthy two-parent married families and to encourage responsible fatherhood.
 
(Sec. 104) Reauthorizes and extends annual supplemental grants for population increases in certain States through FY 2007 and makes appropriations. 
 
(Sec. 105) Replaces the high performance bonus with a bonus to reward employment achievement, and makes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009. Requires the Secretary's formula for measuring State performance to measure absolute progress towards the goals of job entry, job retention, earnings rate gain, and workplace attachment and advancement for families receiving assistance under TANF. Makes tribal organizations eligible for bonuses and directs the Secretary to consult with tribal organizations in determining the criteria for awards for them.
 
(Sec. 106) Modifies contingency fund requirements. Eliminates a separately designated Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs. Limits contingency fund grants to needy States, defined by specified criteria for economy-related increases in the number of families receiving assistance. Limits the total amount paid to a single State during a fiscal year to ten percent of the State family assistance grant. Eliminates the annual reconciliation process. Repeals the penalty for State failure to maintain 100 percent of historic effort.
 
(Sec. 107) Revises requirements for the use of TANF grants. Repeals the authority of a State operating a TANF program to apply to an interstate immigrant family the rules (including benefit amounts) of the TANF program of another State if the family has moved to the State from the other State and has resided in the new State for less than 12 months.
 
Restores authority of a State to transfer up to ten percent (currently 4.25 percent) of its TANF State family assistance grant for a fiscal year to carry out State programs pursuant to SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services).
 
Revises the current authorization for a State or tribe to reserve TANF block grant amounts for any fiscal year to provide TANF without fiscal year limitation. Permits a State or tribe to designate a portion of its TANF grant as a contingency reserve which may be used, without fiscal year limitation, to provide any benefit or service that may be provided under the State or tribal TANF program.
 
Authorizes a State receiving a TANF grant to use it to establish an undergraduate postsecondary or a vocational educational training program for up to ten percent of the total number of families receiving TANF, under which support services such as child care and transportation services may be provided, and have the hours of participation in these programs counted toward meeting State work requirements.
 
(Sec. 108) Repeals the Secretary's authority to make loans to State welfare programs.
 
(Sec. 109) Revises mandatory work requirements. Eliminates the separate work participation rate for two parent families beginning with FY 2003. Increases the all-family standard from the current 50 percent level to 55 percent for FY 2005, 60 percent for FY 2006, 65 percent for FY 2007, and 70 percent for FY 2008 and thereafter.
 
Replaces the current caseload reduction credit with an employment credit, while giving States the option to phase-in the replacement. Limits the reduction of a State's required participation rate through the application of employment, caseload reduction, or other credits.
 
Gives a State the option on a case-by-case basis to: (1) exclude a family from the determination of the State's monthly participation rate during their first month of TANF; or (2) not require a family with a child under age one to engage in work, and disregard such family in determining the State's minimum participation rate for not more than 12 months. 
 
Revises requirements for determining if a TANF recipient is engaged in work for a month. Provides for determination of countable hours engaged in work for a single parent or relative with a child over age six, a single-parent or relative with a child under age six, two-parent families (as under current law), and two-parent families that receive federally funded child care.
 
Expands the list of activities that may be counted towards meeting work participation requirements by a single parent or relative with a child over age six. Includes, subject to certain conditions, such activities as substance abuse counseling or treatment, and programs or activities designed to remove work barriers. Requires an average of 24 hours per week in participation in direct work activities.
 
Modifies special rules to: (1) establish a general limitation of 30 percent for the number of individuals in all families in a State who may be treated as engaged in work by reason of participation in educational activities; and (2) give States the option of deeming a single parent caring for a child or adult dependent with a physical or mental impairment to be meeting all or part of a family's work participation requirements for a month. Provides for optional modification of work requirements for recipients residing in areas of Indian country or an Alaskan native village with high joblessness.
 
(Sec. 110) Eliminates the current State plan requirement for a parent or caretaker receiving TANF to engage in work. Replaces it with requirements for such individuals to engage in work or alternative self-sufficiency activities (as defined by the State), while no longer requiring that such work commence after 24 months of assistance, or once the State determines such an individual as ready to engage in work, whichever is earlier.
 
Replaces individual responsibility plans with family self-sufficiency plans. Requires a State receiving a TANF grant to establish a family self-sufficiency plan for each family that includes an adult or minor child head of household receiving TANF who has attained age 18 or has not completed high school and is not attending secondary school. Requires the family self-sufficiency plan to specify appropriate work activities, provide for the individual's ongoing participation in them, and assist the family in achieving its maximum degree of self-sufficiency. 
 
Requires a State receiving a TANF grant to: (1) monitor the participation of each adult recipient or minor child head of household in the activities specified in the self-sufficiency plan, and regularly review the family's progress toward self-sufficiency; and (2) revise the plan and the activities required under it, upon such a review, as the State deems appropriate in consultation with the family.
 
Requires the State, before imposing a sanction against an adult recipient, minor child head of household, or a family for failure to comply with a requirement of the self-sufficiency plan or the State TANF program, to: (1) review the self-sufficiency plan; and (2) make a good faith effort to consult with the family. Applies family self-sufficiency requirements in the case of a family that includes an adult or minor child head of household recipient of assistance who is subject to a partial sanction. Bases the penalty for failure to comply with such requirements on the severity of failure. Gives the Secretary authority to reduce the penalty under certain circumstances. Includes a transitional compliance period for teen parents.
 
Directs the Comptroller General to evaluate for specified congressional committees the implementation of the universal work engagement requirements added by this Act. 
 
(Sec. 111) Extends through FY 2009 the requirement that States maintain their own funding at 75 percent of its historic level (80 percent in case of failure to satisfy work standards), or incur reductions in funding as a penalty.
 
(Sec. 112) Extends State quarterly reporting requirements to cover families receiving assistance under State programs funded with other qualified State expenditures. Requires annual reports on program characteristics and monthly reports on caseload. Replaces the quarterly report on transitional services with a quarterly report on the number of families and total number of individuals that, during each month, became ineligible to receive assistance under the State TANF program.
 
(Sec. 113) Reauthorizes and extends tribal family assistance grants and grants for Native Employment Works programs through FY 2008 at current levels. 
 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a tribal TANF improvement fund. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 114) Makes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2008 for research, demonstrations, and technical assistance, of which not less than 80 percent must be expended in connection with marriage promotion activities.
 
Extends through FY 2008 the current annual appropriation of $15 million (and its designated 50-50 allocation) for the funding of certain research, studies, and demonstration projects. 
 
Establishes a demonstration program for up to ten States to improve coordination of assistance provided under TANF, including TANF's mandatory child care program, and SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services).
 
(Sec. 115) Revises requirements for the Census Bureau study of the impact of title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on a random national sample of TANF recipients. Changes the study into a longitudinal survey of program participation to allow for the assessment of the outcomes of continued welfare reform on the economic and child well-being of low-income families with children, including those who received TANF or services from a State program. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress on the well-being of children and families using data collected under the study. Makes appropriations to continue such study through FY 2008 at the current level. 
 
(Sec. 116) Increases the level of appropriations for the mandatory child care program for FY 2004 through 2008, and includes a set-aside of such funds for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
 
(Sec. 117) Defines &quot;assistance&quot; as payment, by cash, voucher, or other means, to or for an individual or family for the purpose of meeting a subsistence need (including food, clothing, shelter, and related items, but not including costs of transportation or child care). Excludes from such definition any payment to or for an individual or family on a short-term, nonrecurring basis (as defined by the State in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary).
 
(Sec. 118) Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to add to TANF a new part C (Responsible Fatherhood Program) directing the Secretary to award grants to: (1) up to ten eligible States to conduct demonstration programs to promote responsible fatherhood through, among other means, marriage promotion; and (2) eligible entities, such as charities or faith-based organizations, to conduct demonstration programs to carry out such purposes. Authorizes appropriations. 
 
Directs the Secretary to contract with a nationally recognized, nonprofit fatherhood promotion organization to: (1) develop, promote, and distribute to interested States, local governments, public agencies, and private entities a media campaign that encourages the appropriate involvement of parents in the life of any child; and (2) develop a national clearinghouse to assist States and communities in efforts to promote and support marriage and responsible fatherhood by collecting, evaluating, and making available to other States information regarding such media campaigns. Authorizes appropriations.
 
 Establishes a program of block grants to States for media campaigns for FY 2004 through 2008. Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 119) Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to: (1) entities for capitalizing and developing the role of sustainable social services that are critical to the success of moving TANF recipients into work; and (2) States, counties, localities, Indian tribes, and nonprofit entities to promote improving access to dependable, affordable automobiles by low-income families with children. Authorizes appropriations. 
 

Title II: Abstinence Education
 - (Sec. 201) Revises, reauthorizes, and extends the program for abstience education under SSA title V (Maternal and Child Services Block Grant) through FY 2008, allowing funds that the Secretary determines will not be required to carry out an abstinence program of a particular State to be reallocated among the States with abstinence education programs.
 

Title III: Child Support
 - (Sec. 301) Amends SSA title IV part A to modify the rule requiring assignment to the State of child support rights as a condition of receiving TANF to provide that assignment covers only child support that accrues during the period that the family receives TANF (thereby eliminating coverage under assignment of any support that accrued before the family began receiving TANF). 
 
Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to revise the rules for the distribution of collected child support. Provides that a State shall not be required to pay to the Federal Government its share of child support collections passed through to TANF families by the State, if the State disregards in determining the amount and type assistance to the family up to $400 per month in the case of a family with one child, or $600 per month in the case of two or more children.
 
Provides that with respect to former TANF families, current child support payments must be paid to the family. Allows States with &quot;section 1115 demonstration waivers&quot; (on or before October 1, 1997) that are related to child support pass-through provisions to continue to pass through payments to families without regard to the waiver's expiration date. Requires the State part D plan to include election as to which rules to apply in distributing child support arrearages collected on behalf of families formerly receiving assistance. Gives States the option to discontinue certain older support assignments.
 
(Sec. 302) Repeals the requirement that the State first receive a request from a parent or from that State agency under the State TANF plan before conducting mandatory review and (if appropriate) adjustment of child support orders in TANF cases every three years, if it has been assigned child support payments under TANF. (Thus requires the State to conduct a review and adjustment every three years, regardless of whether a review is requested.)
 
(Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the procedures that the States use generally to locate custodial parents for whom child support has been collected but not yet distributed.
 
(Sec. 304) Amends SSA title IV part D to provide that, if a State agency responsible for the administration of an unemployment compensation program under Federal or State law transmits to the Secretary for administration purposes an individual's name and social security number, the Secretary shall disclose to the State agency information on the individual and the individual's employer that is maintained in the National Directory of New Hires.
 
Requires the Secretary to make such a disclosure only to the extent that it would not interfere with the effective operation of the program. Requires a State agency to which information is provided to have in effect data security and control policies adequate to ensure the security of information obtained and to ensure that access to it is restricted to authorized persons. Establishes a penalty for misuse of information. Requires a State agency to reimburse the Secretary for the costs incurred by the Secretary in furnishing the information requested.
 
(Sec. 305) Reduces from $5,000 to $2,500 the amount of child support arrearage triggering passport denial, revocation, or limitation with respect to noncustodial parents.
 
(Sec. 306) Allows the Federal income tax refund offset program to be used to collect child support arrearages on behalf of a child who is not a minor.
 
(Sec. 307) Prohibits the garnishment of any veteran's disability compensation in order to collect alimony, unless that disability compensation is being paid because retirement benefits are being waived.
 
(Sec. 308) Expands the Federal administrative offset program to allow certain social security benefits to be offset to collect past due child support being enforced by the State on behalf of families receiving child support enforcement services under SSA title IV part D.
 
(Sec. 309) Revises funding for technical assistance and for the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS). Authorizes the Secretary to use: (1) one percent of the Federal share of child support collected the preceding year, or the amount appropriated for FY 2002, whichever is greater, to provide for specified technical assistance and other activities; and (2) two percent of the Federal share of child support collected the preceding year, or the amount appropriated for FY 2002, whichever is greater, to operate FPLS to the extent that system costs are not recovered by user fees.
 
(Sec. 311) Authorizes the Secretary via the FPLS to: (1) seize assets, held by multistate financial institutions, of individuals who owe past-due support, and transfer them to the appropriate State agencies for distribution; and (2) compare information concerning individuals owing past-due support with information maintained by insurers (or their agents) concerning insurance claims, settlements, awards, and payments, and furnish any information resulting from a match to the appropriate State agencies. 
 
(Sec. 313) Includes Indian tribes and tribal organizations as authorized persons for purposes of tribal access to FPLS.
 
(Sec. 314) Requires the Secretary of Education to reimburse the Secretary for any costs incurred by the Secretary in providing requested new hires information.
 
(Sec. 316) Amends the Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act to ensure that longshore or harbor workers benefits provided by the Federal Government or by private insurers are subject to garnishment for purposes of paying child support obligations. 
 
(Sec. 317) Amends SSA title IV part D, with respect to high-volume, automated administrative enforcement in interstate cases, to declare that if the State provides assistance to another State with respect to a case, the assisting State may establish a corresponding case based on the other State's request for assistance.
 
(Sec. 318) Authorizes the Secretary, through FPLS, to: (1) intercept gambling winnings of an individual owing past-due support which is being enforced by a State agency; and (2) transmit such winnings to the State agency for distribution. Prohibits a gambling establishment from paying individuals gambling winnings until it has furnished the Secretary certain information so that a data match can be performed to see if the individual owes past-due child support. Requires the gambling establishment, if such a match occurs, to withhold specific winnings and transfer them to the Secretary for transfer to the appropriate State agency. Establishes sanctions against gambling establishments for non-compliance. Requires Indian tribes and tribal organizations to comply with such requirements in order to receive direct child support enforcement funding. 
 
(Sec. 319) Requires each State's Uniform Interstate Family Support Act to include any amendments officially adopted as of August 2001 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. 
 
Amends Federal law to provide that the court of a State that has made a child support order has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its order if it is the controlling order, and: (1) the State is the child's State or the residence of any individual contestant; or (2) if the State is not the residence of the child or an individual contestant, the contestants consent in a record or in open court that the court may continue to exercise jurisdiction to modify its order. Revises the current rules regarding the enforcement of modified orders. 
 
(Sec. 320) Amends SSA title IV part D with respect to grants to States for access and visitation programs to extend such program to Indian tribes and tribal organizations that have received direct child support enforcement payments from the Federal government for at least one year. Increases minimum allotment to the States for FY 2004 though 2007. Includes a specified set-aside for Indian tribes and tribal organizations for FY 2004 through 2007. 
 
(Sec. 321) Changes the timing of the corrective action year for States that are found to be in noncompliance with child support enforcement program hearings to the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the Secretary makes a finding of noncompliance and recommends a corrective action plan.
 

Title IV: Child Welfare
 - (Sec. 401) Amends SSA title XI with respect to demonstration projects which the Secretary finds are likely to promote the objectives of part B (Child-Welfare Services) or E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of SSA title IV. Extends through FY 2008 the Secretary's authority to permit States to conduct such demonstration projects. 
 
(Sec. 402) Removes from Puerto Rico's overall funding ceiling foster care payments made to Puerto Rico for FY 2005 or any later year that exceed the total amount of foster payments made to the Commonwealth for FY 2002. Limits the amount that can be disregarded to $6.25 million for each of FY 2005 through 2008. 
 

Title V: Supplemental Security Income
 - (Sec. 501) Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to require the Commissioner of Social Security to review State agency blindness and disability determinations for SSI. Calls for a review of at least 20 percent of determinations made in FY 2004, 40 percent in FY 2005, and 50 percent in FY 2006 or thereafter. 
 

Title VI: Transitional Medical Assistance
 - (Sec. 601) Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to continue the transitional medical assistance (TMA) program until September 30, 2008. Permits States to extend TMA for up to 24 months, allowing continuous eligibility for 12 months by making reporting requirements optional. Eases access by permitting States to waive the requirements for previous receipt of Medicaid (for three of the previous six months). Makes requirements concerning the extension of eligibility for medical assistance optional for States that extend coverage to children and parents through 185 percent of the Federal poverty level. Requires notice for all families whose aid under SSA title IV part A or E has terminated but whose eligibility for Medicaid continues. Extends use of outstationed workers to accept applications for TMA. 
 
(Sec. 602) Amends title SSA XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) to prohibit the spending of SCHIP funds on childless couples.
 

Title VII: Effective Date
 - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2004-04-01
text: Cloture motion on the committee substitute amendment not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 47. Record Vote Number: 65. (consideration: CR S3538)
action_date: 2004-04-01
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S3529-3538, S3544-3557)
action_date: 2004-03-31
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S3407-3448)
action_date: 2004-03-30
text: Cloture motion on the committee substitute amendment presented in Senate. (consideration: CR S3359; text: CR S3359)
action_date: 2004-03-30
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S3324-3345)
action_date: 2004-03-29
text: Measure laid before Senate. (consideration: CR S3219-3254, S3256-3278; text of measure as reported in Senate: CR S3219-3254)
action_date: 2003-10-03
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 305.
action_date: 2003-10-03
text: Committee on Finance. Reported by Senator Grassley with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 108-162. Minority views filed.
action_date: 2003-10-03
text: Committee on Finance. Reported by Senator Grassley with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 108-162. Minority views filed.
action_date: 2003-09-10
text: Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 230 - 192 (Roll no. 30). (text: CR H499-513)
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 230 - 192 (Roll no. 30).(text: CR H499-513)
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: On motion to recommit with instructions Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 197 - 221 (Roll no. 29).
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Cardin motion to recommit with instructions.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: Mr. Cardin moved to recommit with instructions to Ways and Means. (consideration: CR H550-552; text: CR H550)
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 69, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 40 minutes of debate on the Cardin amendment in the nature of a substitute.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 69, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 40 minutes of debate on the Kucinich amendment in the nature of a substitute.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: GENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with two hours of general debate on H.R. 4.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: The Speaker designated the Honorable Michael K. Simpson to act as Chairman of the Committee.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 69 and Rule XXIII.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4 with 2 hours of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order.
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 69. (consideration: CR H471-546, H547-552)
action_date: 2003-02-13
text: Rule H. Res. 69 passed House.
action_date: 2003-02-12
text: Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 69 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4 with 2 hours of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order.
action_date: 2003-02-12
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman.
action_date: 2003-02-10
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry.
action_date: 2003-02-07
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-02-07
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-02-07
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-02-07
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-02-07
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-02-07
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-02-04
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E188-189)
action_date: 2003-02-04
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2003-02-04
text: Introduced in House