zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
No Amnesty Tax Refunds for Illegals Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny the earned income tax credit to a taxpayer to whom a social security number was issued after the close of the taxable year for which such credit is being claimed, unless the taxpayer can demonstrate citizenship or lawful presence in the United States and eligibility for such social security number in such taxable year. Requires tax return preparers to obtain from such a taxpayer social security and immigration status information relating to eligibility for such credit. Requires the Social Security Administration to maintain records of each social security account number issued to any individual who receives a grant of deferred action on removal pursuant to current Department of Homeland Security guidelines.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Fairness for Americans in Internal Revenue Refunds Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to prevent a taxpayer whose social security number was issued for purposes of granting a work authorization under a deferred action on removal program from claiming an earned income tax credit using such social security number. The bill directs: (1) the Department of Homeland Security to place a notation on employment authorization cards that the holder of such card has received it under a deferred action on removal program, and (2) the Social Security Administration to maintain a record of all social security account numbers issued to individuals under a deferred action on removal program.

Date: 2015-03-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Tax Fairness for All Families Act of 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the earned income tax credit, to provide for an increased credit percentage for taxpayers with more than three qualifying children.

Date: 2015-04-13
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Small Company Disclosure Simplification Act

 Exempts emerging growth companies and issuers with total annual gross revenues of less than $250 million from the requirements to use Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) for financial statements and other mandatory periodic reporting filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Allows such companies, however, to elect to use XBRL for such reporting.

Directs the SEC to: (1) analyze the costs and benefits to such issuers of the requirements to use XBRL for financial statements and other mandatory periodic reporting; and (2) report to certain congressional committees on the results of such analysis as well as on progress in implementing XBRL reporting within the SEC, and use of XBRL data by the SEC and by investors.

Date: 2015-04-21
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Small Company Disclosure Simplification Act 

 (Sec. 2) This bill exempts emerging growth companies and issuers with total annual gross revenues of less than $250 million from the requirement to use Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) for financial statements and other mandatory periodic reporting filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Such companies, however, may elect to use XBRL for such reporting.

(Sec. 3) The SEC shall: (1) analyze the costs and benefits to such issuers of the requirement to use XBRL for financial statements and other mandatory periodic reporting; and (2) report to certain congressional committees on the results of such analysis as well as on progress in implementing XBRL reporting within the SEC, and use of XBRL data by the SEC and by investors.

Date: 2015-04-22
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Fair Adjustment and Income Revenue for Social Security Act or the FAIR Social Security Act 

This bill repeals the cap on the amount of income ($118,500 in 2015) that is subject to the employment or self-employment tax for funding social security benefits. The bill also reallocates employment and self-employment tax revenues to increase Social Security Trust Fund solvency.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor must prepare and publish an index for each calendar month to be known as the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers that indicates changes in expenditures for consumption that are typical for individuals who are 62 years of age or older. This Index will be used to adjust benefit amounts under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program and Medicare.

Date: 2015-04-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2015

This bill establishes in the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Child Poverty.

The Working Group as its primary goal shall develop a national plan to reduce:

 within 10 years the number of children living in poverty in the United States to half the number cited in the report of the U.S. Census Bureau on Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2013; within the same 10 years the number of children living in extreme poverty in the United States to zero; and within 20 years the number of children living in poverty, extreme or otherwise, in the United States to zero. HHS shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences for two public workshops to provide the Working Group with information to assist in the development of the plan.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Carried Interest Fairness Act of 2015 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) set forth a special rule for the inclusion in gross income of partnership interests transferred in connection with the performance of services, (2) treat as ordinary income the net capital gain with respect to an investment services partnership interest except to the extent such gain is attributable to a partner's qualified capital interest, (3) exempt income from investment services partnership interests from treatment as qualifying income of a publicly traded partnership, (4) exempt certain family partnerships from the application of this Act; (5) increase the penalty for underpayments of tax resulting from failure to treat income from an investment services partnership interest as ordinary income, and (6) include income and loss from an investment services partnership interest for purposes of determining net earnings from self-employment and applicable self-employment taxes.

Defines "investment services partnership interest" as any interest in a partnership held by a person who provides services to a partnership by: (1) advising the partnership about investing in, purchasing, or selling specified assets; (2) managing, acquiring, or disposing of specified assets; or (3) arranging financing with respect to acquiring specified assets.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Improving Employment Outcomes of TANF Recipients Act

 (Sec. 2) This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to replace the current program of bonus grants for high performing states with a program requiring each state to collect and report information necessary to measure the state's level of performance for FY2018 and each ensuing fiscal year for each employment percentage, retention percentage, and earnings advancement measure for adults in unsubsidized employment after exiting the TANF program (indicators). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall use the information collected for FY2018 to establish the baseline level of performance of each state for each indicator.

The state shall reach agreement with HHS: (1) on the requisite level of performance for each indicator for FY2019-FY2020; and (2) before FY2021 on the requisite level of performance for each indicator for that fiscal year.

HHS shall revise the requisite levels of performance for a fiscal year and a state to reflect the actual economic conditions and characteristics of participants.

HHS shall use an objective statistical model to make such performance level adjustments, and shall consult with the Department of Labor to develop a statistical adjustment model similar to one described in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

HHS shall also develop a template which each state shall use to report on outcomes achieved under the new program or any other state program funded with qualified state expenditures.

Date: 2015-07-07
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Preventing Illegal Immigrants From Abusing Tax Welfare Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) deny the earned income tax credit to any individual who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States, and (2) require any taxpayer who is claiming the refundable portion of the child tax credit to provide the social security number of such taxpayer and of each qualifying child to whom a credit is allowed.

Date: 2015-07-07
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
TANF Accountability and Integrity Improvement Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to set a limit on nongovernmental third-party contributions counted as qualified state expenditures used in determining whether a state maintains a certain level of historic state expenditures or else faces an associated penalty with a reduction in the state TANF grant.

Qualified state expenditures shall exclude:

 the amount (if any) by which the value of all goods and services provided by a source other than the state or a local government during the fiscal year exceeds the value of all goods and services claimed by the state as qualified state expenditures for FY2016, and any amount expended for medical services.

Date: 2015-07-07
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Reducing Poverty through Employment Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to make it a purpose of the TANF program to reduce child poverty by increasing employment entry, retention, and advancement of needy parents.

Date: 2015-07-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Using Evidence to Move Welfare Recipients into Work Act

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a database of the projects that used a proven approach or a promising approach in moving welfare recipients into work, which shall be called the What Works Clearinghouse of Proven and Promising Projects to Move Welfare Recipients into Work.

Date: 2015-07-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Coordinating Assistance for TANF Recipients Act

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants to states to conduct demonstration projects designed to implement and evaluate strategies to provide coordinated case management to help individuals receiving TANF assistance to increase their employment and self-sufficiency.

Date: 2015-07-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
TANF Marriage Penalty Elimination Act

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act with respect to mandatory work requirements to repeal the separate participation rate for two-parent families receiving TANF assistance.

Date: 2015-07-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to states to conduct demonstration projects designed to implement and evaluate strategies that provide wage subsidies to enable low-income individuals to enter into and retain employment.

A state may use a grant to subsidize a recipient's wages for only 12 months and for no more than 50% of the wages received.

An eligible recipient of such a subsidy may be either a TANF recipient or a noncustodial parent of a minor child receiving TANF assistance, but must also be unemployed and have an income less than 200% of the poverty line.

A state must ensure that a subsidy recipient does not displace an individual on layoff or an employee whose employment has been terminated to make a vacancy for the subsidy recipient. A state must also establish a grievance procedure for resolving complaints of alleged violations of this nondisplacement requirement.

HHS shall reserve specified funds for FY2017 to carry out this program, 15% of which must fund programs offering career pathway training services under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. (Career pathways programs combine education, training, and other services aligned with the skill needs of industries in the economy of the state or regional economy involved in order to help an individual enter or advance within a specific occupation or occupational cluster.)

Date: 2015-07-09
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Preparing More Welfare Recipients for Work Act

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act with respect to mandatory work requirements to:

 eliminate the requirement that recipients participate in certain core work activities not fewer than 20 hours per week, as well as separate requirements for two-parent families; allow states to receive partial credit for certain families participating for less than the minimum hours required for purposes of calculating the monthly participation rate; give states the option to apply an alternative work participation rate calculation; revise requirements for counting job search as work; modify the rule deeming an individual to meet work participation requirements by attending secondary school; require a state to meet individuals participating for three months in job readiness assistance and certify whether continued participation is necessary to prepare them for employment; replace with job readiness assistance as a separate work activity the currently recognized work activity of providing child care services to a participant in a community service program; and increase from 12 to 24 months the maximum period that vocational educational training counts as a work activity.

Date: 2015-07-09
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Act

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to:

 subject individuals to criminal background checks for drug-related offenses as well as substance abuse screening, and deny TANF assistance for an individual who tests positive for a controlled substance. The Department of Health and Human Services is required to reduce by 15% of the state TANF grant if a state has substantially failed to condition benefits on passing drug testing or screening.

The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 are amended to set forth analogous drug testing and screening requirements under the supplemental nutrition assistance program and public housing and "Section 8" rental assistance programs.

Date: 2015-07-13
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Back to Basics Job Creation Act of 2015

 This bill amends title XX (Block Grants to State for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible entities to assist low-income individuals and individuals who have been unemployed for at least three months in developing self-employment opportunities.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Moving to Work Reform Act of 2015

This bill prohibits the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from entering into or extending any Moving to Work agreement for any public housing agency (PHA) for participation in the Moving to Work Demonstration Program, unless the agreement is subject to specified terms and conditions set forth by this Act for its entire duration.

(Under the Moving to Work Demonstration Program up to 30 selected PHAs, including Indian housing authorities, may administer the public or Indian housing program and the Section 8 housing assistance payments program in ways designed to reduce costs and achieve greater cost-effectiveness in federal expenditures, provide incentives for heads of households to become economically self-sufficient, and increase housing choices for lower-income families.) Under such an agreement a PHA:

 may not establish any new rent policy that raises rent burdens for a significant portion of participating families, or causes specified other results, unless certain conditions are met; may use funds appropriated for renewal of tenant-based rental assistance only for payments assisting eligible families with housing costs; shall receive funding for renewal of tenant-based rental assistance under the same formula applied to nonparticipating PHAs; must provide ongoing housing assistance to substantially the same number of eligible low-income families as it could assist ordinarily but with average cost burdens no higher than those of families assisted under Sections 8 (low-income housing assistance) and 9 (Public Housing Capital and Operating Funds) of the United States Housing Act of 1937; and develop and implement a plan to expand families' access to neighborhoods with low crime, high-performing schools, or other indicators of high opportunity, if a disproportionately low share of PHA-assisted families lives in such neighborhoods. HUD may not waive specified housing-related requirements.

HUD must conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Demonstration Program to:

 analyze the risks and potential benefits of expanding it to additional agencies; and identify reforms, and selection criteria in case the Demonstration Program is expanded, that would improve its effectiveness in testing innovative policies while minimizing adverse effects on low-income families and ensuring efficient use of federal funds to meet the most pressing housing needs.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Housing and community development
Rewriting to Improve and Secure an Exit Out of Poverty Act or RISE Out of Poverty Act

 Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state TANF plans to address whether and how states will give priority to providing assistance in areas with the greatest need.

Extends the TANF program.

Establishes matching grants to the states for subsidized employment. Sets a flat minimum participation rate of 50% with respect to all families residing in a state that include a work-eligible individual.

Revises participation requirements.

Gives TANF recipients the option to have trained personnel assess certain barriers to employment.

Revises the contents of individual responsibility plans.

Authorizes a state to develop a modified employability plan for a TANF recipient with, or caring for a family member with, a disability.

Prohibits a state from imposing a lifetime sanction or full-family sanction on assistance to any individual or family on the basis of a family member's failure to comply with a program requirement.

Prohibits sanctioning individuals for failure to engage in work if the failure results from the inability to secure child care or after-school arrangements for a child under age 13.

Prohibits imposing a limit of less than 60 months on duration of TANF assistance. Makes the duration limit inapplicable during a recession.

Requires that states establish personnel standards through a merit-based system in the administration of TANF programs.

Bans state use of federal TANF funds to replace state or local spending for non-qualified state expenditures.

Requires TANF assistance to meet basic family economic needs.

Makes reducing child poverty a purpose of the TANF program.

Requires that states adopt standards and procedures to address domestic and sexual violence suffered by TANF recipients.

Requires a state to guarantee child care services to TANF recipients employed or participating in a work activity.

Eliminates the ban on providing assistance to families not assigning certain support rights to the state.

Gives states the option to extend TANF eligibility to children through age 21.

Prohibits considering financial aid tied to education of a child in determining eligibility for or the amount of TANF.

Eliminates bars to TANF assistance for persons convicted of drug felonies, unwed teen parents not in school, and teens not in an adult-supervised living arrangement.

Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal the declaration that states shall not be prohibited by the federal government from testing welfare recipients for use of controlled substances nor from sanctioning welfare recipients who test positive for use of controlled substances.

Date: 2015-09-10
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Corporate Fair Share Tax Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the tax deduction of the interest expense of a U.S. corporation that is a member of a financial reporting group (a group that prepares consolidated financial statements according to accepted accounting principles or international financial reporting standards) to: (1) the amount of interest on indebtedness of the corporation includible in the corporation's gross income for the taxable year plus its proportionate share of the group's net interest expense in the taxable year computed under U.S. income tax principles; or (2) not more than 10% of the corporation's adjusted taxable income, if the corporation fails to substantiate its proportionate share of interest expense.

The bill exempts from the limitation a corporation that is predominantly engaged in the active conduct of a banking, financing, or similar business or that has less than $5 million of net interest expense for the taxable year.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Locality-based Social Security Benefits Act of 2015

This bill directs the Social Security Administration to increase the monthly benefit amount to which each individual is otherwise entitled under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act by the percentage determined by the President for the locality pay area in which the individual resides at the time of the increase.

Date: 2015-11-19
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
This bill amends the Commodity Exchange Act to exclude from the meaning of "financial entity," and so exempt from swap clearing requirements, the bank holding company or savings and loan holding company of a small bank or savings association (whose total assets are $10 billion or less) if the total consolidated assets of the holding company are no greater than that asset threshold.

Date: 2016-01-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Food and Nutrition Reform, Responsibility, and Accountability Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to change the work requirements for the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program).

The bill reduces, from three months to one month, the time period for which able-bodied adults without dependents may receive SNAP benefits over a three-year period without meeting work requirements.

The bill modifies the exemption from work requirements for individuals who are under 18 or over 50 years of age to apply the exemption to those who are:

 under 18, over 50 in a household that includes an individual that is under 18, or over 63. The bill eliminates USDA's authority to waive work requirements for individuals in areas with an unemployment rate above 10% or an insufficient number of jobs.

States may provide exemptions from the work requirements for up to 5% (currently 15%) of the covered individuals who either receive SNAP benefits or were denied benefits due to work requirements.

States must expunge benefits from a SNAP electronic benefit transfer account if: (1) the benefits are not used within 90 days of being posted to the account, or (2) the account has not been accessed for a 3-month period.

State workfare programs for SNAP participants must require at least six hours of work per week.

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Healthy Food Choices Act of 2016

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to apply nutritional standards for the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to foods purchased for USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program), with the addition of:

 meat, fish, and poultry; beans, soups, and immature varieties of legumes (such as those used in canned green peas, green beans, snap beans, yellow beans, and wax beans); and baked beans with meat. (Foods purchased for WIC must: (1) contain nutrients determined by nutritional research to be lacking in the diets of pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, or children; or (2) promote the health of the population served by the program.)

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Enhancing Advancement, Reducing Noncompliance, and Improving Trust Act or the EARN IT Act 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for individuals with no qualifying children and to establish additional requirements for claiming the EITC and the child tax credit.

The bill modifies the EITC for individuals with no qualifying children by:

 increasing the credit and phaseout percentages, increasing the earned income and phaseout amounts, reducing the minimum age to claim the credit, and modifying the formula for inflation adjustments. For a qualifying child to be taken into account for the EITC, a tax return must include a certification of the child's residency.

The bill prohibits the refundable portion of the child tax credit (commonly referred to as the additional child tax credit) from being claimed for a qualifying child unless the tax return includes a valid social security number for the child.

The bill increases from two to five years the disallowance period for taxpayers who improperly claim the EITC due to reckless or intentional disregard of rules and regulations.

Date: 2016-04-14
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Food Bank Assistance Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 and the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide additional funding to the Department of Agriculture for carrying out the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

(TEFAP helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans, including the elderly, by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance. The program provides food and administrative funds to states to supplement the diets of these groups.)

Date: 2016-04-15
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to reauthorize and modify: (1) child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and other institutional food service programs; and (2) the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The bill extends the authorizations for:

 the Summer Food Service Program, WIC, the WIC Farmer's Market Nutrition Program, and State Administrative Expenses. (Under current law, several programs such as the NSLP and the School Breakfast Program are permanently authorized.)

For the child nutrition programs, the bill makes policy changes that:

 establish a demonstration project to permit up to three states to receive a block grant instead of open-ended funding currently provided by several child nutrition programs; require the Department of Agriculture to review school meal regulations every three years and make any necessary revisions; increase reimbursement rates for the School Breakfast Program; increase the eligibility threshold for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision that permits schools in high poverty areas to serve all meals free of charge; permit states to provide summer meals away from a congregate site (specific sites where children come to eat and are supervised) in rural or low-income areas without access to summer service; and revise application verification requirements for the school meal programs. For WIC, the bill:

 authorizes appropriations at the current FY2016 level for the next five years, permits commercial availability and participant demand to be considered when amending the list of supplemental foods, and modifies the competitive bidding and contract award process for infant formula and infant foods.

Date: 2016-04-20
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Protecting School Meals from Fines Act 

This bill prohibits the implementation of proposed Department of Agriculture regulations to establish criteria for imposing fines on school funding authorities, schools, and state agencies that are administering federal child nutrition programs and have: (1) failed to correct severe mismanagement of any program, (2) failed to correct repeated violations of program requirements, or (3) disregarded a requirement of which they have been informed.

Date: 2016-04-21
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
What Works to Move Welfare Recipients into Jobs Act

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title VI of the Social Security Act to revise requirements for research by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the benefits, effects, and costs of operating different state programs funded under part A and any other state program funded with qualified state expenditures.

(Sec. 2) Such research shall focus on the effect of these programs as well as of healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood grants on employment, self-sufficiency, child well-being, unmarried births, marriage, poverty, economic mobility, and other factors determined by HHS.

A state's contribution to the cost of a state-initiated evaluation of its program, from non-federal sources, shall increase from at least 10% to at least 25% of the cost of the proposed evaluation.

The Bureau of the Census shall implement or enhance household surveys of program participation to allow for 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 program funded under TANF or any other state program funded with qualified state expenditures.

Research and evaluation designed to determine the effects of a program or policy (other than Census Bureau research) shall use experimental designs using random assignment or other reliable, evidence-based research methodologies that allow for the strongest possible casual inferences when random assignment is not feasible. HHS shall develop a database of the projects that used a proven or a promising approach in moving welfare recipients into work, which shall be called the What Works Clearinghouse of Proven and Promising Projects to Move Welfare Recipients into Work.

Date: 2016-05-06
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Children's Savings Accounts Offer Parents Plenty of Reasons to Understand and Invest in Tuition Yearly Act or the CSA OPPORTUNITY Act 

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to direct a state receiving a TANF grant to disregard the value of any interest in, or distribution from, a qualified tuition program, as well as the value of a child's savings account, in determining individual or family TANF eligibility or the amount or type of assistance.

SSAct title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) is amended to exclude from an individual's resources for SSI eligibility or benefit purposes the value of any interest in, or distribution from, a qualified tuition program as well as the value of a child's savings account.

 The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 is amended to direct the Department of Agriculture to exclude any child's savings accounts from resources for eligibility and benefit purposes under the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program).

 The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 is amended to exclude from household income any child's savings accounts from resources for eligibility and benefit purposes under the low-income home energy assistance program.

 The bill prescribes penalties for noncompliance.

Date: 2016-05-12
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to revise the requirements for calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits.

The bill increases the minimum SNAP benefit and requires benefits to be calculated using a low-cost food plan. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must determine the requirements for the low-cost food plan, which is the diet required to feed a family of four, consisting of:

 a man and a woman 19-50 years of age, a child 6-8 years of age, and a child 9-11 years of age. USDA must make adjustments to the plan to account for household size, changes in the cost of the diet, and the costs of food in specified areas.

The bill revises the amounts authorized for nutrition assistance block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa and requires the amounts to be modified based on adjustments to the low-cost food plan.

The bill modifies the requirements for calculating household income to determine SNAP eligibility by: (1) authorizing a standard medical expense deduction for households containing an elderly or disabled member, and (2) eliminating the cap on the deduction for excess shelter expenses.

The bill exempts from SNAP work requirements able-bodied adults without dependents who are not offered a position in a SNAP Employment and Training Program.

Date: 2016-05-12
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Improving Supports for Kinship Caregivers Act of 2016

This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require a state receiving a family assistance grant to ensure that the state agency administering the TANF program: employs a primary kinship resource employee trained to give legal custody and guardianship guidance to a relative caregiver of a TANF-receiving minor child; and notifies the relative caregiver of options to participate in the child's care and placement. The Department of Health and Human Services shall prescribe regulations to improve the reporting of data on the economic well-being and circumstances of families with relative caregivers of minor children.

A state may not reduce or terminate TANF assistance based on the refusal of an individual age 60 or over (senior) to engage in required work.

The five-year limitation on TANF assistance shall not apply to seniors, nor may a state receiving a TANF grant impose any asset test in determining the eligibility of a senior for assistance.

The amount of cash assistance given a family under a state TANF program for a child must equal the amount of cash assistance given for any other child in the family.

SSAct title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) is amended to require the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to require the administering state agency to employ a primary kinship resource employee to do what such an employee must do under the state TANF plan.

SSAct title IV part B (Child and Family Services) is amended to reauthorize family connection grants through FY2018.

A state with a foster care and adoption assistance plan shall:

 study its foster family home licensing standards in comparison with the National Association for Regulatory Administration Model Family Foster Home Licensing Standards; and review and update them every three years, as well as amounts of foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance. SSAct title IV part B is amended to require the state plans for child welfare services to make certain assurances regarding relative caregiver families applying for foster care assistance.

The bill reauthorizes family support services at increased levels through FY2020.

SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) is amended to require a state plan for child and spousal support to describe the process for determining whether an assistance recipient is cooperating in good faith with the state in establishing paternity or in establishing, modifying, or enforcing a support order.

SSA title IV part E is amended regarding state plans for foster care and adoption assistance to apply the requirement that all steps be taken to secure an assignment to the state of any support rights on behalf of all children in foster care, not just those receiving foster care maintenance payments.

Date: 2016-05-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act

This bill requires the President to include in the annual budget proposal the total level of means-tested welfare spending by the federal, state, and local governments for the most recent fiscal year for which such data is available, and estimated levels for the current and 10 ensuing fiscal years.

For each of FY2018-FY2028 each state that receives means-tested welfare spending by the federal government shall report annually to the Congressional Budget Office on the total amount of such spending by the state for the fiscal year.

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended to define means-tested welfare spending as spending for any federal program designed specifically to give assistance or benefits exclusively to low-income Americans, including certain targeted community and economic development programs, unless they:

 are based on earned eligibility, are not need-based, are designed exclusively or primarily for veterans of military service, or offer universal or near universal eligibility to the working population and their dependents. The bill specifies federal cash assistance, medical, food, housing, energy, education training, child care, services, and community development programs deemed means-tested welfare spending, as well as federal programs that are not so deemed, including Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, unemployment insurance, Social Security retirement and survivor benefits, and military service veterans programs.

The refundable portion of certain tax credits shall also be means-tested welfare spending, as well as the refundable portion of the premium and out-of-pocket health care subsidies to be paid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act.

The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 is amended to specify, as an additional purpose for the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), promoting prosperous self-sufficiency, which means the ability of households to maintain an income above the poverty-level without services and benefits from the federal government.

The bill revises work eligibility requirements under SNAP

As a condition of receiving SNAP funds, a state agency shall operate a work activation program for adults with dependent children.

Part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act is amended to create the work preparation program for TANF families.

The bill eliminates separate participation rate requirements for two-parent families.

A family with a child under age 6 shall be deemed to meet work participation requirements if any parent is engaged in work for at least 20 hours per week.

No federal funds shall be made available to carry out any means-tested housing program, but states may receive grants to fund their own housing programs.

The bill prohibits funding for abortions and for health benefits that cover abortion, including certain tax credits, except where the pregnancy results from rape or incest or in certain other health cases.

Date: 2016-05-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
All Kids Matter Act

This bill amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to revise state plan requirements to require:

 the state to identify and provide appropriate prevention, intervention, and support services before placing a child in foster care as part of its reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify families; that all at-risk children, children in foster care, and children who have left foster care to return home through reunification or reinstatement of parental rights, or for kinship guardianship or adoption, be provided with a standard array of child welfare services; the state to submit, update, and revise as necessary a description of its activities and delivery mechanisms for achieving increased permanency for all infants, children, and youth. Payments to states shall incorporate: (1) an amount equal to the federal medical assistance percentage for the state under SSAct title XIX (Medicaid), and (2) a performance achievement payment.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall establish criteria for assessing state performance in order to award performance achievement payments to the states.

States may elect an alternative allotment for specified administrative costs.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children eligibility under SSAct title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) is removed from eligibility requirements under the Foster Care Maintenance Program.

States may provide services to an individual age 18-21 who is pursing legal permanency through family reunification, permanent placement with a planned permanent living arrangement, or such other pathways to permanency as the state, in consultation with HHS, may specify.

Eligibility for John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program services and education and training vouchers shall extend to youth who return home after attaining age 16.

HHS, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Education shall jointly develop and disseminate to states permanency-supportive housing options.

Date: 2016-05-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Bring Small Businesses Back Tax Reform Act 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish new maximum individual tax rates for qualified business income that does not exceed $1 million (i.e., small business income). The maximum rates are: (1) 10% of such income not exceeding $150,000, and (2) 20% for income that exceeds $150,000 and is not more than $1 million.

The rates apply to up to $1 million of qualified business income that is: (1) gross earnings derived by an individual from any active trade or business carried on by the individual, excluding deductions attributable to the trade or business; and (2) the taxpayer's distributive or pro rata share of pass-through income from entities such as a partnership or S corporation. Qualified business income does not include capital gains, interest, dividends, or royalties.

For taxpayers that are not a corporation or a partnership with a corporation as a partner, the bill repeals the annual limitation on the election to deduct certain depreciable business assets.

The bill also permits certain small businesses whose average gross receipts do not exceed $25 million (currently, $5 million) to use the cash accounting method without limitations and exempts such businesses from inventory rules.

Date: 2016-05-27
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
SNAP Healthy Incentives Act of 2016

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide a financial incentive for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) participants to purchase fruits and vegetables.

Date: 2016-06-09
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Food Stamp Integrity Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to revise the rules for disqualifying individuals from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program).

The bill permanently disqualifies individuals who have been found guilty of offenses or misconduct, including:

 fraud or misrepresentation with respect to SNAP; the trading of a controlled substance, firearms, ammunition, or explosives for benefits; terrorism; defrauding the federal government, a state, or a unit of local government; obtaining cash by destroying food purchased with benefits and collecting deposits for containers; or selling food purchased with benefits. An individual who is delinquent in paying child support may not receive benefits unless a court allowed a payment delay or the individual is complying with a payment plan.

If a household requests a third replacement Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card in a one-year period, a state may: (1) require the head of the household to appear in person for an interview before issuing an additional card, and (2) terminate participation of the household for one year if a fifth card is requested in a one-year period.

The bill modifies the work requirements and eliminates certain exemptions and waivers from the requirements. If an able-bodied adult without dependents fails to meet the work requirements for three months in a 48-month period (36 months under current law), they are ineligible for SNAP for the remainder of the 48-month period, or until they comply.

Date: 2016-07-21
Topic: Social Welfare (Low-Income Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food