[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4498 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4498

 To provide additional assistance to persons receiving aid to families 
 with dependent children who are most likely to use the assistance to 
                     end their welfare dependence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 1994

  Mrs. Mink of Hawaii (for herself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Becerra, Mr. 
Clay, Mrs. Clayton, Miss Collins of Michigan, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Edwards 
of California, Mr. Engel, Mr. Evans, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Filner, Mr. 
 Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Hamburg, Mr. Hastings, Mr. 
 Hinchey, Mr. Jefferson, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Lewis 
   of Georgia, Mr. Martinez, Ms. McKinney, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Mr. 
 Mfume, Mr. Mineta, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Mr. Olver, Mr. Owens, Mr. 
 Pastor, Mr. Payne of New Jersey, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Ms. 
 Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rush, Mrs. Schroeder, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Towns, Mr. 
Underwood, Mrs. Unsoeld, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Washington, Ms. Waters, Mr. 
Watt, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Yates, Mr. Conyers, and Mr. Foglietta) 
   introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the 
Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Banking, Finance and 
                     Urban Affairs, and Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide additional assistance to persons receiving aid to families 
 with dependent children who are most likely to use the assistance to 
                     end their welfare dependence.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Job Start for America Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
                        TITLE I--AFDC AMENDMENTS

Sec. 101. Benefits for first phase families.
Sec. 102. Continuation of AFDC benefits for second phase families for 2 
                            years while working.
Sec. 103. Increase in resource threshold.
Sec. 104. Job training and job search counseling.
Sec. 105. Definitions.
Sec. 106. Elimination of the JOBS program.
Sec. 107. Elimination of rules that treat families differently based on 
                            number of parents in the home.
                      TITLE II--HOUSING AMENDMENTS

Sec. 201. Temporary exclusion of earned income for purposes of 
                            determining rent paid for units in 
                            federally assisted housing.
                    TITLE III--FOOD STAMP AMENDMENT

Sec. 301. Continuation of benefits.
Sec. 302. Application of amendment.
                     TITLE IV--HEAD START AMENDMENT

Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations for full-day and full-year 
                            services.
                        TITLE V--EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 501. Effective date.

                        TITLE I--AFDC AMENDMENTS

SEC. 101. BENEFITS FOR FIRST PHASE FAMILIES.

    (a) Child Care.--
            (1) Vouchers.--Section 402 of the Social Security Act (42 
        U.S.C. 602) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j)(1) Each State agency shall provide to the caretaker relative 
of each first phase family in the State vouchers entitling any child 
care provider who meets applicable standards of State and local law and 
who receives such a voucher to payments from the State equal to the 
provider's cost of providing child care with respect to the family.
    ``(2) The value of a voucher provided under this subsection--
            ``(A) shall not be treated as income for purposes of any 
        Federal or federally assisted program that bases eligibility 
        for, or the amount of, benefits upon need; and
            ``(B) may not be claimed as an employment-related expense 
        for purposes of the credit under section 21 of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986.''.
            (2) Payments to states.--Section 403 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        603) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(o) Each State shall be entitled to payment from the Secretary of 
an amount equal to the expenditures by the State under section 402(j) 
for any fiscal year.''.
            (3) Availability for children whose parents are in job 
        training.--Section 402(g)(1)(A) of such Act, as amended by 
        section 105(b)(3) of this Act, is amended by striking ``or 
        remain employed'' and inserting ``, remain employed, or 
        participate in job training activities''.
    (b) Continuation of AFDC Benefits for 2 Years While Working.--
Section 402(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (44);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (45) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (45) the following:
            ``(46) provide that a first phase family (as defined in 
        section 406(d)(1)) shall not be eligible for aid under the 
        State plan after the earlier of--
                    ``(A) the 2-year period that begins with the date 
                the parent who is the principal earner for the family 
                becomes gainfully employed; or
                    ``(B) the 6-month period that begins with the date 
                the income of the family exceeds 300 percent of the 
                poverty line.''.
    (c) 6-Month Disregard of Assets of Spouse who Marries AFDC 
Recipient.--Section 402(a)(7)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)(7)(B)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (iii); and
            (2) by inserting ``, or (v) in the case of a family 
        receiving such aid the caretaker relative for whom marries an 
        individual in a month, any asset of the individual, but only 
        for the 6-month period that begins with the month after the 
        month in which the marriage occurs'' before the semicolon.

SEC. 102. CONTINUATION OF AFDC BENEFITS FOR SECOND PHASE FAMILIES FOR 2 
              YEARS WHILE WORKING.

    Section 402(a)(46) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
602(a)(46)), as added by section 101(b)(3) of this Act, is amended by 
inserting ``or a second phase family (as defined in section 
406(d)(2))'' before ``shall not''.

SEC. 103. INCREASE IN RESOURCE THRESHOLD.

    Section 402(a)(7)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
602(a)(7)(B)) is amended by striking ``$1,000 or such lower amount as 
the State may determine'' and inserting ``$2,500''.

SEC. 104. JOB TRAINING AND JOB SEARCH COUNSELING.

    Section 402(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)), as 
amended by section 101(b) of this Act, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (45);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (46) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (46) the following:
            ``(47) provide that--
                    ``(A) the State agency shall provide job training 
                and job search counseling to all recipients of aid 
                under the State plan, including--
                            ``(i) educational activities (as 
                        appropriate), including high school or 
                        equivalent education (combined with training as 
                        needed), basic and remedial education to 
                        achieve a basic literacy level, and education 
                        for individuals with limited English 
                        proficiency;
                            ``(ii) job skills training;
                            ``(iii) job readiness activities to help 
                        prepare participants for work; and
                            ``(iv) job development and job placement; 
                        and
                    ``(B) the State agency shall not make such job 
                training or job search counseling available to any 
                second phase family until such job training and job 
                search counseling has been made available to each first 
                phase family, and shall not make such job training or 
                job search counseling available to any family that is 
                not a first phase family or a second phase family until 
                such job training and job search counseling has been 
                made available to each second phase family.''.

SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 406(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 606(d)) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(d)(1) The term `first phase family' means a qualified family the 
parent who is the principal earner for which has ever been gainfully 
employed for 3 or more months (whether or not consecutive).
    ``(2) The term `second phase family' means a qualified family the 
parent who is the principal earner for which--
            ``(A) has graduated from secondary school or has a 
        certificate of high school equivalency; and
            ``(B) has never been gainfully employed.
    ``(3) The term `qualified family' means a family that--
            ``(A) is a recipient of aid to families with dependent 
        children under a State plan approved under this part; and
            ``(B) includes a dependent child who is eligible for 
        benefits under the Head Start program or who has attained 6 
        years of age.
    ``(4) The term `poverty line' means, with respect to a family, the 
income official poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management 
and Budget, and revised annually in accordance with section 673(2) of 
the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981) applicable to a family 
of the same size as the family.''.

SEC. 106. ELIMINATION OF THE JOBS PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Section 402(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        602(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (19).
            (2) Section 403 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 603) is amended by 
        striking subsections (k) and (l), except that subparagraph (A) 
        of section 403(l)(3) shall remain in effect for purposes of 
        applying any reduction in payment rates required by such 
        subparagraph for any of the fiscal years specified in such 
        subparagraph.
            (3) Part F of title IV of such Act is hereby repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 402(a)(9)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        602(a)(9)(A)) is amended by striking ``(including activities 
        under part F)''.
            (2) Section 402(a)(44)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        602(a)(44)(A)) is amended by striking ``, part D, and part F'' 
        and inserting ``and part D''.
            (3) Section 402(g)(1)(A)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        602(g)(1)(A)(i)) is amended by striking ``--'' and all that 
        follows and inserting ``for each family with a dependent child 
        requiring such care, to the extent that such care is determined 
        by the State agency to be necessary for an individual in the 
        family to accept employment or remain employed.''.
            (4) Section 402(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 602(g)) is 
        amended by striking paragraph (2).
            (5) Section 417 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 617) is amended by 
        striking ``, part D, and part F'' and inserting ``and part D''.
            (6) Section 471(a)(8)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        671(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ``(including activities 
        under part F)''.
            (7) Section 1115(b)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1315(b)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ``, and 402(a)(19) 
        (relating to the work incentive program)''.
            (8) Section 1108 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1308) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``or, in the 
                case of part A of title IV, section 403(k)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (d), by striking ``(exclusive of 
                any amounts on account of services and items to which, 
                in the case of part A of such title, section 403(k) 
                applies)''.
            (9) Section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(I) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1396a(a)(19)(A)(i)(I)) is amended by striking ``, or considered 
        by the State to be receiving such aid as authorized by section 
        482(e)(6)''.
            (10) Section 1928(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396s(a)(1)) 
        is amended by striking subparagraph (D).
            (11) Section 51(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        is amended by striking subparagraph (B).

SEC. 107. ELIMINATION OF RULES THAT TREAT FAMILIES DIFFERENTLY BASED ON 
              NUMBER OF PARENTS IN THE HOME.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Section 402(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        602(a)) is amended by striking paragraphs (41) and (42).
            (2) Section 407 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 607) is hereby 
        repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 402(a)(38)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        602(a)(38)(B)) is amended by striking ``or in section 407(a)''.
            (2) Section 406(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 606(a)(1)) is 
        amended by striking ``who has been deprived'' and all that 
        follows through ``incapacity of a parent''.
            (3) Section 406(b)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 606(b)(1)) is 
        amended by striking ``and if such relative'' and all that 
        follows through ``section 407''.
            (4) Section 472(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)) is 
        amended by striking ``or of section 407''.
            (5) Section 473(a)(2)(A)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        672(a)(2)(A)(i)) is amended by striking ``or section 407''.
            (6) Section 1115(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1315(b)) is 
        amended by striking paragraph (5).
            (7) Section 1115 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1315) is amended by 
        striking subsection (d).
            (8) Section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) is amended by striking subclause (V) and by 
        redesignating subclauses (VI) and (VII) as subclauses (V) and 
        (VI), respectively.
            (9) Section 1905 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d) is amended 
        by striking subsection (m).
            (10) Section 1905(n)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(n)(1)) 
        is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``(or'' and all that 
                        follows through ``407)''; and
                            (ii) by adding ``or'' at the end; and
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (B).

                      TITLE II--HOUSING AMENDMENTS

SEC. 201. TEMPORARY EXCLUSION OF EARNED INCOME FOR PURPOSES OF 
              DETERMINING RENT PAID FOR UNITS IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED 
              HOUSING.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
amount of rent payable for a qualified dwelling unit by a family (1) 
whose income increases as a result of employment of a member of the 
family who was previously unemployed, and (2) who was receiving aid to 
families with dependent children under a State plan approved under part 
A of title IV of the Social Security Act immediately before such 
employment, may not be increased because of the increased income due to 
such employment for the 24-month period beginning upon the commencement 
of such employment.
    (b) Qualified Dwelling Unit.--For purposes of this section, the 
term ``qualified dwelling unit'' means a dwelling unit--
            (1) for which assistance is provided by the Secretary of 
        Housing and Urban Development in the form of any grant, 
        contract, loan, loan guarantee, cooperative agreement, rental 
        assistance payment, interest subsidy, insurance, or direct 
        appropriation, or that is located in a project for which such 
        assistance is provided; and
            (2) for which the amount of rent paid by the occupying 
        family is limited, restricted, or determined under law or 
        regulation based on the income of the family.

                    TITLE III--FOOD STAMP AMENDMENT

SEC. 301. CONTINUATION OF BENEFITS.

    Section 5(c) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2014(c)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, in the case 
of a household that includes a member who is employed and who in the 
then most recent 2-year period participated fully in the job training 
and job search counseling described in section 402(a)(47) of the Social 
Security Act and provided under a State plan approved under part A of 
title IV of such Act, all earned income shall be excluded for purposes 
of determining eligibility under such standards unless the aggregate 
income of such household exceeds the poverty line by more than 300 
percent.''.

SEC. 302. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.

    The amendment made by section 301 shall not apply with respect to 
certification periods beginning before the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

                     TITLE IV--HEAD START AMENDMENT

SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FULL-DAY AND FULL-YEAR 
              SERVICES.

    Section 639 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9834) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 to 
provide Head Start services during the full working day and the full 
calendar year.''.

                        TITLE V--EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 501. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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