[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 579 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                 S. 579

  To amend the JOBS program in title IV of the Social Security Act to 
  provide for a job placement voucher program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 20 (legislative day, March 16), 1995

 Mr. Breaux (for himself and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the JOBS program in title IV of the Social Security Act to 
  provide for a job placement voucher program, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Job Placement Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. JOB PLACEMENT VOUCHER PROGRAM.

    (a) Addition of Program.--Section 482 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 682) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)(1)(A)(ii)--
                    (A) in subclause (III), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subclause (IV), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclause:
                            ``(V) a job placement voucher program as 
                        described in subsection (h).'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as subsections 
        (i) and (j), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (g), the following 
        subsection:
    ``(h) Job Placement Voucher Program.--(1) The State agency may 
establish and operate a job placement voucher program for individuals 
participating in the program under this part.
    ``(2) A State that elects to operate a job placement voucher 
program under this subsection--
            ``(i) shall establish eligibility requirements for 
        participation in the job placement voucher program; and
            ``(ii) may establish other requirements for such voucher 
        program as the State deems appropriate.
    ``(3) A job placement voucher program operated by a State under 
this subsection shall include the following requirements:
            ``(A) The State shall identify, maintain, and make 
        available to an individual applying for or receiving assistance 
        under part A a list of State-approved job placement 
        organizations that offer services in the area where the 
        individual resides and a description of the job placement and 
        support services each such organization provides. Such 
        organizations may be publicly or privately owned and operated.
            ``(B)(i) An individual determined to be eligible for 
        assistance under part A shall, at the time the individual 
        becomes eligible for such assistance--
                    ``(I) receive the list and description described in 
                subparagraph (A);
                    ``(II) agree, in exchange for job placement and 
                support services, to--
                                    ``(aa) execute, within a period of 
                                time permitted by the State, a contract 
                                with a State-approved job placement 
                                organization which provides that the 
                                organization shall attempt to find 
                                employment for the individual; and
                                    ``(bb) comply with the terms of the 
                                contract; and
                    ``(III) receive a job placement voucher (in an 
                amount to be determined by the State) for payment to a 
                State-approved job placement organization.
            ``(ii) The State shall impose the sanctions provided for in 
        section 402(a)(19)(G) on any individual who does not fulfill 
        the terms of a contract executed with a State-approved job 
        placement organization.
            ``(C) At the time an individual executes a contract with a 
        State-approved job placement organization, the individual shall 
        provide the organization with the job placement voucher that 
        the individual received pursuant to subparagraph (B).
            ``(D)(i) A State-approved job placement organization may 
        redeem for payment from the State not more than 25 percent of 
        the value of a job placement voucher upon the initial receipt 
        of the voucher for payment of costs incurred in finding and 
        placing an individual in an employment position. The remaining 
        value of such voucher shall not be redeemed for payment from 
        the State until the State-approved job placement organization--
                    ``(I) finds an employment position (as determined 
                by the State) for the individual who provided the 
                voucher; and
                    ``(II) certifies to the State that the individual 
                remains employed with the employer that the 
                organization originally placed the individual with for 
                the greater of--
                            ``(aa) 6 continuous months; or
                            ``(bb) a period determined by the State.
            ``(ii) A State may modify, on a case-by-case basis, the 
        requirement of clause (i)(II) under such terms and conditions 
        as the State deems appropriate.
            ``(E)(i) The State shall establish performance-based 
        standards to evaluate the success of the State job placement 
        voucher program operated under this subsection in achieving 
        employment for individuals participating in such voucher 
        program. Such standards shall take into account the economic 
        conditions of the State in determining the rate of success.
            ``(ii) The State shall, not less than once a fiscal year, 
        evaluate the job placement voucher program operated under this 
        subsection in accordance with the performance-based standards 
        established under clause (i).
            ``(iii) The State shall submit a report containing the 
        results of an evaluation conducted under clause (ii) to the 
        Secretary and a description of the performance-based standards 
        used to conduct the evaluation in such form and under such 
        conditions as the Secretary shall require. The Secretary shall 
        review each report submitted under this clause and may require 
        the State to revise the performance-based standards if the 
        Secretary determines that the State is not achieving an 
        adequate rate of success for such State.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 403(l)(1)(A) (42 U.S.C. 603(l)(1)(A)),
                    (A) in clause (ii)(II) by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new clause:
            ``(iii) with respect to expenditures made for a job 
        placement voucher program under section 482(h) in a fiscal 
        year, the greater of--
                    ``(I) 70 percent; or
                    ``(II) the percentage paid to the State under 
                clause (ii)(II) plus 10 percent.''; and
            (2) in section 431(a)(6) (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)(6))--
                    (A) by striking ``482(i)(5)'' and inserting 
                ``482(j)(5)''; and
                    (B) by striking ``482(i)(7)(A)'' and inserting 
                ``482(j)(7)(A)''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 2 shall be effective with respect to 
calendar quarters beginning with the second calendar quarter beginning 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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