[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3638 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3638

   To require a preference for Federal contractors that hire welfare 
 recipients, to require the Secretary of Transportation to make grants 
    to assist States and other entities in financing transportation 
 services for welfare recipients, and to allow the Secretary of Health 
 and Human Services to provide guarantees of State loans to current or 
                       recent welfare recipients.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 1998

 Mr. Andrews introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and Government Reform and Oversight, 
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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require a preference for Federal contractors that hire welfare 
 recipients, to require the Secretary of Transportation to make grants 
    to assist States and other entities in financing transportation 
 services for welfare recipients, and to allow the Secretary of Health 
 and Human Services to provide guarantees of State loans to current or 
                       recent welfare recipients.

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

SECTION 1. PREFERENCE FOR CONTRACTORS THAT HIRE WELFARE RECIPIENTS.

    (a) Preference.--In awarding a contract covered by this section, 
the head of a department or agency of the Federal Government shall give 
preference to an entity that agrees to hire welfare recipients for jobs 
created to carry out the contract.
    (b) Evaluation.--To carry out subsection (a), the head of a 
department or agency shall develop a system under which, in the 
evaluation of an offer from an entity for a contract, the preference 
given to the entity will be greater as the number of welfare recipients 
that the offeror agrees to hire increases.
    (c) Exceptions.--The requirement of subsection (a) shall not apply 
in the evaluation of offers for a contract if--
            (1) the Secretary of Defense determines that the subsection 
        should not apply for national security reasons; or
            (2) the head of the department or agency determines that no 
        entry-level jobs are expected to be created to carry out the 
        contract.
    (d) Covered Contracts.--This section applies to any contract in an 
amount in excess of $500,000 entered into after the date of the 
enactment of this Act by a department or agency of the Federal 
Government using competitive procedures.
    (e) Welfare Recipient.--The term ``welfare recipient'' means a 
recipient of assistance under a State program funded under part A of 
title IV of the Social Security Act.

SEC. 2. ACCESS TO JOBS GRANTS.

    (a) General Authority.--The Secretary of Transportation shall make 
grants to States under this section to assist State agencies, local 
governmental authorities, and nonprofit organizations in financing 
transportation services designed to transport welfare recipients to and 
from jobs and activities related to their employment. The Secretary 
shall coordinate activities under this section with related activities 
under programs of other Federal departments and agencies.
    (b) Grants by States.--Each State to which a grant is made under 
this section shall use the grant proceeds to make grants to State 
agencies, local government authorities, and nonprofit organizations. In 
selecting applicants for grants under this subsection, the State shall 
consider the following:
            (1) The percentage of the population in the area to be 
        served that are welfare recipients.
            (2) The need for additional services to transport welfare 
        recipients to and from specified jobs, training, and other 
        employment support services, and the extent to which the 
        proposed services will address those needs.
            (3) The extent to which the applicant demonstrates 
        coordination with, and the financial commitment of, existing 
        transportation service providers.
            (4) The extent to which the applicant demonstrates maximum 
        utilization of existing transportation service providers and 
        expands existing transit networks or hours of service or both.
            (5) The extent to which the applicant demonstrates an 
        innovative approach that is responsive to identified service 
        needs.
            (6) The extent to which the applicant presents a 
        comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of welfare 
        recipients and identifies long-term financing strategies to 
        support the services under this section.
    (c) Eligible Projects.--A State may make grants under this section 
only for--
            (1) capital projects and to finance operating costs of 
        equipment, facilities, and associated capital maintenance items 
        related to providing access to jobs under this section;
            (2) promoting the use of transit by workers with 
        nontraditional work schedules;
            (3) promoting the use by appropriate agencies of transit 
        vouchers for welfare recipients under specific terms and 
        conditions developed by the Secretary; and
            (4) promoting the use of employer-provided transportation 
        including the transit pass benefit program under subsections 
        (a) and (f) of section 132 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986.
No planning or coordination activities are eligible for assistance 
under this section.
    (d) Federal Share of Costs.--The Federal share of costs under this 
section shall be provided from funds apportioned under this section. 
The Federal share of the costs for a project under this section shall 
not exceed 50 percent of the net project cost. The remainder shall be 
provided in cash from sources other than revenues from providing mass 
transportation. Funds appropriated to a Federal department or agency 
(other than the Department of Transportation) and eligible to be used 
for transportation may be used toward the nongovernment share payable 
on a project under this section.
    (e) Planning Requirements.--The requirements of sections 5303 
through 5306 of title 49, United States Code, apply to grants made 
under this section. Applications must reflect coordination with and the 
approval of affected transit grant recipients and the projects 
financed must be part of a coordinated public transit-human services 
transportation planning process.
    (f) Grant Requirements.--A grant under this section shall be 
subject to all of the terms and conditions of grants made under section 
5307 of title 49, United States Code, and such terms and conditions as 
determined by the Secretary.
    (g) Apportionment of Funds.--The Secretary shall apportion funds 
appropriated to carry out this section for each fiscal year among the 
States in the ratio that the amount paid to each State under section 
403(a)(1) of the Social Security Act for the fiscal year bears to the 
total amount paid to all States under that section for the fiscal year.
    (h) Program Evaluation.--
            (1) Comptroller general.--Six months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act and each 6 months thereafter, the 
        Comptroller General shall conduct a study to evaluate the 
        access to jobs program conducted under this section and 
        transmit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
        of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 
        Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate the results of the 
        study.
            (2) Department of transportation.--Within 2 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conduct 
        a study to evaluate the access to jobs program conducted under 
        this section and transmit to the Committee on Transportation 
        and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate 
        the results of the study.
    (i) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Capital project and urbanized area.--The terms 
        ``capital project'' and ``urbanized area'' have the meanings 
        such terms have under section 5302 of title 49, United States 
        Code.
            (2) Existing transportation service providers.--The term 
        ``existing transportation service providers'' means mass 
        transportation operators and governmental agencies and 
        nonprofit organizations that receive assistance from Federal, 
        State, or local sources for nonemergency transportation 
        services.
            (3) Welfare recipient.--The term ``welfare recipient'' 
        means an individual who receives or received aid or assistance 
        under a State program funded under part A of title IV of the 
        Social Security Act (whether in effect before or after the 
        effective date of the amendments made by title I of the 
        Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
        of 1996) at any time during the 3-year period ending on the 
        date the applicant applies for a grant under this section.
    (j) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this section $500,000,000 per fiscal year for fiscal years 1999 through 
2004. Such sums shall remain available until expended.

SEC. 3. GUARANTEES OF LOANS MADE BY STATES TO CURRENT OR RECENT WELFARE 
              RECIPIENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services may 
provide loan guarantees to States in accordance with this section.
    (b) Limitation on Annual Amount of Loan Guarantees.--The total 
dollar amount of loan guarantees that may be provided under this 
section in a fiscal year shall not exceed $50,000,000.
    (c) Limitation on Annual Amount of Loan Guarantees per State.--The 
total dollar amount of loan guarantees that may be provided to a State 
under this section in a fiscal year is the amount that bears the same 
ratio to $50,000,000 as the total dollar amount payable to the State 
under section 403(a)(1) of the Social Security Act for the fiscal year 
(determined without regard to any penalty imposed under section 409 of 
such Act) bears to the total dollar amount payable to all States under 
such section 403(a)(1) for the fiscal year (as so determined).
    (d) Loans That May Be Guaranteed.--The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services may provide a loan guarantee under this section with 
respect to a loan if--
            (1) the loan is made by a State;
            (2) the borrower is a recipient of assistance under a State 
        program funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security 
        Act;
            (3) the principal amount of the loan is not less than $20 
        and not more than $5,000; and
            (4) the loan bears interest at an annual rate that does not 
        exceed the rate at which interest is payable annually on bonds 
        most recently issued by the smallest political subdivision of 
        the State in which the borrower resides that has borrowing 
        authority.
    (e) Definition of State.--In this section, the term ``State'' has 
the meaning given such term in section 419(5) of the Social Security 
Act.
    (f) Regulations.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 
section.
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