[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3150 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3150

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide bonus 
  grants to high performance States based on certain criteria and to 
 collect data to evaluate the outcome of welfare reform, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 26, 1999

Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Stark, Mr. Hall of Ohio, Mr. 
Barrett of Wisconsin, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. 
 Jefferson, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Matsui, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode 
 Island, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. Kaptur, 
Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. LaFalce, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Davis of 
Illinois, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Evans, Mr. Conyers, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Watt of 
  North Carolina, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Oberstar, Mrs. 
 Christensen, Mr. Payne, Mr. Clay, Mr. Berman, and Mr. Green of Texas) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide bonus 
  grants to high performance States based on certain criteria and to 
 collect data to evaluate the outcome of welfare reform, 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. EVALUATION OF OUTCOME OF WELFARE REFORM AND FORMULA FOR 
              BONUSES TO HIGH PERFORMANCE STATES.

    (a) Additional Measures of State Performance.--Section 403(a)(4)(C) 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(4)(C)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Not later'' and inserting the following:
                            ``(i) In general.--Not later'';
            (2) by inserting ``The formula shall provide for the 
        awarding of grants under this paragraph based on criteria 
        contained in clause (ii) and in accordance with clauses (iii) 
        and (iv).'' after the period; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Formula criteria.--The grants 
                        awarded under this paragraph shall be based on 
                        the following:
                                    ``(I) Employment-related 
                                measures.--Employment-related measures, 
                                including work force entries, job 
                                retention, increases in earnings of 
                                recipients and former recipients of 
                                assistance under the State program 
                                funded under this part.
                                    ``(II) Food stamps measures.--The 
                                change since 1995 in the proportion of 
                                children in working poor families that 
                                receive food stamps to the total number 
                                of children in the State (or, if 
                                possible, to the estimated number of 
                                children in working families with 
                                incomes low enough to be eligible for 
                                food stamps).
                                    ``(III) Medicaid and schip 
                                measures.--The percentage of members of 
                                families who are former recipients of 
                                assistance under the State program 
                                funded under this part (who have ceased 
                                to receive such assistance for 
                                approximately 6 months) who currently 
                                receive medical assistance under the 
                                State plan approved under title XIX or 
                                the child health assistance under title 
                                XXI.
                                    ``(IV) Child care measures.--In the 
                                case of a State that pays child care 
                                rates that are equal to at least the 
                                75th percentile of market rates, based 
                                on a market rate survey that is not 
                                more than 2 years old, measures of the 
                                State's success in providing child 
                                care, as measured by the percentage of 
                                children in families with incomes below 
                                85 percent of the State's median income 
                                who receive subsidized child care in 
                                the State, and by the amount of public 
                                expenditures in the State on child care 
                                subsidies divided by the estimated 
                                number of children younger than 13 in 
                                families with incomes below 85 percent 
                                of the State's median income.
                                    ``(V) Measures of addressing 
                                domestic violence.--In the case of a 
                                State that has adopted the option under 
                                the State plan relating to domestic 
                                violence set forth in section 402(a)(7) 
                                and that reports the proportion of 
                                eligible recipients of assistance under 
                                this part who disclose their status as 
                                domestic violence victims or survivors, 
                                measures of the State's success in 
                                addressing domestic violence as a 
                                barrier to economic self-sufficiency, 
                                as measured by the proportion of such 
                                recipients who are referred to and 
                                receive services under a service plan 
                                developed by an individual trained in 
                                domestic violence pursuant to section 
                                260.55(c) of title 45 of the Code of 
                                Federal Regulations.
                                    ``(VI) Measures of changes in 
                                income or number of children below half 
                                of poverty.--For a sample of recipients 
                                of assistance under the State program 
                                funded under this part, longitudinal 
                                measures of annual changes in income 
                                (or measures of changes in the 
                                proportion of children in families with 
                                income below \1/2\ of the poverty line) 
                                according to the American Community 
                                Survey (ACS), including earnings and 
                                the value of benefits received under 
                                that State program and food stamps.
                                    ``(VII) Definitions.--In this 
                                clause:
                                            ``(aa) Domestic violence.--
                                        The term `domestic violence' 
                                        has the meaning given the term 
`battered or subjected to extreme cruelty' in section 
408(a)(7)(C)(iii).
                                            ``(bb) Working poor 
                                        families.--The term `working 
                                        poor families' means families 
                                        that receive earnings at least 
                                        equal to a comparable amount 
                                        that would be received by an 
                                        individual working a half-time 
                                        position for minimum wage for a 
                                        full year.
                            ``(iii) Employment, earning, and income 
                        related measures.--$100,000,000 of the amount 
                        appropriated for a fiscal year under 
                        subparagraph (F) shall be used to award grants 
                        to States under this paragraph for that fiscal 
                        year based on the measures of employment, 
                        earnings, and income described in subclauses 
                        (I) and (VI) of clause (ii), including scores 
                        for the criteria described in those subclauses.
                            ``(iv) Measures of support for working 
                        families.--$100,000,000 of the amount 
                        appropriated for a fiscal year under 
                        subparagraph (F) shall be used to award grants 
                        to States under this paragraph for that fiscal 
                        year based on measures of support for working 
                        families, including scores for the criteria 
                        described in subclauses (II), (III), (IV), and 
                        (V) of clause (ii).
                            ``(v) Limitation on applying for only 1 
                        bonus.--To qualify under any one of the 
                        employment, earnings, food stamp, or health 
                        coverage criteria described in subclauses (I), 
                        (II), or (III) of clause (ii), a State must 
                        submit the data required to compete for all of 
                        the criteria described in those subclauses.
    (b) Data Collection and Reporting.--Section 411(a) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 611(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(8) Report on outcome of welfare reform for states not 
        participating in bonus grants under section 403(a)(4).--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of a State which 
                does not participate in the procedure for awarding 
                grants under section 403(a)(4) pursuant to regulations 
                prescribed by the Secretary, the report required by 
                paragraph (1) for a fiscal quarter shall include data 
                regarding the characteristics and well-being of former 
                recipients of assistance under the State program funded 
                under this part for 6 months after such recipient has 
                ceased receiving such assistance.
                    ``(B) Contents.--The data required under 
                subparagraph (A) shall consist of information regarding 
                former recipients, including--
                            ``(i) employment status;
                            ``(ii) job retention;
                            ``(iii) changes in income;
                            ``(iv) poverty status, including the number 
                        of children in families of such former 
                        recipients with income below \1/2\ of the 
                        poverty line;
                            ``(v) receipt of food stamps, medical 
                        assistance under the State plan approved under 
                        title XIX or child health assistance under 
                        title XXI, or subsidized child care;
                            ``(vi) accessibility of child care and 
                        child care cost;
                            ``(vii) the percentage of families in 
                        poverty receiving child care subsidies;
                            ``(viii) measures of hardship, including 
                        lack of medical insurance and difficulty 
                        purchasing food; and
                            ``(ix) the availability of the option under 
                        the State plan in section 402(a)(7) (relating 
                        to domestic violence) and the difficulty 
                        accessing services for victims of domestic 
                        violence.
                    ``(C) Sampling.--A State may comply with this 
                paragraph by using a scientifically acceptable sampling 
                method approved by the Secretary.
                    ``(D) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe 
                such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that--
                            ``(i) data reported under this paragraph 
                        are in such a form as to promote comparison of 
                        data among States;
                            ``(ii) a State reports, for each measure, 
                        changes in data over time and comparisons in 
                        data between such former recipients and 
                        comparable groups of current recipients; and
                            ``(iii) a State that is already conducting 
                        a scientifically acceptable study of former 
recipients that provides sufficient data required under subparagraph 
(A) may use the results of such study to satisfy the requirements of 
this paragraph.''.
    (c) Report of Currently Collected Data.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than July 1, 2000, and annually 
        thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
        transmit to Congress a report regarding characteristics of 
        former and current recipients of assistance under State 
        programs funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security 
        Act, based on information currently being received from States.
            (2) Characteristics.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the 
        characteristics shall include earnings, employment, and, to the 
        extent possible, income (including earnings, the value of 
        benefits received under the State program funded under part A 
        of title IV of the Social Security Act, and food stamps), the 
        ratio of income to poverty, receipt of food stamps, and other 
        family resources.
            (3) Basis of report.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
        be based on longitudinal data of employer reported earnings for 
        a sample of States, which represents at least 80 percent of the 
        population of the United States, including separate data for 
        each of fiscal years 1997 through 2000 regarding--
                    (A) a sample of former recipients of assistance 
                under State programs funded under part A of title IV of 
                the Social Security Act;
                    (B) a sample of current recipients of such 
                assistance; and
                    (C) a sample of food stamp recipients.
    (d) Report on Development of Measures.--The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall transmit to Congress--
            (1) not later than July 1, 2000, a report regarding the 
        development of measures required under section 
        403(a)(4)(C)(ii)(IV) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        603(a)(4)(C)(ii)(IV)), as added by this Act, regarding 
        subsidized child care and changes in income; and
            (2) not later than January 1, 2001, a report, prepared in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Labor and domestic violence 
        organizations, regarding the domestic violence criteria 
        required under subclause (V) of such section.
    (e) Effective Dates.--
            (1) Additional measures of state performance.--The 
        amendments made by subsection (a) of this section shall take 
        effect on July 1, 2000, except that subclauses (IV) and (V) of 
        section 403(a)(4)(C)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        603(a)(4)(C)(ii)(IV) and (V)), as added by this Act, shall not 
        apply to grants awarded under section 403(a)(4) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(4)) before July 1, 2001, and 
        shall have no force or effect before the report required by 
        subsection (d)(2) of this section is made.
            (2) Data collection and reporting.--The amendment made by 
        subsection (b) shall apply to reports submitted in fiscal years 
        beginning with fiscal year 2001.
                                 <all>