[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 699 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 699

To reward states that enact welfare policies and support programs that 
                  truly lift families out of poverty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 1999

 Ms. Woolsey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reward states that enact welfare policies and support programs that 
                  truly lift families out of poverty.

    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 ``Building Opportunities Bonus Act''.

SEC. 2. BONUS TO BUILD REAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR POOR FAMILIES.

    Section 403(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Building opportunities bonus.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make a grant 
                pursuant to this paragraph to each State for each bonus 
                year for which the State is a high performing State.
                    ``(B) Amount of grant.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), 
                        the Secretary shall determine the amount of the 
                        grant payable under this paragraph to a high 
                        performing State for a bonus year, which shall 
                        be based on the score assigned to the State 
                        under subparagraph (D)(i) for the fiscal year 
                        that immediately precedes the bonus year.
                            ``(ii) Limitation.--The amount payable to a 
                        State under this paragraph for a bonus year 
                        shall not exceed 5 percent of the State family 
                        assistance grant and shall be used to address 
                        the matters set forth in subparagraph (C).
                    ``(C) Criteria for measuring state performance.--
                Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
                of this paragraph, the Secretary, in consultation with 
                the National Governor's Association and the Institute 
                for Women's Policy Research, shall develop criteria for 
                measuring State performance in operating the State 
                program funded under this part to address the following 
                matters as they relate to the ability of recipients of 
                assistance under the State program to become 
                economically self-sufficient:
                            ``(i) Child care.--Whether States are--
                                    ``(I) ensuring an adequate supply 
                                of safe, accessible, appropriate, and 
                                quality child care slots;
                                    ``(II) helping women identify and 
                                place children in safe, accessible, 
                                appropriate, and quality child care;
                                    ``(III) ensuring that available 
                                child care slots are filled;
                                    ``(IV) improving the quality of 
                                child care by ensuring that child care 
                                providers are adequately paid and 
                                trained;
                                    ``(V) increasing access to safe, 
                                accessible, appropriate, and quality 
                                child care by making child care 
                                subsidies available to recipients of 
                                assistance under the State program 
                                funded under this part and families 
                                that earn up to 85 percent of the 
                                State's median income;
                                    ``(VI) collaborating with State 
                                child care resource and referral 
                                agencies and child care development 
                                experts in developing and implementing 
                                child care programs and policies; and
                                    ``(VII) collaborating with State 
                                domestic violence coalitions to address 
                                the child care needs of families 
                                affected by domestic violence.
                            ``(ii) Employment.--Whether States are--
                                    ``(I) providing education and 
                                training for recipients of assistance 
                                under the State program under this part 
                                for employment that pays a sustainable 
                                wage, such as apprenticeable, 
                                technical, and professional 
                                occupations, and nontraditional 
                                employment;
                                    ``(II) placing such recipients in 
                                such employment;
                                    ``(III) retaining such recipients 
                                in such employment;
                                    ``(IV) providing career development 
                                assistance including job readiness 
                                training, reliable, up-to-date career 
                                counseling services, and employability 
                                assessments on available employment 
                                that pays a sustainable wage, such as 
                                nontraditional training and education 
                                options and employment opportunities to 
                                all women entering welfare-to-work 
                                programs; and
                                    ``(V) utilizing resources available 
                                under title I of the Workforce 
                                Investment Act of 1998, including 
                                section 134(a)(3)(A)(vi)(II) of such 
                                Act, to support State efforts on 
                                education, training, placement, 
                                retention, and career development 
                                assistance, as described in subclauses 
                                (I) through (IV).
                            ``(iii) Domestic violence.--Whether States 
                        are--
                                    ``(I) collaborating with State 
                                domestic violence coalitions in 
                                implementing substantive programs 
                                addressing domestic violence as an 
                                impediment to women's work and 
                                education (such as through 
                                demonstration and model projects), 
                                programs placing domestic violence 
                                advocates in welfare offices, and 
                                programs providing employment and 
                                support services for victims of 
                                domestic violence that will reach a 
                                substantial number of battered women;
                                    ``(II) collaborating with State 
                                domestic violence coalitions in 
                                adopting and implementing the option 
                                under the State plan relating to 
                                domestic violence set forth in section 
                                402(a)(7);
                                    ``(III) collaborating with State 
                                domestic violence coalitions in 
                                requiring training on domestic violence 
                                for case workers for the State program 
                                funded under this part;
                                    ``(IV) collaborating with State 
                                domestic violence coalitions in 
                                requiring training on domestic violence 
                                for job training, education, and job 
                                placement programs that are contracted 
                                by the State program funded under this 
                                part, and requiring that such programs 
                                implement strategies and programs to 
                                support victims of domestic violence in 
                                the workplace;
                                    ``(V) conducting outreach to 
                                employers of recipients of assistance 
                                to ensure that employers are aware of 
                                and are implementing strategies and 
                                programs to support victims of domestic 
                                violence in the workplace; and
                                    ``(VI) conducting public education 
                                on domestic violence.
                    ``(D) Scoring of state performance; setting of 
                performance thresholds.--For each bonus year, the 
                Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) use the criteria developed under 
                        subparagraph (C) to assign a score to each 
                        eligible State for the fiscal year that 
                        immediately precedes the bonus year; and
                            ``(ii) prescribe a performance threshold in 
                        such a manner so as to ensure that--
                                    ``(I) the average annual total 
                                amount of grants to be made under this 
                                paragraph for each bonus year equals 
                                $200,000,000; and
                                    ``(II) the total amount of grants 
                                to be made under this paragraph for all 
                                bonus years equals $1,000,000,000.
                    ``(E) Definitions.--As used in this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Bonus year.--The term `bonus year' 
                        means fiscal years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 
                        2005.
                            ``(ii) Child care.--The term `child care' 
                        means all programs and arrangements utilized by 
                        parents for the care of children from birth 
                        through age 14, and for the care of children 
                        who are older than age 14 and have special 
                        needs, including day care services provided by 
                        centers, family day care, group family day 
                        care, informal care, after hours care, and 
                        before- and after-school programs.
                            ``(iii) Child with special needs.--The term 
                        `child with special needs' has the same meaning 
                        as the term `child with a disability' in 
                        section 602(3)(A)(i) of the Individuals With 
                        Disabilities Education Act.
                            ``(iv) Domestic violence.--The term 
                        `domestic violence' has the same meaning as the 
                        term `battered or subjected to extreme 
                        cruelty', as defined in section 
                        408(a)(7)(C)(iii).
                            ``(v) High performance state.--The term 
                        `high performance State' means, with respect to 
                        a bonus year, an eligible State whose score 
                        assigned pursuant to subparagraph (D)(i) for 
                        the fiscal year immediately preceding the bonus 
                        year equals or exceeds the performance 
                        threshold prescribed under subparagraph (D)(ii) 
                        for such preceding fiscal year.
                            ``(vi) Sustainable wage.--The term 
                        `sustainable wage' means a wage that is at 
                        least 185 percent above the poverty line and 
                        that takes into account costs related to 
                        employment such as Federal, State, and local 
                        taxes, child care, transportation, food, and 
                        shelter costs for a particular geographic area.
                            ``(vii) Nontraditional employment.--The 
                        term `nontraditional employment' means 
                        occupations or fields of work, including 
                        careers in computer science, technology, and 
                        other emerging high skill occupations, for 
                        which individuals from one gender comprise less 
                        than 25 percent of the individuals employed in 
                        each such occupation or field of work.
                            ``(viii) Poverty line.--The term `poverty 
                        line' has the meaning given such term in 
                        section 673(2) of the Community Services Block 
                        Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)), including any 
                        revision required by such section.
                    ``(F) Authorization of appropriations.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 2001 
                through 2005 a total of $1,000,000,000 for grants under 
                this paragraph.''.
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