[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3459 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3459
To reform the program of block grants to States for temporary
assistance for needy families.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 11, 2001
Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Ms. Lee, Mr. Filner, Mr. Owens, Mr.
Hinchey, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. McKinney, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, and Mr.
Serrano) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reform the program of block grants to States for temporary
assistance for needy families.
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 ``TANF Recipients' Lifeline Act''.
SEC. 2. REPEAL OF 5-YEAR LIMIT ON BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--Section 408(a) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (7).
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 409(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
609(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (9).
SEC. 3. EXCEPTION FOR TANF TO 5-YEAR BAN ON BENEFITS FOR QUALIFIED
ALIENS.
(a) In General.--Section 403(c)(2) of the Personal Responsibility
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1613(c)(2))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(L) Benefits under the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families program described in section
402(b)(3)(A).''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 402(b)(2) of the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8
U.S.C. 1612(b)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)(ii) by striking ``subparagraph
(C))'' and inserting ``subparagraphs (A) and (C))''; and
(2) by striking subparagraph (B).
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE TRANSLATION SERVICES FOR NON-ENGLISH
SPEAKERS.
(a) Requirement.--Section 408(a) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(12) Use of bilingual personnel and printed material.--A
State to which a grant is made under section 403 shall use
appropriate bilingual personnel and printed material in the
administration of the State program funded under this part in
those portions of the political subdivisions in the State in
which a substantial number of recipients of assistance under
the State program speak a language other than English.''.
(b) Penalty.--Section 409(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(15) Failure to use bilingual personnel and printed
material.--If the Secretary determines that a State to which a
grant is made under section 403 for a fiscal year has violated
section 408(a)(12) during the fiscal year, the Secretary shall
reduce the grant payable to the State under section 403(a)(1)
for the immediately succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal
to 2 percent of the State family assistance grant.''.
SEC. 5. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT OF BLOCK GRANT.
(a) Extension of Block Grant.--Section 403(a)(1)(A) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ``1996''
and all that follows through ``2002'' and inserting ``2002 through
2005''.
(b) Inflation Adjustment.--Section 403(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
603(a)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) by striking ``means the greatest of--'' and
inserting ``means, with respect to a fiscal year
specified in subparagraph (A)--
``(i) the greatest of--'';
(B) by redesignating each of clauses (i), (ii)(I),
(ii)(II), and (iii) as subclauses (I), (II)(aa),
(II)(bb), and (III), respectively;
(C) by indenting each of the provisions specified
in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph 2 additional ems
to the right;
(D) by striking the period and inserting ``;
mulitplied by''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) if the fiscal year specified in
subparagraph (A) is--
``(I) fiscal year 2002 or 2003,
1.00; or
``(II) fiscal year 2004 or 2005,
1.00 plus the inflation percentage (as
defined in subparagraph (F) of this
paragraph) in effect for the fiscal
year specified in subparagraph (A).'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(F) Inflation percentage.--For purposes of
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the inflation
percentage applicable to a fiscal year is the
percentage (if any) by which--
``(i) the average of the Consumer Price
Index (as defined in section 1(f)(5) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for the 12-month
period ending on September 30 of the
immediately preceding fiscal year; exceeds
``(ii) the average of the Consumer Price
Index (as so defined) for the 12-month period
ending on September 30, 2002.''.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 1,
2002.
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