[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3415 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3415

   To improve the program of temporary Federal fiscal assistance to 
                                States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 30, 2003

     Mr. King of Iowa (for himself, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. Sessions, Mr. 
 Gutknecht, Mrs. Musgrave, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. 
Goode, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Akin, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Franks of 
 Arizona, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Beauprez, Mr. Chocola, Mr. Ryun of Kansas, 
 Mr. Terry, Mr. Crane, Mr. Hensarling, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. Ryan 
of Wisconsin, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Hostettler, Mr. Pence, 
   Mr. Tancredo, Mr. Garrett of New Jersey, and Mr. Barrett of South 
  Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve the program of temporary Federal fiscal assistance to 
                                States.

    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 ``State Assistance Accountability 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FUNDING LIMITATIONS AND CRITERIA.

    Section 601(d)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801(d)(2)) 
is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Limitation.--A State may use funds provided under 
        this section only for types of expenditures authorized under--
                    ``(A) the budget of the State for the fiscal year 
                for which the funds are to be expended that, as of May 
                28, 2003, was most recently approved by the State 
                legislature; or
                    ``(B) in the absence of such a budget, the budget 
                of the State for the fiscal year for which the funds 
                are to be expended that, as of May 28, 2003, was at the 
                furthest stage of development by the State 
                legislature.''.

SEC. 3. STATE CERTIFICATION.

    Section 601(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801(e)) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Certification.--In order to receive a payment under this 
section for a fiscal year, the State shall provide the Secretary of the 
Treasury with a certification that the State will use the payment in 
accordance with subsection (d). The certification shall include a 
detailed report on how the payment will be expended.''.

SEC. 4. AUDIT AND REMITTANCE.

    Section 601 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801) is amended 
by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (i) and (j), 
respectively, and by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Audit.--At the end of any State fiscal year for which a State 
expends funds provided under this section, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall conduct an audit to ensure that the funds were spent in 
accordance with subsection (d) and the certification required by 
subsection (e).
    ``(g) Remittance of Improperly Expended Funds.--If the Secretary of 
the Treasury determines that a State has expended funds provided under 
this section, in a manner inconsistent with subsection (d) or the 
certification required by subsection (e), the State shall remit to the 
Treasury of the United States an amount equal to the amount so 
determined to have been inappropriately expended plus a 10 percent 
penalty, plus interest at a rate of 10 percent per annum.
    ``(h) Guidance on Essential Government Service.--In making a 
determination as to whether a State has expended funds provided under 
this section on an essential government service, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall take into consideration whether the service--
            ``(1) appears on any list of essential government services 
        most recently issued by the State before May 28, 2003;
            ``(2) is similar to a service provided by the Federal 
        Government in the absence of appropriations as listed in the 
        Office of Management and Budget Memorandum to the Heads of 
        Executive Departments and Agencies dated September 30, 1980; or
            ``(3) is a service continued by the State in the absence of 
        appropriations.''.

SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE.

    Section 601 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 801), as amended 
by section 4 of this Act, is amended by redesignating subsection (j) as 
subsection (k) and by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
    ``(j) Essential Government Service.--In this section, the term 
`essential government service', with respect to a State, includes 
reduction in the amount of debt held or planned to be held by the 
State, and does not include any activity that was not funded by the 
State in the preceding fiscal year of the State.''.
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