[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3864 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3864
To provide vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with
disabilities affected by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 22, 2005
Mr. Boustany (for himself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Jindal, and Mr. Marchant)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with
disabilities affected by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita.
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 ``Assistance for Individuals with
Disabilities Affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. REALLOTMENT OF AMOUNTS UNDER TITLE I OF THE REHABILITATION ACT
OF 1973.
(a) Reallotment of Amounts.--In realloting amounts to States under
section 110(b)(2) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
730(b)(2)) for fiscal year 2005, the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation
Services Administration shall give preference to affected States.
(b) Availability of Amounts.--For fiscal year 2005, the
Commissioner shall make available amounts reallotted under section
110(b)(2) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to any State not later than
October 7, 2005, or seven days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, whichever occurs later.
(c) Waiver of Non-Federal Share Requirement.--The Commissioner may
waive the requirement contained in the second sentence of section
110(b)(2) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (relating to non-Federal
share requirement) with respect to amounts made available to an
affected State for fiscal year 2005 if the affected State submits to
the Commissioner an application requesting a waiver of such
requirement.
SEC. 3. USE OF AMOUNTS REALLOTTED UNDER TITLE I OF THE REHABILITATION
ACT OF 1973.
An affected State that receives amounts reallotted under section
110(b)(2) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 730(b)(2)) for
fiscal year 2005 (as described in section 2) may use the amounts--
(1) to pay for vocational rehabilitation services (which
may include training, mentoring, or job shadowing
opportunities) for individuals with disabilities affected by
Hurricane Katrina or individuals with disabilities affected by
Hurricane Rita that contribute to the economic growth and
development of communities;
(2) to enable--
(A) individuals with disabilities affected by
Hurricane Katrina to participate in reconstruction or
other major disaster assistance activities in the areas
in which the individuals resided on August 22, 2005;
(B) individuals with disabilities affected by
Hurricane Rita to participate in reconstruction or
other major disaster assistance activities in the areas
in which the individuals resided on the date that is
seven days before the date on which the President has
declared that a major disaster related to Hurricane
Rita exists in such areas; or
(3) to carry out other activities in accordance with title
I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.).
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Affected state.--The term ``affected State'' means a
State that contains an area, or that received a significant
number of individuals who resided in an area, in which the
President has declared that a major disaster exists.
(2) Commissioner.--The term ``Commissioner'' means the
Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
(3) Individual with a disability.--The term ``individual
with a disability'' has the meaning given the term in section
7(20) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705(20)).
(4) Individual with a disability affected by hurricane
katrina.--The term ``individual with a disability affected by
Hurricane Katrina'' means an individual with a disability who--
(A) resided on August 22, 2005, in an area in which
the President has declared that a major disaster
related to Hurricane Katrina exists in such area;
(B) on August 22, 2005, was eligible under title I
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et
seq.) for vocational rehabilitation services described
in section 103 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 723) in the area described in subparagraph (A);
and
(C) resides in an area in which the President has
declared that an emergency exists, in accordance with
section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191), related
to Hurricane Katrina, or in which a major disaster
related to Hurricane Katrina exists.
(5) Individual with a disability affected by hurricane
rita.--The term ``individual with a disability affected by
Hurricane Rita'' means an individual with a disability who--
(A) resided in an area on the date that is seven
days before the date on which the President has
declared that a major disaster related to Hurricane
Rita exists in such area;
(B) on the date described in subparagraph (A), was
eligible under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.) for vocational
rehabilitation services described in section 103 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 723) in the area
described in subparagraph (A); and
(C) resides in an area in which the President has
declared that an emergency exists, in accordance with
section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191), related
to Hurricane Rita, or in which a major disaster related
to Hurricane Rita exists.
(6) Major disaster.--The term ``major disaster'' means a
major disaster declared by the President in accordance with
section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) related to Hurricane
Katrina or Hurricane Rita.
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