[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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