[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4067 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4067

     To reform the program of block grants to States for temporary 
                     assistance for needy families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 17, 2005

Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Lee, Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. 
   Filner) 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:
                    ``(M) 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 ``2006 through 
2011''.
    (b) Inflation Adjustment.--Section 403(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
603(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(B) State family assistance grant.--The State 
                family assistance grant payable to a State for a fiscal 
                year specified in subparagraph (A) shall be--
                            ``(i) the amount that bears the same ratio 
                        to the amount specified in subparagraph (C) of 
                        this paragraph (as in effect before the date of 
                        the enactment of this subparagraph) as the 
                        amount required to be paid to the State under 
                        this paragraph for fiscal year 2002 (determined 
                        without regard to any reduction pursuant to 
                        section 409 or 412(a)(1)) bears to the total 
                        amount required to be paid under this paragraph 
                        for fiscal year 2002 (as so determined); 
                        multiplied by
                            ``(ii) if the fiscal year specified in 
                        subparagraph (A) is fiscal year 2007 or a 
                        succeeding fiscal year, 1.00 plus the inflation 
                        percentage (as defined in subparagraph (D) of 
                        this paragraph) in effect for the fiscal year 
                        specified in subparagraph (A).
                    ``(C) Appropriation.--Out of any money in the 
                Treasury of the United States not otherwise 
                appropriated, there are apropriated for each fiscal 
                year specified in subparagraph (A) such sums as may be 
                necessary for grants under this paragraph for the 
                fiscal year.
                    ``(D) 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, 2005.''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 
2005.
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