1.This Act may be cited as
the Low-Income Gasoline Assistance
Program Act
.
2.The purpose of this Act is to create new
emergency assistance programs to assist families receiving assistance under
part A of title IV of the Social Security
Act and low-income working families to meet the increasing price of
gasoline.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term covered activities means—
(A)work
activities;
(B)education
directly related to employment; or
(C)activities
related to necessary scheduled medical treatment.
(2)The
term gasoline has the meaning given the term in section 4083(a)(2)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(3)The
term household has the meaning given the term in section 2603 of
the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C.
8622).
(4)Poverty level;
State median incomeThe terms poverty level and
State median income have the meanings given the terms in section
2603 of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981.
(5)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human
Services.
(6)The
term State means each of the several States, the District of
Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(7)The term work activities has the meaning
given the term in section 407(d) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
607(d)).
4.Emergency
assistance programsThe
Secretary shall make grants to States from allotments made under section 5 to
enable the States to establish emergency assistance programs and to provide,
through the programs, payments to eligible households to enable the households
to purchase gasoline.
5.From the funds
appropriated under section 12 for a fiscal year and remaining after the
reservation made in section 11, the Secretary shall allot to each State an
amount that bears the same relation to such remainder as the amount the State
receives under section 675B of the Community Services Block Grant Act
(42 U.S.C.
9906) for that year bears to the amount all States receive
under that section for that year.
6.
(a)To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a State
shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require.
(b)At
a minimum, the application shall contain—
(1)information
designating a State agency to carry out the emergency assistance program in the
State, which shall be—
(A)the State agency
specified in the State plan submitted under
section
402 of the Social Security
Act (42
U.S.C. 602); or
(B)the State agency
designated under section 676(a) of the Community Services Block Grant Act
(42 U.S.C.
9908(a)); and
(2)information
describing the emergency assistance program to be carried out in the
State.
7.
(a)To be eligible to receive a payment from a State under
this Act, a household shall submit an application to the State at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the State may require.
(b)The
applicant shall include in the application information demonstrating
that—
(1)1 or more
individuals in the applicant’s household individually drive not less than 30
miles per day, or not less than 150 miles per week, to or from covered
activities; and
(2)(A)(i)1 or more individuals
in that household were receiving assistance (including services) under the
State program funded under part A of title IV of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et
seq.) within the 24-month period ending on the date of submission of the
application; and
(ii)no individual in that household is
receiving that assistance, as of the date of submission of the
application;
(B)(i)1 or more individuals
in that household are receiving assistance (including services) under that
State program; and
(ii)such individuals are engaged in work
activities and are meeting the other requirements of that part A that are
applicable to recipients of such assistance;
(C)the household meets the eligibility
requirements of section 2605(b)(2)(A) of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance
Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624(b)(2)(A)),
other than clause (i) of that section; or
(D)the household income for the household
does not exceed the greater of—
(i)an amount equal to 150 percent of
the poverty level for the State involved; or
(ii)an amount equal to 60 percent of
the State median income.
(c)For
purposes of subsection (b)(2)(D), a State—
(1)may not exclude a
household from eligibility for a fiscal year solely on the basis of household
income if such income is less than 110 percent of the poverty level for such
State; but
(2)may give priority
to those households with the highest gasoline costs or needs in relation to
household income.
8.
(a)Determination
of trigger amount
(1)Determination
of gasolineThe Secretary of Health and Human Services, in
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall determine a grade of gasoline
for which price determinations will be made under this subsection, which shall
be a type of gasoline that has a specified octane rating or other specified
characteristic.
(2)Determination
of calculationThe Secretary of Health and Human Services, in
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall determine a method for
calculating the average per gallon price of the covered grade of gasoline in
each State.
(3)The
Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of
Energy, shall calculate, in accordance with paragraph (2), the average per
gallon price of the covered grade of gasoline in each State as of December 31,
2007.
(4)Trigger and
release pricesThe Secretary of Health and Human Services, in
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall calculate—
(A)the trigger price
for each State by multiplying the price calculated under paragraph (3) by 115
percent; and
(B)the release price
for each State by multiplying the price calculated under paragraph (3) by 110
percent.
(b)
(1)
(A)Monthly price
calculationThe Secretary of Health and Human Services, in
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall calculate, in accordance with
subsection (a)(2), the average per gallon price of the covered grade of
gasoline in each State for each month.
(B)If
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary
of Energy, determines that the price in a State calculated under subparagraph
(A) for a month—
(i)is
more than the trigger price for the State, the State shall provide payments in
accordance with this subsection for the following month; and
(ii)is
less than the release price for the State, the State shall suspend provision of
the payments, not earlier than 30 days after the date of the determination, for
the following month.
(2)Except as provided in subsection (c), the State shall
use funds received through a grant made under section 4 (including a grant
increased under section 11(2)) and any funds made available to the State under
section
404(d)(4) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 604(d)(4)) to make
payments under this Act to eligible households.
(3)An
eligible household with an application approved under section 7 may receive
payments under this Act for not more than 3 months. The household may submit
additional applications under section 7, and may receive payments under this
Act for not more than 3 months for each such application approved by the
State.
(4)The
State shall make the payments in amounts of not less than $100, and not more
than $165, per month. The State may determine the amount of the payments on a
sliding scale, taking into consideration the household income of the eligible
households.
(c)The State may use not more than 10 percent of the
funds described in subsection (b)(2) to pay for the cost of administering this
Act.
(d)In
this section:
(1)The term covered grade means the grade of
gasoline determined under subsection (a)(1).
(2)The term release price means the release price
calculated under subsection (a)(4)(B).
(3)The term trigger price means the trigger price
calculated under subsection (a)(4)(A).
9.
(a)Notwithstanding any other law, the value of any payment
provided under this Act shall not be treated as income or resources for
purposes of—
(1)any other Federal
or federally assisted program that bases eligibility, or the amount of
benefits, on need; or
(2)the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
(b)For purposes of part A of title IV of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et
seq.), a payment provided under this Act shall not be considered to be
assistance provided by a State under that part, regardless of whether the State
uses funds made available under section 404(d)(4) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
604(d)(4)) to make payments under this Act. The period for
which such payments are provided under this Act shall not be considered to be
part of the 60-month period described in
section
408(a)(7) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)).
10.Authority to
use funds for temporary assistance for needy familiesSection 404(d) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 604(d))
is amended—
(1)in paragraph
(3)(A), by striking paragraph (1)
and inserting paragraph
(1) or (4)
; and
(2)by adding at the
end the following:
(4)A State may use funds from any grant made to the State
under section 403(a) for a fiscal year to carry out a State program pursuant to
the Low-Income Gasoline Assistance Program
Act.
.
11.Discretionary
activities by the SecretaryThe Secretary of Health and Human Services
may reserve not more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated under section 12
for a fiscal year—
(1)to pay for the
cost of administering this Act; and
(2)to increase the
cost of a grant made to a State under section 4, in any case in which the
Secretary determines that emergency conditions relating to gasoline prices
exist in that State.
12.Authorization
of appropriations
(a)There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
Act $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and each subsequent fiscal year.
(b)Any
sums appropriated under subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall remain available
until the end of the succeeding fiscal year.