[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3849 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3849

To extend the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance 
          for Needy Families Programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 2010

 Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Casey, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. 
 Bingaman, Mr. Burris, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Reed, 
 Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Lautenberg) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To extend the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance 
          for Needy Families Programs, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Job Preservation for Parents in 
Poverty Act''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF THE TANF EMERGENCY FUND.

    (a) Extension.--
            (1) In general.--Section 403(c) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 603(c)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``, and for 
                the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, $500,000,000'' 
                before ``for payment'';
                    (B) by striking paragraph (2)(B) and inserting the 
                following:
                    ``(B) Availability and use of funds.--
                            ``(i) Fiscal years 2009 and 2010.--The 
                        amounts appropriated to the Emergency Fund 
                        under subparagraph (A) for fiscal year 2009 
                        shall remain available through fiscal year 2010 
                        and shall be used to make grants to States in 
                        each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010 in 
                        accordance with paragraph (3), except that the 
                        amounts shall remain available through fiscal 
                        year 2011 to make grants and payments to States 
                        in accordance with paragraph (3)(C) to cover 
                        expenditures to subsidize employment positions 
                        held by individuals placed in the positions 
                        before fiscal year 2011.
                            ``(ii) Fiscal year 2011.--Subject to clause 
                        (iii), the amounts appropriated to the 
                        Emergency Fund under subparagraph (A) for the 
                        first quarter of fiscal year 2011 shall remain 
                        available through fiscal year 2012 and shall be 
                        used to make grants to States based on 
                        expenditures in the first quarter of fiscal 
                        year 2011 for benefits and services provided in 
                        the first quarter of fiscal year 2011 in 
                        accordance with the requirements of paragraph 
                        (3).
                            ``(iii) Reservation of funds.--Of the 
                        amounts appropriated to the Emergency Fund 
                        under subparagraph (A) for the first quarter of 
                        fiscal year 2011, $500,000 shall be placed in 
                        reserve for use in fiscal year 2012, and shall 
                        be used to award grants for any expenditures 
                        described in this subsection incurred by States 
                        after December 31, 2010.'';
                    (C) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ``2010'' and 
                inserting ``2012'';
                    (D) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in clause (i) of each of subparagraphs 
                        (A), (B), and (C)--
                                    (I) by inserting ``, and the first 
                                calendar quarter of fiscal year 2011,'' 
                                after ``2009 or 2010,'';
                                    (II) by striking ``and'' at the end 
                                of subclause (I);
                                    (III) by striking the period at the 
                                end of subclause (II) and inserting ``; 
                                and''; and
                                    (IV) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                                    ``(III) if the quarter is in fiscal 
                                year 2011, has provided the Secretary 
                                with such information as the Secretary 
                                may find necessary in order to make the 
                                determinations, or take any other 
                                action, described in paragraph 
                                (5)(C).''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by adding at the 
                        end the following:
                            ``(iv) Limitation on expenditures for 
                        subsidized employment.--An expenditure for 
                        subsidized employment shall be taken into 
                        account under clause (ii) only if the 
                        expenditure is used to subsidize employment 
                        for--
                                    ``(I) a member of a needy family 
                                (without regard to whether the family 
                                is receiving assistance under the State 
                                program funded under this part); or
                                    ``(II) an individual who has 
                                exhausted (or, within 60 days, will 
                                exhaust) all rights to receive 
                                unemployment compensation under Federal 
                                and State law, and who is a member of a 
                                needy family.'';
                    (E) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(5) Limitations on payments; adjustment authority.--
                    ``(A) Fiscal years 2009 and 2010.--The total amount 
                payable to a single State under subsection (b) and this 
                subsection for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 combined 
                shall not exceed 50 percent of the annual State family 
                assistance grant.
                    ``(B) Fiscal year 2011.--Subject to subparagraph 
                (C), the total amount payable to a single State under 
                subsection (b) and this subsection for the first 
                quarter of fiscal year 2011 shall not exceed 5 percent 
                of the annual State family assistance grant.
                    ``(C) Adjustment authority.--If the Secretary 
                determines that the Emergency Fund is at risk of being 
                depleted before December 31, 2010, or that funds are 
                available to accommodate additional State requests 
                under this subsection, the Secretary may, through 
                program instructions issued without regard to the 
                requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States 
                Code--
                            ``(i) specify priority criteria for 
                        awarding grants to States during the first 
                        quarter of fiscal year 2011; and
                            ``(ii) adjust the percentage limitation 
                        applicable under subparagraph (B) with respect 
                        to the total amount payable to a single State 
                        for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011.''; 
                        and
                    (F) in paragraph (6), by inserting ``or for 
                expenditures described in paragraph (3)(C)(iv)'' before 
                the period.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 2101 of division B of 
        the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 
        111-5) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(2)--
                            (i) by striking ``October 1, 2010'' and 
                        inserting ``January 1, 2011''; and
                            (ii) by striking all that follows 
                        ``repealed'' and inserting a period; and
                    (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``October 1, 
                2010'' and inserting ``January 1, 2011''.
    (b) Modification of Grant Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Effective October 1, 2010, section 403(c) 
        of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(c)), as amended by 
        subsection (a), is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(A)--
                            (i) by striking ``related to caseload 
                        increases'' in the heading and inserting 
                        ``related to increased expenditures'';
                            (ii) by striking clause (ii) and 
                        redesignating clause (iii) as clause (ii); and
                            (iii) by striking ``each State that'' and 
                        all that follows in clause (i) and inserting 
                        ``each State that requests a grant under this 
                        subparagraph for the quarter, to the extent 
                        provided in clause (ii)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``the caseload of 
                a State and''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (9)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 
                        redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as 
                        subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; and
                            (ii) by striking ``The average monthly 
                        assistance caseload of the State.'' in clause 
                        (ii)(I) and inserting ``The average quarterly 
                        total expenditures of the State for basic 
                        assistance (as defined by the Secretary under 
                        paragraph (3)(A)(ii)).''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Effective October 1, 2010, 
        section 407(b)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        607(b)(3)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``(within the meaning of section 
                403(c)(9))'' in subparagraph (A)(i); and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Average monthly assistance caseload.--For 
                purposes of this paragraph, the term `average monthly 
                assistance caseload' means, with respect to a State and 
                a quarter, the number of families receiving assistance 
                during the quarter under the State program funded under 
                this part or as qualified State expenditures, subject 
                to adjustment by the Secretary as permitted by section 
                403(c)(4).''.
    (c) Program Guidance.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall issue program guidance, without regard to the requirements of 
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, which ensures that the 
funds provided under the amendments made by this section to a 
jurisdiction for subsidized employment do not support any subsidized 
employment position the annual salary of which is greater than, at 
State option--
            (1) 200 percent of the poverty line (within the meaning of 
        section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 
        1981, including any revision required by such section 673(2)) 
        for a family of 4; or
            (2) the median wage in the jurisdiction.

SEC. 3. FUNDING LEVEL OF TANF CONTINGENCY FUND.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the total amount 
appropriated for the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs 
established under section 403(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
603(b)) shall be--
            (1) for fiscal year 2012, $112,000,000; and
            (2) for fiscal year 2013, $612,000,000.
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