Allows States to receive partial credit toward their work participation rate for recipients engaged in part-time work for an average of at least half the minimum average number of hours per week.
Removes from the work participation rate calculation for a entire year any TANF recipients who qualify for supplemental security income benefits under SSA title XVI.
Grants States the option to include recipients of substantial child care or transportation assistance in the work participation rate.
Repeals the separate work participation rate for two-parent families (thus lowering their rate to the one applied to one-parent families).
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4057 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4057
To replace the caseload reduction credit with an employment credit
under the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance
for needy families, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 20, 2002
Mr. Levin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To replace the caseload reduction credit with an employment credit
under the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance
for needy families, 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 ``Making Work Pay Act''.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Replacement of caseload reduction credit with employment
credit.
Sec. 4. States to receive partial credit toward work participation rate
for recipients engaged in part-time work.
Sec. 5. TANF recipients who qualify for supplemental security income
benefits removed from work participation
rate calculation for entire year.
Sec. 6. State option to include recipients of substantial child care or
transportation assistance in work
participation rate.
Sec. 7. Elimination of separate work participation rate for 2-parent
families.
Sec. 8. Effective date.
SEC. 3. REPLACEMENT OF CASELOAD REDUCTION CREDIT WITH EMPLOYMENT
CREDIT.
(a) Employment Credit To Reward States in Which Families Leave
Welfare for Work; Additional Credit for Families With Higher
Earnings.--
(1) In general.--Section 407(a) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 607(a)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(3) Employment credit.--
``(A) In general.--The minimum participation rate
otherwise applicable to a State under this subsection
for a fiscal year shall be reduced by the number of
percentage points in the employment credit for the
State for the fiscal year, as determined by the
Secretary--
``(i) using information in the National
Directory of New Hires, or
``(ii) with respect to a recipient of
assistance under the State program funded under
this part who is placed with an employer whose
hiring information is not reported to the
National Directory of New Hires, using
quarterly wage information submitted by the
State to the Secretary not later than such date
as the Secretary shall prescribe in
regulations.
``(B) Calculation of credit.--
``(i) In general.--The employment credit
for a State for a fiscal year is an amount
equal to--
``(I) twice the average quarterly
number of families that ceased to
receive cash payments under the State
program funded under this part during
the preceding fiscal year and that were
employed during the calendar quarter
immediately succeeding the quarter in
which the payments ceased, plus, at
State option, twice the number of
families that received a non-recurring
short-term benefit under the State
program funded under this part during
the preceding fiscal year and that were employed in during the calendar
quarter immediately succeeding the quarter in which the non-recurring
short-term benefit was so received; divided by
``(II) the average monthly number
of families that include an adult who
received cash payments under the State
program funded under this part during
the preceding fiscal year, plus, if the
State elected the option under
subclause (I), twice the number of
families that received a non-recurring
short-term benefit under the State
program funded under this part during
the preceding fiscal year.
``(ii) Special rule for former recipients
with higher earnings.--In calculating the
employment credit for a State for a fiscal
year, a family that, during the preceding
fiscal year, earned at least 33 percent of the
average wage in the State (determined on the
basis of State unemployment data) shall be
considered to be 1.5 families.
``(C) Publication of amount of credit.--Not later
than August 30 of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall
cause to be published in the Federal Register the
amount of the employment credit that will be used in
determining the minimum participation rate applicable
to a State under this subsection for the immediately
succeeding fiscal year.''.
(2) Authority of secretary to use information in national
directory of new hires.--Section 453(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
653(i)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Calculation of employment credit for purposes of
determining state work participation rates under tanf.--The
Secretary may use the information in the National Directory of
New Hires for purposes of calculating State employment credits
pursuant to section 407(a)(3).''.
(b) Elimination of Caseload Reduction Credit.--Section 407(b) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 607(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and
redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4),
respectively.
SEC. 4. STATES TO RECEIVE PARTIAL CREDIT TOWARD WORK PARTICIPATION RATE
FOR RECIPIENTS ENGAGED IN PART-TIME WORK.
Section 407(c)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
607(c)(1)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the following flush
sentence:
``For purposes of subsection (b)(1)(B)(i), a family
that does not include a recipient who is participating
in work activities for an average of 30 hours per week
during a month but includes a recipient who is
participating in such activities during the month for
an average of at least 50 percent of the minimum
average number of hours per week specified for the
month in the table set forth in this subparagraph shall
be counted as a percentage of a family that includes an
adult or minor child head of household who is engaged
in work for the month, which percentage shall be the
number of hours for which the recipient participated in
such activities during the month divided by the number
of hours of such participation required of the
recipient under this section for the month.''.
SEC. 5. TANF RECIPIENTS WHO QUALIFY FOR SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME
BENEFITS REMOVED FROM WORK PARTICIPATION RATE CALCULATION
FOR ENTIRE YEAR.
Section 407(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
607(b)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended--
(1) in subclause (I), by inserting ``who has not become
eligible for supplemental security income benefits under title
XVI during the fiscal year'' before the semicolon; and
(2) in subclause (II), by inserting ``, and that do not
include an adult or minor child head of household who has
become eligible for supplemental security income benefits under
title XVI during the fiscal year'' before the period.
SEC. 6. STATE OPTION TO INCLUDE RECIPIENTS OF SUBSTANTIAL CHILD CARE OR
TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE IN WORK PARTICIPATION RATE.
(a) In General.--Section 407(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 607(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ``(including, at the option
of the State, a family that includes an adult who is receiving
substantial child care or transportation assistance, as defined by the
Secretary, in consultation with directors of State programs funded
under this part, which definition shall specify for each type of
assistance a threshold which is a dollar value or a length of time over
which the assistance is received, and take account of large one-time
transition payments, except any family taken into account under
paragraph (3)(B)(i)(I))'' before the colon.
(b) Data Collection and Reporting.--Section 411(a)(1)(A) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 611(a)(1)(A)) is amended in the matter preceding clause
(i) by inserting ``(including any family with respect to whom the State
has exercised its option under section 407(a)(1))'' after
``assistance''.
SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF SEPARATE WORK PARTICIPATION RATE FOR 2-PARENT
FAMILIES.
Section 407 (42 U.S.C. 607) of the Social Security Act is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``All families''
and inserting ``In general''; and
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating
paragraph (3) (as added by section 3(a)(1) of this Act)
as paragraph (2); and
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) by striking paragraph (2);
(B) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated by section
3(b) of this Act), by striking ``paragraphs (1)(B) and
(2)(B)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1)(B)'';
(C) in paragraph (4) (as so redesignated), by
striking ``rates'' and inserting ``rate''; and
(D) by redesignating such paragraphs (3) and (4)
(as so redesignated) as paragraphs (2) and (3),
respectively.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the
amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 2003.
(b) State Option To Phase-in Replacement of Caseload Reduction
Credit With Employment Credit and Delay Applicability of Other
Provisions.--A State may elect to have the amendments made by sections
3(b) and 4 through 6 of this Act not apply to the State program funded
under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act until October 1,
2004, and if the State makes the election, then, in determining the
participation rate of the State for purposes of sections 407 and
409(a)(3) of the Social Security Act for fiscal year 2004, the State
shall be credited with \1/2\ of the reduction in the rate that would
otherwise result from applying section 407(a)(2) of the Social Security
Act (as added by section 3(a)(1), and as so redesignated by section
7(1)(B), of this Act) to the State for fiscal year 2004 and \1/2\ of
the reduction in the rate that would otherwise result from applying
section 407(b)(3) of the Social Security Act to the State for fiscal
year 2004.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
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