104th Congress > Senate > Vote 818
Clerk session vote number: 205
Description: To ensure needy children receive non-cash assistance to provide for basic needs until the Federal 5-year time limit applies.
Bill summary: TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: Agriculture and Related Provisions
Subtitle A: Food Stamps and Commodity Distribution
Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Programs
Title II: Committee on Finance
Subtitle A: Welfare Reform
Subtitle B: Restructuring Medicaid
Personal Responsibility, Work Opportunity, and Medicaide Restructuring Act of 1996 -
Title I: Agriculture and Related Provisions
- Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 1996 -
Subtitle A: Food Stamps and Commodity Disposition
- Amends the Food Stamp
(...show more)
Act of 1977 (Act) to establish a maximum 24-month food stamp program (program) authorization period for households whose adult members are elderly or disabled.
(Sec. 1112) Expands the definition of "coupon."
(Sec. 1113) Treats children who are themselves parents living with their children and married children living with their spouses as part of an existing household rather than as a separate household.
(Sec. 1114) Revises thrifty food plan adjustment requirements.
(Sec. 1115) Revises the definition of "homeless individual" to limit the length of time a person may temporarily live in another person's residence.
(Sec. 1117) Revises household income exclusion provisions regarding: (1) students; and (2) Federal energy assistance.
(Sec. 1119) Revises household income deduction provisions regarding: (1) standard deductions; (2) earned income; (3) dependent care; (4) child support payments; (5) homeless shelter assistance; (6) excess medical expenses; and (7) excess shelter expenses.
(Sec. 1120) Eliminates specified excludable auto value increases and establishes the maximum excludable auto value at $4600.
(Sec. 1121) Includes as household income third party payments for transitional housing for the homeless.
(Sec. 1122) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to develop a simplified procedure for calculating self-employment income.
(Sec. 1123) Increases penalties for certain program violations.
(Sec. 1124) Disqualifies permanently an individual convicted of specified coupon violations.
(Sec. 1125) Revises work requirement and employment and training provisions. Extends employment and training funding authorizations.
(Sec. 1129) Authorizes comparable program disqualification based upon means-tested public assistance disqualification.
(Sec. 1130) Disqualifies for ten years an individual who participates in the program in two or more States.
(Sec. 1131) Disqualifies a fleeing felon from program participation.
(Sec. 1132) Requires at State option: (1) cooperation with child support agencies in order to maintain program eligibility; and (2) program disqualification for child support arrears.
(Sec. 1134) Defines "work program." Makes nonexempt persons ineligible for program benefits if during the preceding 12-month period they received food stamps for four months or more without working at least 20 hours per week, or participating in a workfare program. Sets forth exempted persons and situations.
(Sec. 1135) Directs States to implement electronic benefit transfer systems.
(Sec. 1136) Eliminates annual minimum allotment adjustments.
(Sec. 1138) Authorizes a combined allotment for expedited households.
(Sec. 1139) Authorizes program reductions for failure to comply with a means-tested public assistance reduction requirement.
(Sec. 1140) Authorizes program assistance for households residing in a homeless shelter or drug or alcohol treatment center.
(Sec. 1141) Provides that no food store or wholesale food concern be approved for program participation without a prior visit by a Department of Agriculture employee, or a designated State or local official.
(Sec. 1142) Directs the Secretary to establish authorization periods for retail food stores and wholesale food concerns to redeem food stamps or benefits through an electronic benefit transfer system.
(Sec. 1143) Includes income and sales tax information among the types of eligibility verification information that may be requested.
(Sec. 1144) Establishes a six-month reapplication waiting period for a store that does not meet participation requirements.
(Sec. 1145) Revises: (1) food stamp office operating provisions; and (2) expedited coupon service requirements.
(Sec. 1146) Eliminates certain certification personnel training requirements.
(Sec. 1147) Provides for the exchange of information with law enforcement or Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel.
(Sec. 1149) Authorizes a family to withdraw a fair hearing request.
(Sec. 1150) Permits States to use income, and immigration eligibility verification systems other than a specified system under the Social Security Act.
(Sec. 1151) Provides for disqualification of a store: (1) that knowingly submits a falsified application; and (2) that is disqualified from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
(Sec. 1153) Directs program overissuances to be collected by: (1) allotment reduction; (2) unemployment compensation withholding; or (3) Federal pay or Federal income tax refund recovery.
(Sec. 1154) Authorizes suspension of a store pending administrative and judicial review. (States that the Secretary shall not be liable for lost sales during such period.)
(Sec. 1155) Establishes criminal forfeiture penalties for specified program violations.
(Sec. 1156) Terminates Federal matching requirements for program recruitment activities.
(Sec. 1158) Authorizes States to use funds otherwise available to a participating household for a work supplementation or support program. Sets forth program provisions.
(Sec. 1159) Authorizes waiver of program requirements as necessary to conduct related pilot projects. Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 1161) Authorizes States to carry out private sector employment initiatives. Sets forth program provisions.
(Sec. 1162) Authorizes appropriations for program operations.
(Sec. 1163) Authorizes States to carry out a Simplified Food Stamp Program in lieu of existing program requirements. Sets forth program provisions.
(Sec. 1164) Establishes an optional State food assistance block grant program in lieu of the food stamp program. Sets forth program provisions.
Chapter 2: Commodity Distribution Programs
- Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to combine the emergency food assistance program with the soup kitchen-food bank program. Amends the Act to direct the Secretary to purchase commodities for such combined programs.
(Sec. 1172) Amends the Charitable Assistance and Food Bank Act of 1987 to repeal the food bank demonstration project.
(Sec. 1173) Makes conforming and technical amendments to the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990.
Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Programs
- Amends the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to repeal specified authorities and requirements for the school lunch and related programs, including: (1) State educational authority to use resources from the nutrition and education (NET) program; (2) prohibition of State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; (3) certain demonstration grants to private nonprofit organizations or educational institutions for elementary school curriculum food and nutrition projects; (4) aspects of summer food service programs, reducing payment rates and daily meals at camps, reducing the National Youth Sports Program, and revising nutritional standards compliance requirements; (5) certain commodity distribution program requirements, including State Advisory Councils; (6) expansion of the child care food program; (7) adult care food aid to adult day care centers and services for persons over 60; and (8) certain pilot projects, including one for paperwork reduction.
(Sec. 1201) Includes in the definition of child any individual with one or more mental or physical disabilities, regardless of age, who attends a specified type of institution, or any nonresidential public or nonprofit private school of high school grade or under, in order to participate in a school program for such individuals.
(Sec. 1202) Revises nutritional requirements.
(Sec. 1205) Prohibits, in general, any waiver that will increase Federal costs.
Requires that assistance or benefits under programs under the following Federal laws (relating to school meals and other nutrition programs) not be contingent on the citizenship or immigration status of any applicant or recipient: (1) the NSLA; (2) the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; (3) specified provisions of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973; (4) the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983; and (5) the food distribution program on Indian reservations established under specified provisions of Federal law.
Chapter 2: Amendments to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966
- Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to revise the school breakfast program: (1) eliminating Federal assistance for food preparation training and program expansion and start-up costs; (2) repealing certain authorities and requirements relating to State administrative expenses (SAE); (3) repealing the prohibition against State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; and (4) repealing the program of cash grants for nutrition education.
(Sec. 1259) Revises the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC), among other things repealing specified requirements and changing from mandatory to optional: (1) drug abuse education; and (2) provision of WIC information in languages other than English.
(Sec. 1261) Revises provisions relating to the Nutrition and Education program. Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 1262) Sets forth rounding rules for specified rates for special milk price and reduced price breakfast programs under CNA, and for commodity and lunch, breakfast, and supplement programs under NSLA.
Title II: Committee on Finance - Subtitle A: Welfare Reform
- Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that prevention of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and reduction in out-of-wedlock births are important Government interests.
(Sec. 2103) Replaces the current Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) with a single program of block grants to the States for operating statewide temporary assistance (TEA) programs with certain mandatory work, education, and job preparation requirements for needy families either already with or expecting a child, which are designed to assist such families in becoming self-sufficient.
Limits such families generally to no more than five years of TEA cash assistance, with certain exceptions for minor children, battered family members, and hardship situations. Requires that families include either a minor child who resides with a custodial parent or other adult caretaker relative, or a pregnant individual, in order to receive TEA assistance. Prohibits additional cash TEA assistance for children born into families already on TEA assistance, with certain exceptions for children born into families with no other children, and for children born as a result of rape or incest, unless the particular State exempts itself from such prohibition. Denies TEA assistance in cases where an individual family member is a fugitive felon or a probation or parole violator, and in certain other specified situations as well. Requires States receiving TEA grants to ensure that certain other families becoming TEA-ineligible due to increased earnings from employment or collection of child support receive similar medical assistance during the immediately succeeding 12-month period, with certain exceptions. Requires, in addition, certain adult-supervised living arrangements for unmarried teenage parents.
Provides for the exchange of certain TEA program information with law enforcement agencies under specified conditions.
Establishes penalties for States and individual families for specified grant and program violations, respectively, through reduced grants and assistance payments, allowing States to terminate such payments to certain adult family members without small children needing child care who refuse to: (1) engage in work, educational, or job preparation activities (required program activities); or (2) cooperate with the State in establishing paternity or obtaining child support unless the member qualifies for a good cause or other exception. Provides for a separate reduction in State family assistance grant payments for States failing to comply with Federal requirements pertaining to paternity establishment and child support enforcement.
Sets forth the mechanism for State appeal of Federal adverse decisions with respect to State plans or imposition of penalties, providing for advance notification of any program violation and the opportunity for a State to correct it before any such penalty is imposed. Limits the amount of any penalty reduction in the State's quarterly family assistance grant payment.
Expresses the sense of the Congress that State TEA programs should: (1) assign the highest priority to requiring adults in two-parent families and in single-parent families with older preschool or school-age children to be engaged in required program activities; and (2) require noncustodial, nonsupporting parents under age 18 to fulfill community work obligations and attend appropriate parenting or money management classes after school.
Specifies State TEA plan contents, including provisions for numerical goals for reducing illegitimacy in the State over a specified ten-year period beginning in 1996, and certain certifications by the State that it will operate child support enforcement and protection programs, in order for it to be eligible (according to certain other criteria as well) to receive Federal grants for its TEA programs (family assistance grants). Allows the States to decide in their TEA plans: (1) whether or not they intend on providing TEA assistance to aliens; and (2) how to treat families moving interstate.
Provides for: (1) the allowable uses of quarterly family assistance grants for family planning services and assistance to low- income households in meeting home heating and cooling costs, but denies their use for medical services generally; (2) additional grants to States as rewards for reductions in illegitimate births and for high performance under the TEA program, as well as supplemental grants to certain States for population increases; and (3) a Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs (Contingency Fund) in the Treasury for payments to certain eligible States.
Makes appropriations for such grants and the Contingency Fund.
Sets up a Federal loan program for State TEA programs for anti-fraud and other specified activities, making necessary appropriations.
Outlines specific program data collection and reporting requirements, as well as certain research, evaluation, and study requirements. Makes applicable appropriations.
Provides for direct funding, by way of three-year tribal family assistance grants, to Indian tribes with approved tribal family assistance plans (with a special rule for Indian tribes in Alaska).
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement and evaluate demonstrations of innovative and promising strategies which: (1) provide one-time capital funds to establish, expand, or replicate programs; (2) test performance-based grant-to- loan financing in which programs meeting performance targets receive grants while programs not meeting such targets repay funding on a prorated basis; and (3) test strategies in multiple States and types of communities.
Directs the Bureau of the Census to expand the Survey of Income and Program Participation to obtain information that will enable interested persons to evaluate the impact of the changes made by this title on a random national sample of State program recipients.
Provides for the treatment of State AFDC waivers in effect on the date of enactment of this Act and of those granted subsequently.
Makes the Assistant Secretary of HHS for Family Support the official responsible for administering SSA title IV parts A and D programs, and requires the Secretary to reduce, through reductions in force if necessary, the Federal workforce within HHS by a specified amount.
Eliminates certain child care programs under SSA title IV part A, including the at-risk child care program.
(Sec. 2104) Allows States to contract with charitable, religious, and private organizations to provide services and administer programs established or modified under titles I, II, and VI of this Act. Prohibits the expenditure of financial assistance under such programs for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytization.
(Sec. 2105) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to expand census data collection efforts to enable the Bureau of the Census to collect statistically significant data on grandparent caregivers.
(Sec. 2106) Requires an HHS report to the Congress on State automated data processing systems used in administering SSA title IV part A programs to determine what would be required to establish a system for tracking public program participants and checking case records to determine if such participants are participating in public programs of two or more States.
(Sec. 2107) Details requirements for a similar report, and study, on alternative outcomes measures for evaluating the success of the States in moving individuals off welfare through employment.
(Sec. 2108) Establishes the Welfare Formula Fairness Commission to study and report to the Congress on the funding formulas applied, the bonus payments provided, and the work requirements established, under the TEA program. Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 2109) Makes conforming amendments to SSA, the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and related provisions of other specified Federal laws.
(Sec. 2112) Directs the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner) to: (1) develop a prototype counterfeit-resistant social security card; and (2) study and issue a report to the Congress with regard to improving the social security card application process.
(Sec. 2113) Requires any organization accepting Federal funds under this subtitle to disclose that fact in any communication it makes that in any way intends to promote public support or opposition to any Federal, State, or local government policy through any broadcasting station, periodical, or other specified type of general public advertising. Makes any organization failing to make such a disclosure ineligible to receive Federal funds under this Act.
(Sec. 2114) Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to remove the "demonstration" status of the Job Opportunities for Certain Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) program and give it an increased annual authorization for any fiscal year.
(Sec. 2201) Amends SSA title XVI to deny Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSI) for ten years to individuals found to have fraudulently misrepresented residence in order to obtain benefits simultaneously in two or more States. Denies SSI for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators. Provides for the exchange of certain SSI information with law enforcement agencies under specified conditions.
(Sec. 2203) Revises the treatment afforded prisoners with regard to SSI benefits to deny SSI benefits for ten years to a person found to have fraudulently obtained SSI benefits while in prison. Authorizes the Commissioner to: (1) contract with any interested State or local institutions used to confine prisoners for monthly reports of certain identifying information in order to enforce SSI and Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefit limitations; and (2) pay such institution a specified fee with regard to each SSI- or OASDI-eligible inmate identified who becomes ineligible for such benefit as a result of such reporting.
Requires the Commissioner to study and report to the Congress on other specified potential improvements in the collection of information respecting public inmates.
(Sec. 2204) Makes certain changes respecting the effective date of applications for SSI benefits.
(Sec. 2211) Revises the rules with respect to childhood eligibility, with corresponding changes to childhood SSI regulations modifying the medical criteria for evaluation of mental and emotional disorders, and discontinuing the use of individualized functional assessments for children. Modifies medical improvement review standards, specifically dividing their applicability to, and creating separate criteria for, individuals aged 18 or older, and individuals under age 18, respectively.
Requires the Commissioner annually to issue a request for comments in the Federal Register regarding improvements to the disability evaluation and determination procedures for individuals under age 18 to ensure their comprehensive assessment.
Provides that once an eligible child meets the definition of disability, the amount of the individual's cash benefit will be based on whether or not the child meets criteria for needing personal assistance enabling the child to stay at home with his or her family.
Authorizes additional appropriations for continuing disability reviews and redeterminations under SSA title XVI.
(Sec. 2212) Provides that at least once every three years the Commissioner shall review the continued SSI eligibility of each individual who has not attained age 18 and is eligible for such benefits by reason of an impairment (or combination of impairments) which is likely to improve (or, at the Commissioner's option, is unlikely to improve).
Requires a representative payee of a recipient whose case is so reviewed to present, at the time of review, evidence that the recipient is, and has been, receiving treatment, to the extent considered medically necessary and available, for the condition which was the basis for providing SSI benefits. Provides that, if the representative payee refuses without good cause to comply with such requirement, the Commissioner shall (if in the individual's best interest) promptly suspend payment of benefits to the representative payee, and provide for their payment to an alternative representative payee, or, if the interest of the individual would be served thereby, to the individual.
Provides that, if an individual is eligible for SSI benefits by reason of disability for the month preceding the month in which the individual attains age 18, the Commissioner shall redetermine such eligibility: (1) during the one-year period beginning on the individual's 18th birthday; and (2) by applying the criteria used to determine the initial eligibility of applicants who have attained age 18. Specifies requirements governing continuing disability reviews for low-birth-weight babies.
(Sec. 2213) Requires representative payees of eligible individuals under age 18 to establish financial institution accounts on their behalf into which SSI payments shall be paid. Allows representative payees to use account funds to pay for certain allowable expenses. Directs the Commissioner to establish a system for accountability monitoring whereby a representative payee shall report on activities involving account funds.
(Sec. 2214) Reduces cash SSI payments to institutionalized children whose medical costs are covered by private insurance.
(Sec. 2221) Provides for installment payment of large amounts of past-due SSI benefits.
(Sec. 2225) Repeals maintenance of effort requirements applicable to optional State programs for supplementation of SSI benefits.
(Sec. 2231) Requires the Commissioner to report annually to the President and the Congress on the SSI program.
(Sec. 2232) Outlines the requirements for a study and report by the General Accounting Office on the impact of these amendments on the SSI program and on the extra expenses incurred by families of children receiving SSI benefits that are not covered by other Federal, State, or local programs.
(Sec. 2301) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to require State plans for child and spousal support to provide: (1) certain services relating to paternity establishment or enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) continuation of services for families ceasing to receive TEA assistance.
(Sec. 2302) Revises payment distribution guidelines for support obligations collected by the State on behalf of a family.
(Sec. 2303) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) privacy safeguards for paternity and child support actions; and (2) notification to services applicants or recipients of all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations.
(Sec. 2311) Mandates that single statewide automated data systems include a State case registry containing records of: (1) each case in which services are provided by the State agency; and (2) each support order established on or after a specified date. Permits the linking of local registries.
(Sec. 2312) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. Permits the unit to be established by linking local disbursement units through an automated information network if the Secretary agrees that it will not cost more or take more time to establish or operate than a centralized system.
(Sec. 2313) Requires State plans to: (1) provide for a State-operated and automated State Directory of New Hires containing prescribed information furnished by employers on new personnel; and (2) transmit such information to the National Directory of New Hires.
(Sec. 2314) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which wages of a person with a support obligation imposed by a child support order issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement.
(Sec. 2315) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to ensure that Federal and State agencies conducting income-withholding activities have access to State locator systems for motor vehicle or law enforcement purposes.
(Sec. 2316) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to provide for additional information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of: (1) establishing parentage; (2) establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations; and (3) enforcing child custody or visitation orders.
Directs the HHS Secretary to establish in the Federal Parent Locator Service an automated Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders and an automated National Directory of New Hires.
Requires the Secretaries of Labor and of HHS to jointly develop cost-effective methods of accessing information in the various State directories of new hires and the National Directory of New Hires, taking into account impact and cost to the States, and the need to insure authorized use of wage record information.
(Sec. 2317) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring recordation on such documents of the Social Security number of: (1) specified driver's, marriage, and occupational, and professional license applicants; (2) individuals subject to certain domestic relations orders; and (3) deceased persons (on death records).
(Sec. 2321) Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1998. Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for the court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders.
(Sec. 2323) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring: (1) expedited administrative enforcement in interstate cases and support orders; and (2) expedited administrative and judicial procedures for establishing paternity and enforcing support obligations.
(Sec. 2331) Revises the guidelines for State laws governing paternity establishment. Requires State procedures under which the name of the father shall be included on the birth certificate only: (1) if the mother and father have signed a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity; or (2) pursuant to a judicial or administrative order.
(Sec. 2333) Requires State plans for child and spousal support to provide that the State agency administering the plan will make a determination as to whether a program recipient is cooperating in good faith with State efforts to establish paternity and secure support.
(Sec. 2341) Directs the Secretary to develop a new incentive system to replace the current one. Revises the guidelines for Federal performance-based incentive payments to the States for effective child support enforcement programs.
(Sec. 2342) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location.
(Sec. 2344) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks.
(Sec. 2345) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service.
(Sec. 2351) Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders.
(Sec. 2352) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to authorize a consumer agency to furnish a consumer report: (1) in response to a request by a governmental child support enforcement agency; or (2) to the State administrative agency which sets child support awards.
(Sec. 2353) Shields a depository institution from Federal or State liability for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency. Prohibits such agency from disclosing such a financial record except for the purpose of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation. Sets forth civil penalties for any person knowingly or negligently violating such prohibition.
(Sec. 2361) Amends Internal Revenue Code procedural guidelines for the collection of arrearages to provide that no additional fee may be assessed for adjustments to a previously certified amount.
(Sec. 2362) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed Forces.
(Sec. 2364) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to have in effect the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act of 1981, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act of 1984, or a similar law, as well as certain procedures governing the voiding of fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor.
(Sec. 2365) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include specified procedures: (1) to ensure that persons owing past-due support work or participate in work activities the court deems appropriate; (2) to report to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (3) to provide for liens against real and personal property for the support arrearages of an absent parent; and (4) to implement the restriction of driver's, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses of individuals owing support arrearages.
(Sec. 2370) Requires the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, or limit a passport upon certification of nonpayment of child support.
(Sec. 2371) Authorizes the Secretary of State to negotiate reciprocal agreements with foreign nations: (1) regarding international enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) designating the Department of HHS as the central authority for such enforcement.
(Sec. 2372) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which a State agency shall enter agreements with financial institutions doing business within the State to develop and operate a data match system to provide identifying information for each absent parent targeted by the State who maintains an account at the institution, and to encumber or surrender it.
(Sec. 2373) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which child support orders relating to the child of minor parents, where the custodial parents are receiving assistance, are enforceable against the child's paternal or maternal grandparents.
(Sec. 2374) Amends Federal bankruptcy law and the Social Security Act to declare a debt for child support nondischargeable in bankruptcy.
(Sec. 2376) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process.
(Sec. 2377) Amends part D of SSA title IV to mandate statutorily prescribed procedures under which all enforced child support orders shall include a provision for the health care coverage of the child.
(Sec. 2381) Amends part D of SSA title IV to prescribe guidelines under which the Administration for Children and Families shall make grants to enable States to establish and administer access and visitation programs to facilitate absent parents' access to their children.
(Sec. 2400) Declares that: (1) it is a compelling government interest to enact new rules for eligibility and sponsorship agreements in order to assure that aliens be self-reliant in accordance with national immigration policy; and (2) it is a compelling government interest to remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits.
(Sec. 2401) Prohibits Federal public benefits (as defined by this Act) to aliens who are not qualified aliens (as defined by this Act). Stipulates that such prohibition shall not apply to: (1) emergency medical services; (2) certain emergency disaster relief; (3) public health immunizations and treatment of communicable diseases; (4) housing assistance; (5) certain in-kind community services; and (6) Social Security Act benefits under specified circumstances.
(Sec. 2402) Makes qualified aliens ineligible (with limited exceptions for refugees, asylees, certain permanent residents, veterans and active duty personnel, aliens whose deportation is withheld, and aliens currently receiving benefits) for: (1) supplemental security income (SSI); (2) food stamps; (3) temporary assistance for needy families; (4) social services block grants; and (5) Medicaid.
(Sec. 2403) Makes qualified aliens ineligible (with limited exceptions for refugees, asylees, and veterans and active duty personnel) for Federal means-tested public benefits (as defined by this Act) for the first five years after U.S. entry.
(Sec. 2404) Requires each Federal agency administering a program covered by this title to post information and provide general notification to the public and program recipients, either directly or through the States, of the requirements concerning alien eligibility for any such program pursuant to this title.
Amends the Social Security Act and the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide for State reporting of certain illegal alien information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
(Sec. 2411) Makes an alien who is not a qualified alien, a nonimmigrant, or a parolee ineligible for State or local benefits (as defined by this Act). Stipulates that such prohibition shall not apply to: (1) emergency medical services; (2) certain emergency disaster relief; (3) public health immunizations and treatment of communicable diseases; and (4) certain in-kind community services.
(Sec. 2412) Authorizes States to determine eligibility for State public benefits for qualified aliens, nonimmigrants, or parolees. States that refugees, asylees, certain permanent residents, and veterans and active duty personnel shall be eligible for all State public benefits. Sets forth transition provisions for aliens currently receiving benefits.
(Sec. 2421) Provides that in determining the eligibility and the amount of benefits of an alien for any Federal means-tested public benefits program the income and resources of the alien shall be deemed to include: (1) the income and resources of any person who executed an affidavit of support on the alien's behalf; and (2) the income and resources of the person's spouse (if any). Applies such requirement with respect to an alien until such time as the alien achieves U.S. citizenship through naturalization or has worked without public assistance for a specified time.
(Sec. 2422) Authorizes States to make similar attributions with respect to State programs (with specified exceptions).
(Sec. 2423) Sets forth requirements for sponsor's affidavit of support.
(Sec. 2424) Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require sponsor cosignature of certain alien student loans.
(Sec. 2431) Defines qualified alien to be: (1) a lawful permanent resident; (2) an asylee; (3) a refugee; (4) a parolee; (5) an alien under withheld deportation; and (6) an alien granted conditional entry.
(Sec. 2432) Requires the Attorney General to promulgate regulations regarding alien eligibility for Federal public benefits. Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 2441) Makes conforming amendments related to assisted housing under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 and the Housing Act of 1949.
(Sec. 2451) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require a taxpayer to provide his or her social security number in order to qualify for the earned income credit.
(Sec. 2501) Requires the Secretaries of Agriculture, Education, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services to make specified departmental personnel reductions. Encourages the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reduce personnel in Washington, D.C. before reducing field personnel.
(Sec. 2601) Prohibits: (1) a family from receiving an increased benefit under a Federal, State, or local welfare or public assistance program due to noncompliance-reduced income under such program; and (2) an individual from receiving an increased benefit under a means-tested welfare or public assistance program due to fraud-reduced income under another such program.
(Sec. 2701) Amends SSA title IV to provide for enhanced funding for the implementation of Statewide automated child welfare information systems.
Child Care and Development Block Grant Amendments Act of 1996 - Revises and extends through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Sets forth goals for State child care assistance.
(Sec. 2803) Amends Part A of title IV (AFDC) of the Social Security Act to entitle each State to payments for providing child care assistance.
(Sec. 2804) Authorizes the State lead agency to administer the financial assistance it receives through other governmental or nongovernmental agencies.
(Sec. 2805) Revises State application and plan requirements with respect to consumer education information, State licensing compliance, meeting the needs of AFDC or TEA recipients (especially those attempting through work activities to leave the assistance program) and those at risk of becoming dependent on assistance, and assistance for certain low-income working families.
(Sec. 2807) Reduces from 20 percent to three percent the minimum amount of certain funds available for State activities to improve the quality of child care, limited to: (1) comprehensive consumer education to parents and the public; (2) activities increasing parental choice; and (3) activities designed to improve child care quality and availability.
(Sec. 2808) Repeals a requirement that States expend a specified minimum amount of reserved funds for early childhood development and before- and after-school services.
(Sec. 2813) Reduces the allotment reserved for Indian tribes or tribal organizations from three percent to one percent. Prescribes guidelines for the use of such allotment for facility repair and construction.
(Sec. 2815) Repeals: (1) the Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985; (2) the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act; (3) specified programs under title X (Programs of National Significance) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (4) the Native Hawaiian Family-based Education Centers program under the Native Hawaiian Education Act.
(Sec. 2901) Subjects any funds received by a State under TEA block grants under part A of SSA title IV, optional State food assistance block grant under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and block grants for child care under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to appropriation by the State legislature, consistent with the terms and conditions required under such provisions of law.
(Sec. 2902) Provides that States shall not be prohibited by the Federal Government from testing welfare recipients for use of controlled substances nor from sanctioning welfare recipients who test positive for use of controlled substances.
(Sec. 2903) Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to provide for a reduction in funding for such block grants.
(Sec. 2904) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to eliminate housing assistance for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators.
Provides for the exchange under such Act of certain information with law enforcement agencies under specified conditions.
(Sec. 2905) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the Congress should adopt enterprise zone legislation in the 104th Congress; and (2) such legislation should provide various specified incentives and provisions, including regulatory reforms that allow localities to petition Federal agencies for waivers or modifications of regulations to improve job creation, small business formation and expansion, community development, or economic revitalization objectives.
(Sec. 2906) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) States should diligently continue their efforts to enforce child support payments by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent, regardless of employment status or location of the non-custodial parent; (2) States are encouraged to pursue pilot programs in which the parents of a non-adult, non-custodial parent who refuses or is unable to pay child support must pay or contribute to the child support owed by such non-custodial parent or otherwise fulfill all financial obligations and meet all conditions imposed on such parent, such as participation in a work program or other related activity; and (3) States and local jurisdictions should aggressively enforce statutory rape laws.
(Sec. 2907) Directs the HHS Secretary to establish and implement a strategy for: (1) preventing out-of-wedlock teenage pregnancies; and (2) assuring that at least 25 percent of the communities in the United States have teenage pregnancy prevention programs in place. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on progress in meeting such goals.
(Sec. 2909) Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to provide for an increase in funding under such title and authorize provision of abstinence education along with a separate funding set-aside for it.
(Sec. 2910) Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to make certain amendments in order to encourage electronic benefit transfer systems for the distribution of needs-tested benefits by a government agency.
(Sec. 2911) Amends Internal Revenue Code rules relating to denial of earned income credit for individuals having excessive investment income to: (1) provide for a reduction in the disqualified income threshold; (2) revise the adjustment for inflation; (3) modify the definitions of disqualified income and adjusted gross income for the earned income credit; and (4) suspend inflation adjustments for individuals with no qualifying children.
Subtitle B: Restructuring Medicaid
- Medicaid Restructuring Act of 1996 - Adds a new SSA title XV (Program of Medical Assistance for Low-Income Individuals and Families), whose purpose is to provide funds to States to enable them to provide medical assistance to low-income individuals and families in a more effective, efficient, and responsive manner.
(Sec. 2923) Outlines program components, including: (1) certain guaranteed benefits for select individuals, including certain poor pregnant women, disabled and poor elderly individuals, and children receiving foster care or adoption assistance; (2) guaranteed coverage of Medicare premiums and cost-sharing for certain Medicare beneficiaries; (3) parity for mental health services; (4) limitations on cost-sharing; (5) solvency standards for capitated health care organizations; (6) prevention of spousal and family impoverishment with regard to long-term care; (7) State flexibility in benefits, provider payments, geographical coverage area, and selection of providers, as well as with respect to managed care; (8) limitations on payments for Medicaid services to nonlawful aliens, generally allowing treatment only for emergency situations; (9) coverage of abortions only for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or when a woman suffers from a physical disorder, illness, or injury that would place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed; (10) denial of State Medicaid plan payment for any item or service furnished for euthanasia purposes; (11) periodic, independent evaluations of the operation of the State Medicaid plan and annual audits of State Medicaid expenditures; (12) a separate fraud prevention program, as well as State fraud control units; (13) an information reporting system for sanctions taken by State licensing authorities against health care practitioners and providers; (14) quality assurance requirements for nursing facilities, as well as requirements relating to residents' rights; and (15) an optional master drug rebate agreement program for covered outpatient drugs of a manufacturer.
(Sec. 2924) Terminates the current Medicaid program as of October 1, 1997.
Limits Medicaid payments in FY 1997.
(Sec. 2925) Directs the HHS Secretary to waive requirements of SSA titles XV and XVIII as necessary for States to conduct certain demonstration projects to use funds to develop and implement innovative programs for individuals dually eligible for benefits under both titles, including chronically ill individuals.
(Sec. 2926) Establishes the National Commission on Medicaid and State-Based Health Care Reform to study and make recommendations to the Congress, the President, and the HHS Secretary with respect to the program under SSA title XIX (or SSA title XV, if applicable). Authorizes appropriations.
Click to hide full description.
Bill titles: An original bill to provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 202(a) of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1997.
Links for more info on the vote: congress.gov
