6478-S2 AMH SENN H5406.1
2SSB 6478 - H AMD 2133
By Representative Senn
ADOPTED 03/06/2020
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
Sec. 1. "RCW 74.08A.010 and 2019 c 343 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A family that includes an adult who has received temporary assistance for needy families for sixty months after July 27, 1997, shall be ineligible for further temporary assistance for needy families assistance.
(2) For the purposes of applying the rules of this section, the department shall count any month in which an adult family member received a temporary assistance for needy families cash assistance grant unless the assistance was provided when the adult family member was a minor child and not the head of the household or married to the head of the household.
(3) The department shall adopt regulations to apply the sixty-month time limit to households in which a parent is in the home and ineligible for temporary assistance for needy families. Any regulations shall be consistent with federal funding requirements.
(4) The department shall refer recipients who require specialized assistance to appropriate department programs, crime victims' programs through the department of commerce, or the crime victims' compensation program of the department of labor and industries.
(5)(a) The department shall add to adopted rules related to temporary assistance for needy families time limit extensions, the following criteria by which the department shall exempt a recipient and the recipient's family from the application of subsection (1) of this section:
(i) By reason of hardship, including ((if the recipient is a homeless person as described in RCW 43.185C.010))when:
(A) The recipient's family includes a child or youth who is without a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence as described in the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act (Title 42 U.S.C., chapter 119, subchapter VI, part B) as it existed on January 1, 2020; or
(B) The recipient is in need of mental health or substance use disorder treatment; or
(ii) If the family includes an individual who meets the family violence options of section 402(A)(7) of Title IVA of the federal social security act as amended by P.L. 104-193.
(b) Policies related to circumstances under which a recipient will be exempted from the application of subsection (1) or (3) of this section shall treat adults receiving benefits on their own behalf, and parents receiving benefits on behalf of their child similarly, unless required otherwise under federal law.
(6) The department shall not exempt a recipient and his or her family from the application of subsection (1) or (3) of this section until after the recipient has received fifty-two months of assistance under this chapter.
(7) The department shall provide transitional food assistance for a period of five months to a household that ceases to receive temporary assistance for needy families assistance and is not in sanction status. If necessary, the department shall extend the household's basic food certification until the end of the transition period.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
(1) Annually by December 31st, the department must report to the governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature disaggregated data identifying the race of individuals whose temporary assistance for needy families benefits were reduced or terminated during the preceding year due to:
(a) Sanction as described in RCW 74.08A.260; or
(b) Reaching the sixty-month time limit under RCW 74.08A.010.
(2) If the disaggregated data for terminated or sanctioned individuals shows a disproportionate representation of any racial group that has experienced historic disparities or discrimination, the department must describe steps it is taking to address and remedy the racial disproportionality.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3. Section 1 of this act takes effect July 1, 2021."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Removes the provision requiring the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to reduce a family's grant after two months, and to terminate a family's grant after 12 months of continuous noncompliance.
Adds criteria by which DSHS must exempt a recipient from the 60-month lifetime limit for benefits and removes the existing definition of "homeless person" as it relates to time limit extensions.
Requires DSHS to report disaggregated data identifying the race of individuals whose benefits were reduced or terminated during the preceding year due to sanction or reaching the 60-month limit and describe steps the Department is taking to address and remedy any racial disproportionality.
Removes the effective date of May 1, 2021, for the Act and adds an effective date of July 1, 2021, for time limit extension policy changes.
Removes the provision specifying the Act applies prospectively only.
Removes the null and void clause.
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