1481-S2 AMH SOMM H2328.1

2SHB 1481 - H AMD WITHDRAWN 3/3/95 102

By Representatives Sommers, Grant, and Thibaudeau

     Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

                    "PART I - TIME LIMITS ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

     Sec. 101.  RCW 74.12.420 and 1994 c 299 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

     The legislature recognizes that long-term recipients of aid to families with dependent children may require a period of several years to attain economic self-sufficiency.  To provide incentives for long-term recipients to leave public assistance and accept paid employment, the legislature finds that less punitive and onerous sanctions than those required by the federal government are appropriate.  The legislature finds that a ten percent reduction in grants for long-term recipients that may be replaced through earned income is a more positive approach than sanctions required by the federal government for long-term recipients who fail to comply with requirements of the job opportunities and basic skills program.  A long-term recipient shall not be subject to two simultaneous sanctions for failure to comply with the participation requirements of the job opportunities and basic skills program and for exceeding the length of stay provisions of this section.

     (1) After ((forty-eight)) twenty-four monthly benefit payments in ((a)) the preceding sixty-month period, and after each of three additional twelve monthly benefit payments, the aid to families with dependent children monthly benefit payment shall be reduced by ten percent of the payment standard((, except that)).  After seventy-two full or partial monthly benefit payments, a recipient is ineligible for monthly benefit payments for two years.  After ((forty-eight)) thirty-six monthly payments in ((a)) the preceding sixty-month period, full monthly benefit payments may be made if:

     (a) The person is incapacitated or is needed in the home to care for a member of the household who is incapacitated;

     (b) The person is needed in the home to care for a child who is under three years of age;

     (c) There are no adults in the assistance unit;

     (d) The person is ((cooperating in the development and implementation of an employability plan)) actively participating in the job opportunities and basic skills training program while receiving aid to families with dependent children and no present full-time, part-time, or unpaid work experience job is offered; ((or))

     (e) During a month in which a grant reduction would be imposed under this section, the person is participating in an unpaid work experience program;

(f) Child care is not made available by the department; or

(g) The person was not offered services by the job opportunities and basic skills program at least six months before the benefit reduction.

     (2) ((For purposes of determining the amount of the food stamp benefit for recipients subject to benefit reductions provided for in subsection (1) of this section, countable income from the aid to families with dependent children program shall be set at the payment standard.

     (3))) For purposes of determining monthly benefit payments for two-parent aid to families with dependent children households, the length of stay criterion will be applied to the parent with the longer history of public assistance receipt.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 102.  A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

     A recipient's length of stay shall be determined based on actual months of receipt of public assistance, including months of receipt of public assistance before the effective date of this section.  Benefits shall not be reduced under this section before July 1, 1996.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 103.  A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

     A family receiving or applying for assistance under the aid to families with dependent children program shall enter into a contract satisfying the requirements of this section.  The contract shall be entered into by the department of social and health services and the recipient on a form prescribed by the department.  The contract shall include a list of available benefits to which the family is eligible, a summary of the responsibilities the recipient must accept, and related conditions of benefits, including time limits and benefit reductions.

                    PART II - REQUIRING MANDATORY PARTICIPATION

                 IN THE JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND BASIC SKILLS PROGRAM

     Sec. 201.  RCW 74.25.020 and 1993 c 312 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

     (1) The department of social and health services is authorized to contract with public and private employment and training agencies and other public service entities to provide services prescribed or allowed under the federal social security act, as amended, to carry out the purposes of the jobs training program.  The department of social and health services has sole authority and responsibility to carry out the job opportunities and basic skills training program.  No contracting entity shall have the authority to review, change, or disapprove any administrative decision, or otherwise substitute its judgment for that of the department of social and health services as to the application of policies and rules adopted by the department of social and health services.

     (2) ((To the extent feasible under federal law, the department of social and health services and all entities contracting with it shall give first priority of service to individuals volunteering for program participation)) The department of social and health services shall develop a realistic schedule for the phase-in of client participation in the job opportunities and basic skills training program based on the availability of state and federal funding.

     (3) The department of social and health services shall adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW ((establishing)) that conform to the criteria in federal law for mandatory program participation as well as establish criteria constituting circumstances of good cause for an individual failing or refusing to participate in an assigned program component, or failing or refusing to accept or retain employment.  ((These)) The good cause criteria shall include, but not be limited to, the following circumstances:  (a) If the individual is a parent or other relative personally providing care for a child under age ((six)) three years, and the employment would require the individual to work more than twenty hours per week; (b) if child care, or day care for an incapacitated individual living in the same home as a dependent child, is necessary for an individual to participate or continue participation in the program or accept employment, and such care is not available, and the department of social and health services fails to provide such care; (c) the employment would result in the family of the participant experiencing a net loss of cash income; or (d) circumstances that are beyond the control of the individual's household, either on a short-term or on an ongoing basis.

     (((4))) (3) The department of social and health services shall adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW as necessary to effectuate the intent and purpose of this chapter.

                             PART III - MISCELLANEOUS

NEW SECTION. Sec. 301.  A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

     The provision that recipients of aid to families with dependent children may earn and keep the first thirty dollars and one-third of the remaining amount earned without having their monthly benefit payment reduced by that amount may be extended up to a twelve-month period.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 302.  A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

     The department shall take all reasonable steps to determine the identity of the noncustodial parent.  The department shall cooperate with licensed health care providers, prosecuting attorneys, and other interested parties to determine the noncustodial parent's identity.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 303.  A new section is added to chapter 74.04 RCW to read as follows:

     The department shall reduce the fraudulent receipt of public assistance through the implementation of an electronic benefit transfer system for all public assistance programs.  The department shall also establish new verification requirements and fraud deterrence and detection systems for all public assistance programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 304.  Any savings resulting from the provisions of this act during the 1995-97 biennium shall be used to provide employment child care subsidies for low-income working families who have never received public assistance from the state of Washington under Title 74 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 305.  Part headings as used in this act do not constitute any part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 306.  If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned.  The rules under this act shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 307.  If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected."

2SHB 1481 - H AMD

By Representatives Sommers, Grant, and Thibaudeau

     On page 1, line 4 of the title, after "benefits;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 74.12.420 and 74.25.020; adding new sections to chapter 74.12 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 74.04 RCW; and creating new sections."

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