WSR 97-15-043

EMERGENCY RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

(Economic Services Administration)

(Public Assistance)

[Filed July 11, 1997, 3:26 p.m., effective August 1, 1997]

Date of Adoption: July 11, 1997.

Purpose: To comply with the federal requirement in Public Law 104-193 and state legislation, EHB 3901 (1997), which (1) denies temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) benefits to families that include an adult who has received TANF for sixty months beginning August 1, 1997, and (2) repeals Washington state's success through employment program (STEP) waiver.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing chapter 388-201 WAC, Success through employment program (STEP); and amending WAC 388-215-1010 Five year lifetime time limit.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.050 and 74.04.055.

Other Authority: Public Law 104-193, Section 103 (a)(1), EHB 3901, sections 103, 105 (1997).

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that state or federal law or federal rule or a federal deadline for state receipt of federal funds requires immediate adoption of a rule.

Reasons for this Finding: Under state law, EHB 3901 becomes law July 27, 1997, ninety days after the legislative session ends.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 1, amended 0, repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 1, amended 0, repealed 1.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Effective Date of Rule: August 1, 1997.

July 11, 1997

Merry A. Kogut, Manager

Rules and Policies Assistance Unit

NEW SECTION

WAC 388-215-1010 Five year lifetime time limits. (1) The department shall deny TANF to any family that includes an adult who has received TANF for sixty months after August 1, 1997.

(2) In calculating the number of months an adult family member has received TANF for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the department shall disregard any month in which the individual received TANF and the individual was:

(a) A minor child who was not the head of a household or married to the head of a household; or

(b) Living on an Indian reservation or in an Alaskan Native village, if during the month the individual received TANF, at least:

(i) One thousand people were living on the reservation or in the village; and

(ii) Fifty percent of the adults living on the reservation or in the village were unemployed.

(3) After an individual has received fifty-two months of TANF, the department may exempt that person from the requirements of subsection (1) of this section for reasons of hardship or family violence, provided the total number of exempted TANF cases does not exceed twenty percent of the average monthly number of cases statewide during a fiscal year.

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REPEALER

The following chapter of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed: