CLC H.C.R. 204 75(R)Bill Analysis
Human Services
HCR 204 
By: Hilderbran
5-6-97
5-6-97

BACKGROUND

The new Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996, better known as the Welfare Reform Act,
imposes tough work participation requirements on welfare recipients.
Texas must be creative and do more to get welfare recipients jobs.  Both
Oregon and Mississippi have successful programs which target private
industry to create entry-level subsidized jobs for welfare recipients. 

PURPOSE:

As proposed, H.C.R. 204 submits the following resolutions:

To acknowledge that the purpose of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) is to create job opportunities for employable people that offer the
chance to work toward independence from government assistance; 

To acknowledge that helping unemployed welfare job applicants find and
retain a job is the state's top priority in administering TANF;  

To acknowledge that for unemployed applicants receiving temporary public
assistance, the subsidized work programs can provide skills assessment,
one-on-one mentoring by experienced workers, job placement, basic
workplace training, and a new opportunity for self reliance; and 

To acknowledge that everyone benefits from reduced welfare dependency; 

To encourage the Texas Workforce Commission, with the assistance of the
Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Department of
Human Services to implement a subsidized work program for unemployed job
applicants receiving cash benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program; 

To encourage that local workforce boards develop guidelines for setting
placement priorities and determine the number of applicants that may be
assigned by the program to any one employer based on workforce needs and
are demographics. 

RULEMAKING
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or
institution.