By Hilderbran H.B. No. 1784
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the amount of assistance granted under the financial
1-3 assistance program for persons with dependent children.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 31.003, Human Resources Code, is amended
1-6 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 31.003. AMOUNT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. (a) The
1-8 department shall adopt rules governing the determination of the
1-9 amount of financial assistance to be granted for the support of a
1-10 dependent child. The amount granted, when combined with the income
1-11 and other resources available for the child's support, must be
1-12 sufficient to provide the child with a subsistence compatible with
1-13 decency and health.
1-14 (b) The department by rule shall increase the amount of
1-15 financial assistance granted to a recipient who is participating in
1-16 a work or employment activity under Section 31.012 and is counted
1-17 toward the state's minimum work participation rate requirement
1-18 prescribed by 42 U.S.C. Section 607 in an amount sufficient to
1-19 cover the recipient's incidental costs of participating in the
1-20 activity. The additional amount may not exceed 10 percent of the
1-21 base family grant.
1-22 (c) The department shall periodically estimate the number of
1-23 recipients who will be participating in a work or employment
1-24 activity under Section 31.012 and will be counted toward the
2-1 state's minimum work participation rate requirement prescribed by
2-2 42 U.S.C. Section 607 and the number of recipients who will not be
2-3 participating in those activities or will not be counted toward the
2-4 state's minimum work participation rate requirement. The
2-5 department shall develop a method to set the amounts of benefits
2-6 under Subsection (b) in amounts that to the extent possible will
2-7 not affect the total amount of financial assistance and services
2-8 paid under this chapter.
2-9 (d) In considering the amount of income or other resources
2-10 available to a child or a relative claiming financial assistance on
2-11 the child's behalf, the department shall also consider reasonable
2-12 expenses attributable to earning the income. The department may
2-13 permit all or part of the earned or other income to be set aside
2-14 for the future identifiable needs of the child, subject to
2-15 limitations prescribed by the department.
2-16 (e) [(c)] The department's agents employed in the region or
2-17 county in which the dependent child resides shall determine the
2-18 amount to be paid in accordance with the rules promulgated by the
2-19 department.
2-20 (f) In this section, "incidental costs" do not include
2-21 support services as defined by Section 31.010.
2-22 SECTION 2. Section 31.0065(b), Human Resources Code, is
2-23 amended to read as follows:
2-24 (b) The department shall limit financial assistance and
2-25 transitional benefits in accordance with the following schedule:
2-26 (1) except as provided by Subdivision (4), financial
2-27 assistance is limited to a cumulative total of 12 months and
3-1 transitional benefits are limited to 12 months if the person
3-2 receiving financial assistance on behalf of a dependent child has:
3-3 (A) a high school diploma, a high school
3-4 equivalency certificate, or a certificate or degree from a two-year
3-5 or four-year institution of higher education or technical or
3-6 vocational school; or
3-7 (B) recent work experience of 18 months or more;
3-8 (2) except as provided by Subdivision (4), financial
3-9 assistance is limited to a cumulative total of 24 months and
3-10 transitional benefits are limited to 12 months if the person
3-11 receiving financial assistance on behalf of a dependent child has:
3-12 (A) completed three years of high school; or
3-13 (B) recent work experience of not less than six
3-14 or more than 18 months; [and]
3-15 (3) except as provided by Subdivision (4), financial
3-16 assistance is limited to a cumulative total of 36 months and
3-17 transitional benefits of 12 months if the person receiving
3-18 financial assistance on behalf of a dependent child has:
3-19 (A) completed less than three years of high
3-20 school; and
3-21 (B) less than six months of work experience; and
3-22 (4) financial assistance provided to a two-parent
3-23 family is limited to a cumulative total of 12 months and
3-24 transitional benefits are limited to 12 months.
3-25 SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act,
3-26 the Texas Department of Human Services determines that a waiver or
3-27 federal authorization is necessary for implementation, the
4-1 department shall request the waiver or authorization and may delay
4-2 implementing that provision until the waiver or authorization is
4-3 granted.
4-4 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
4-5 applies to all financial assistance under Chapter 31, Human
4-6 Resources Code, that is paid on or after January 1, 1998,
4-7 regardless of the date on which eligibility for that assistance was
4-8 determined.
4-9 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.