By Hilderbran                                         H.B. No. 1784

         75R6786 CLG-F                           

                                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 in an amount

1-17     sufficient to cover the recipient's incidental costs of

1-18     participating in the activity.  The additional amount may not

1-19     exceed 10 percent of the base family grant.

1-20           (c)  The department shall periodically estimate the number of

1-21     recipients who will be participating in a work or employment

1-22     activity under Section 31.012 and the number of recipients who will

1-23     not be participating in those activities.  The department shall

1-24     develop a method to set the amounts of benefits under Subsection

 2-1     (b) in amounts that to the extent possible will not affect the

 2-2     total amount of financial assistance and services paid under this

 2-3     chapter.

 2-4           (d)  In considering the amount of income or other resources

 2-5     available to a child or a relative claiming financial assistance on

 2-6     the child's behalf, the department shall also consider reasonable

 2-7     expenses attributable to earning the income.  The department may

 2-8     permit all or part of the earned or other income to be set aside

 2-9     for the future identifiable needs of the child, subject to

2-10     limitations prescribed by the department.

2-11           (e) [(c)]  The department's agents employed in the region or

2-12     county in which the dependent child resides shall determine the

2-13     amount to be paid in accordance with the rules promulgated by the

2-14     department.

2-15           (f)  In this section, "incidental costs" do not include

2-16     support services as defined by Section 31.010.

2-17           SECTION 2.  If before implementing any provision of this Act,

2-18     the Texas Department of Human Services determines that a waiver or

2-19     federal authorization is necessary for implementation, the

2-20     department shall request the waiver or authorization and may delay

2-21     implementing that provision until the waiver or authorization is

2-22     granted.

2-23           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

2-24     applies to all financial assistance under Chapter 31, Human

2-25     Resources Code, that is paid on or after January 1, 1998,

2-26     regardless of the date on which eligibility for that assistance was

2-27     determined.

 3-1           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-2     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-3     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-4     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-5     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.