1-1     By:  Nelson                                             S.B. No. 51
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed November 9, 1998; January 26, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Human Services;
 1-4     March 3, 1999, rereferred to Committee on Health Services;
 1-5     March 25, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-6     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 1; March 25, 1999,
 1-7     sent to printer.)
 1-8     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 51                    By:  Nelson
 1-9                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-10                                   AN ACT
1-11     relating to prohibiting persons convicted of certain drug-related
1-12     offenses from receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
1-13     (TANF) benefits.
1-14           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-15           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
1-16     is amended by adding Section 31.0038 to read as follows:
1-17           Sec. 31.0038.  INELIGIBILITY RESULTING FROM DRUG-RELATED
1-18     FELONY CONVICTIONS.  (a)  A person is ineligible for financial
1-19     assistance if the person is convicted, for conduct occurring after
1-20     August 22, 1996, of an offense under federal law or the law of this
1-21     state or any other state that at the time of the conviction:
1-22                 (1)  is classified as a felony by the jurisdiction
1-23     involved; and
1-24                 (2)  has as an element the possession, use, or
1-25     distribution of a controlled substance, as defined in 21 U.S.C.
1-26     Section 802 and its subsequent amendments.
1-27           (b)  The department shall require an applicant for financial
1-28     assistance to indicate in writing whether the applicant or any
1-29     member of the applicant's household has been convicted of an
1-30     offense described by Subsection (a).
1-31           (c)  The section does not affect:
1-32                 (1)  the eligibility for financial assistance of any
1-33     other member of the household of a person ineligible as a result of
1-34     a conviction of an offense described by Subsection (a); or
1-35                 (2)  the eligibility of a person convicted of an
1-36     offense described by Subsection (a) for a federal benefit specified
1-37     in 21 U.S.C. Section 862a(f) and its subsequent amendments.
1-38           SECTION 2.  If before implementing any provision of this Act
1-39     a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
1-40     federal agency is necessary for implementation, the state agency
1-41     shall request the waiver or authorization and may delay
1-42     implementing that provision until the waiver or authorization is
1-43     granted.
1-44           SECTION 3.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-45           (b)  Section 31.0038, Human Resources Code, as added by this
1-46     Act, applies only to a person who receives financial assistance
1-47     under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, on or after the effective
1-48     date of this Act, regardless of the date on which eligibility for
1-49     the financial assistance was determined.
1-50           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-51     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-52     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-53     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-54     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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