By West                                               S.B. No. 1423
         76R6086 KLA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to providing supplemental financial assistance and
 1-3     services to certain grandparents.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 31.0041 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 31.0041.  SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR CERTAIN
 1-8     RECIPIENTS.  (a)  The department shall provide supplemental
 1-9     financial assistance in addition to the amount of financial
1-10     assistance granted for the support of a dependent child under
1-11     Section 31.003 to a recipient who:
1-12                 (1)  is 45 years of age or older; and
1-13                 (2)  is the grandparent of a dependent child, as
1-14     defined by Section 31.002, who lives at the recipient's residence.
1-15           (b)  Supplemental financial assistance provided to a
1-16     recipient under this section must include:
1-17                 (1)  a one-time cash payment of $1,000 on determination
1-18     of eligibility for supplemental financial assistance under this
1-19     section; and
1-20                 (2)  an annual school subsidy of $69.84 for each
1-21     dependent child who lives at the recipient's residence.
1-22           (c)  The department shall inform an applicant for financial
1-23     assistance under this chapter who meets the eligibility
1-24     requirements under this section of the availability of supplemental
 2-1     financial assistance.
 2-2           (d)  The department shall maintain complete records and
 2-3     compile statistics regarding the number of recipients who receive
 2-4     supplemental financial assistance under this section.
 2-5           SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 40, Human Resources Code,
 2-6     is amended by adding Section 40.070 to read as follows:
 2-7           Sec. 40.070.  SUPPORT SERVICES FOR CERTAIN FAMILIES.  (a)  If
 2-8     the department places a child who is in the conservatorship of the
 2-9     state in the home of a grandparent of the child, the department
2-10     shall:
2-11                 (1)  refer the grandparent to support services offered
2-12     by the department; and
2-13                 (2)  inform the grandparent of the availability of
2-14     financial assistance under Chapter 31, including supplemental
2-15     financial assistance, if the eligibility requirements of that
2-16     chapter are satisfied.
2-17           (b)  The department shall maintain complete records and
2-18     compile statistics  regarding the number of children who are placed
2-19     by the department in the home of a grandparent of the child.
2-20           SECTION 3.  If before implementing any provision of this Act
2-21     a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
2-22     federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
2-23     the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
2-24     authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
2-25     waiver or authorization is granted.
2-26           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-27           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.