HBA-MPM C.S.H.B. 1004 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1004
By: Naishtat
Human Services
4/17/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In 1995, the 74th Legislature initiated welfare reform in Texas.  When the
federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
passed in 1996, the state was allowed to take advantage of a waiver option
authorizing a delay in implementing some of the new federal provisions.
The waiver expires in March of 2002, and federal regulations do not allow
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients who pursue
post-secondary education for more than 12 months to be counted in the data
collected by a state in determining its work participation rates.  However,
the state is not prohibited from continuing to serve clients engaged in
continuing education past this 12-month limit as long as the state
continues to meet federal work participation rates without counting these
students.  C.S.H.B. 1004 codifies the work activities that currently count
as participation under Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) rules with three
additions and requires TWC to permit TANF clients under 20 years of age to
attend full-time educational activities for an unlimited period of time. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly granted to the Texas Workforce Commission in SECTION
1 (Section 301.0675, Labor Code) of this bill. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1004 amends the Labor Code to require the Texas Workforce
Commission (TWC) to determine by rule the work or employment activities in
which a person must participate to comply with the work requirements for an
adult receiving financial assistance.  In adopting rules, TWC shall provide
for a broad array of permissible work or employment activities designed to
assist a person in entering the workforce and becoming self-supporting,
address and remove barriers to these goals, and exercise all flexibility in
permissible work or employment activities authorized by federal law.  The
bill sets forth specific permissible work or employment activities TWC must
include in its rules, including activities designed to address and remove
barriers to employment, instruction in English as a second language, and
adult education or literacy.  
The bill requires TWC to permit a person younger than 20 years old to
comply with work requirements through participating solely in full-time
educational activities authorized by this bill for an unlimited amount of
time.  TWC, the Texas Department of Human Services, and the local workforce
development boards are required to perform agency and board duties related
to requiring compliance with work or employment activities in the least
intrusive manner possible so that a person engaging in these activities is
not required to attend agency or board appointments or take other action
that interferes with the person's work or employment activities and is
provided with appropriate information regarding available employment
services so that the person may access them without interfering with the
person's work or employment activities. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.


 COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B.1004 differs from the original by including participation in the
VISTA program, and attendance in elementary or technical school, and an
adult education or literacy program among the permissible work or
employment activities provided for by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).

The substitute removes provisions authorizing a person to comply with work
requirements through participation in job search and job readiness
assistance activities for an unlimited time period. The substitute requires
TWC to permit a person younger than 20 years old to comply with work
requirements through participating solely in full-time educational
activities authorized by this bill for an unlimited amount of time.  

The substitute removes provisions in the original authorizing a person to
be in compliance with work requirements through participation in vocational
education training for no more than one year with certain exceptions.  The
substitute requires TWC, the Texas Department of Human Services, and the
local workforce development boards to perform duties related to requiring
compliance with work or employment activities so that the related
requirements do not interfere with the person's work or employment
activities.