1-1     By:  Zaffirini, Lucio                                  S.B. No. 161
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed December 8, 2000; January 11, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human
 1-4     Services; March 12, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 12, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to authorizing transitional support services to former
 1-9     recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
1-10     benefits.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
1-13     is amended by adding Section 31.00351 to read as follows:
1-14           Sec. 31.00351.  TRANSITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES.  (a)  In this
1-15     section, "support services" includes:
1-16                 (1)  transportation assistance;
1-17                 (2)  emergency assistance;
1-18                 (3)  job coaches;
1-19                 (4)  education;
1-20                 (5)  housing-related assistance;
1-21                 (6)  assistance in accessing child-care services; and
1-22                 (7)  other appropriate services designed to support a
1-23     successful transition from public assistance to self-support.
1-24           (b)  Subject to the availability of funds, the department and
1-25     the Texas Workforce Commission shall provide transitional support
1-26     services to a person who was receiving financial assistance but is
1-27     no longer eligible to receive the assistance because:
1-28                 (1)  the person's household income has increased; or
1-29                 (2)  the person has exhausted the person's benefits
1-30     under Section 31.0065.
1-31           (c)  Each agency shall provide the support services that the
1-32     agency determines are necessary and that are appropriate for the
1-33     agency to provide.  Each agency shall provide the support services
1-34     in accordance with agency rules and federal law.
1-35           (d)  The agencies may provide the support services only until
1-36     the earlier of:
1-37                 (1)  the end of the applicable period prescribed by
1-38     Section 31.0065 for the provision of transitional benefits; or
1-39                 (2)  the first anniversary of the date on which the
1-40     person becomes ineligible for financial assistance because of
1-41     increased household income.
1-42           SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 31.012, Human Resources
1-43     Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-44           (c)  A person who is the caretaker of a physically or
1-45     mentally disabled child who requires the caretaker's presence is
1-46     not required to participate in a program under this section.
1-47     Effective January 1, 2000, a single person who is the caretaker of
1-48     a child is not required to participate in a program under this
1-49     section until the caretaker's youngest child at the time the
1-50     caretaker first became eligible for assistance reaches the age of
1-51     three.  Effective September 1, 2000, a single person who is the
1-52     caretaker of a child is exempt until the caretaker's youngest child
1-53     at the time the caretaker first became eligible for assistance
1-54     reaches the age of two.  Effective September 1, 2001, a single
1-55     person who is the caretaker of a child is exempt until the
1-56     caretaker's youngest child at the time the caretaker first became
1-57     eligible for assistance reaches the age of one.  Notwithstanding
1-58     Sections 31.0035(b) and 32.0255(b), the department shall provide to
1-59     a person who is exempt under this subsection and who voluntarily
1-60     participates in a program under Subsection (a)(2) six months of
1-61     transitional benefits other than transitional support services in
1-62     addition to the applicable limit prescribed by Section 31.0065.
1-63           SECTION 3.  If before implementing any provision of this Act
1-64     a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
 2-1     federal agency is necessary for implementation, the agency shall
 2-2     request the waiver or authorization and may delay implementing that
 2-3     provision until the waiver or authorization is granted.
 2-4           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
 2-5     applies only to a person who receives financial assistance under
 2-6     Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, on or after that date, regardless
 2-7     of the date on which eligibility for that assistance was
 2-8     determined.
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