By:  Zaffirini                                                            S.B. No. 70



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a state-funded financial assistance program for certain 
persons.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 2, Human Resources Code, is 
amended by adding Chapter 37 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 37.  STATE TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE AND

SUPPORT SERVICES FOR CERTAIN RECIPIENTS
	Sec. 37.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:                             
		(1)  "Related support services" means services 
considered under federal law to be a component of money payments for 
purposes of the financial assistance program authorized by Chapter 
31.
		(2)  "Temporary assistance" means money payments for 
needy persons authorized by this chapter.
	Sec. 37.002.  DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE 
PROGRAM;  FUNDING. (a)  The Health and Human Services Commission, 
the department, and the Texas Workforce Commission, with the 
participation of local workforce development boards, shall jointly 
develop and implement a state program of temporary assistance and 
related support services that is distinct from the financial 
assistance program authorized by Chapter 31.
	(b)  Temporary assistance and related support services may 
be provided under the state program only to a person who has been 
receiving financial assistance under Chapter 31, but has difficulty 
complying with the requirements of the responsibility agreement 
under Section 31.0031(d)(4) because the person is:
		(1)  an elderly person caring for a dependent child;                   
		(2)  disabled;                                                         
		(3)  the primary caretaker of a disabled spouse or 
dependent child;  
		(4)  a resident of a rural area of this state; or                      
		(5)  experiencing other personal circumstances that 
require a customized program, as determined by rule.
	(c)  Temporary assistance and related support services 
provided under the state program must be funded with maintenance of 
effort funds and may not be funded with federal money provided to 
the state for the financial assistance program authorized by 
Chapter 31.
	Sec. 37.003.  RULES. (a)  The Health and Human Services 
Commission, the department, and the Texas Workforce Commission 
shall adopt all rules necessary for implementation of the state 
program, including rules regarding eligibility, work requirements, 
work exemptions, time limits, and related support services.
	(b)  In adopting rules for the state program regarding 
eligibility, the Health and Human Services Commission, the 
department, and the Texas Workforce Commission shall prescribe 
factors that determine when a recipient should be transferred from 
the financial assistance under Chapter 31 to the state program.
	(c)  Rules adopted under the state program regarding work 
requirements, work exemptions, and time limits must allow for 
flexibility in designing customized requirements to accommodate 
each recipient's personal circumstances.
	(d)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), the rules must be 
designed to result in a state program that is substantively 
identical to the financial assistance program authorized by Chapter 
31, except to the extent that programmatic differences are 
appropriate because of the populations served by those programs and 
the sources of funding for those programs.
	(e)  The Health and Human Services Commission, the 
department, and the Texas Workforce Commission shall form an 
interagency work group to develop the rules required under this 
section.  The interagency work group shall provide for 
participation in development of the rules by representatives of 
local workforce development boards.
	Sec. 37.004.  ELIGIBILITY FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.  A 
recipient of temporary assistance and related support services 
under the state program is eligible for medical assistance under 
Chapter 32 in the same manner as a person receiving financial 
assistance under Chapter 31.
	SECTION 2.  If before implementing any provision of this Act 
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a 
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision, 
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or 
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the 
waiver or authorization is granted.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.