H.B. No. 1483
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to a pilot program for assisting certain recipients of
  public benefits to gain permanent self-sufficiency.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 531.02241 to read as follows:
         Sec. 531.02241.  PILOT PROGRAM FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF
  CERTAIN PERSONS RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE OR SUPPLEMENTAL
  NUTRITION ASSISTANCE BENEFITS. (a) In this section:
               (1)  "Financial assistance benefits" means money
  payments under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
  program operated under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, or under
  the state temporary assistance and support services program
  operated under Chapter 34, Human Resources Code.
               (2)  "Self-sufficiency" means being employed in a
  position that pays a sufficient wage, having financial savings in
  an amount that is equal to at least $1,000 per member of a family's
  household, and maintaining a debt-to-income ratio that does not
  exceed 43 percent.
               (3)  "Slow reduction scale" means a graduated plan for
  reducing financial assistance or supplemental nutrition assistance
  benefits that correlates with a phase of the pilot program's
  progressive stages toward self-sufficiency.
               (4)  "Sufficient wage" means an amount of money,
  determined by a market-based calculation that uses geographically
  specific expenditure data, that is sufficient to meet a family's
  minimum necessary spending on basic needs, including food, child
  care, health insurance, housing, and transportation.
               (5)  "Supplemental nutrition assistance benefits"
  means money payments under the supplemental nutrition assistance
  program operated under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code.
         (b)  The commission shall develop and implement a pilot
  program for assisting not more than 500 eligible families to gain
  permanent self-sufficiency and no longer require financial
  assistance, supplemental nutrition assistance, or other
  means-tested public benefits, notwithstanding the limitations and
  requirements of Section 31.043, Human Resources Code. If the
  number of families participating in the program during a year
  reaches capacity for that year as determined by the commission, the
  number of families that may be served under the program in the
  following year may be increased by 20 percent.
         (c)  The pilot program will test extending, for at least 24
  months but not more than 60 months, financial assistance and
  supplemental nutrition assistance benefits by waiving the
  application of income and asset limit eligibility requirements for
  those benefits and the time limits under Section 31.0065, Human
  Resources Code, for financial assistance benefits to allow for
  continuation of financial assistance and supplemental nutrition
  assistance benefits and reduction of the benefits using a slow
  reduction scale. The commission shall freeze a participating
  family's eligibility status for the benefits beginning on the date
  the participating family enters the pilot program and ending on the
  date the family ceases participating in the program. The waiver of
  the application of any asset limit requirement must allow the
  family to have assets in an amount that is at least $1,000 per
  member of the family's household.
         (d)  The pilot program must be designed to allow social
  services providers, public benefit offices, and other community
  partners to refer potential participating families to the program.
         (e)  A family is eligible to participate in the pilot program
  established under this section if the family:
               (1)  includes one or more members who are recipients of
  financial assistance or supplemental nutrition assistance
  benefits, at least one of whom is:
                     (A)  at least 18 but not more than 62 years of age;
  and
                     (B)  willing, and physically and legally able, to
  be employed; and
               (2)  has a total household income that is less than a
  sufficient wage based on the family's makeup and geographical area
  of residence.
         (f)  The pilot program must be designed to assist eligible
  participating families in attaining self-sufficiency by:
               (1)  identifying eligibility requirements for the
  continuation of financial assistance or supplemental nutrition
  assistance benefits and time limits for the benefits, the
  application of which may be waived for a limited period and that, if
  applied, would impede self-sufficiency;
               (2)  implementing strategies, including waiving the
  application of the eligibility requirements and time limits
  identified in Subdivision (1), to remove barriers to
  self-sufficiency; and
               (3)  moving eligible participating families through
  progressive stages toward self-sufficiency that include the
  following phases:
                     (A)  an initial phase in which a family moves out
  of an emergent crisis by securing housing, medical care, and
  financial assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance
  benefits, as necessary;
                     (B)  a second phase in which:
                           (i)  the family moves toward stability by
  securing employment and, if necessary, child care and by
  participating in services that build the financial management
  skills necessary to meet financial goals; and
                           (ii)  the family's financial assistance and
  supplemental nutrition assistance benefits are reduced according
  to the following scale:
                                 (a)  on reaching 25 percent of the
  family's sufficient wage, the amount of benefits is reduced by 10
  percent;
                                 (b)  on reaching 50 percent of the
  family's sufficient wage, the amount of benefits is reduced by 25
  percent; and
                                 (c)  on reaching 75 percent of the
  family's sufficient wage, the amount of benefits is reduced by 50
  percent;
                     (C)  a third phase in which the family:
                           (i)  transitions to self-sufficiency by
  securing employment that pays a sufficient wage, reducing debt, and
  building savings; and
                           (ii)  becomes ineligible for financial
  assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance benefits on
  reaching 100 percent of the family's sufficient wage; and
                     (D)  a final phase in which the family attains
  self-sufficiency by retaining employment that pays a sufficient
  wage, amassing at least $1,000 per member of the family's
  household, and having manageable debt so that the family will no
  longer be dependent on financial assistance, supplemental
  nutrition assistance, or other means-tested public benefits for at
  least six months following the date the family stops participating
  in the program.
         (g)  A person from a family that wishes to participate in the
  pilot program must attend an in-person intake meeting with a
  program case manager. During the intake meeting the case manager
  shall:
               (1)  determine whether:
                     (A)  the person's family meets the eligibility
  requirements under Subsection (e); and
                     (B)  the application of income or asset limit
  eligibility requirements for continuation of financial assistance
  and supplemental nutrition assistance benefits and the time limits
  under Section 31.0065, Human Resources Code, for financial
  assistance benefits may be waived under the program;
               (2)  review the family's demographic information and
  household financial budget;
               (3)  assess the family members' current financial and
  career situations;
               (4)  collaborate with the person to develop and
  implement strategies for removing barriers to the family attaining
  self-sufficiency, including waiving the application of income and
  asset limit eligibility requirements and time limits described by
  Subdivision (1)(B) to allow for continuation of financial
  assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance benefits; and
               (5)  if the person's family is determined to be eligible
  for and chooses to participate in the program, schedule a follow-up
  meeting to further assess the family's crisis, review available
  referral services, and create a service plan.
         (h)  A participating family must be assigned a program case
  manager who shall:
               (1)  if the family is determined to be eligible,
  provide the family with a verification of the waived application of
  asset, income, and time limits described by Subsection (c),
  allowing the family to continue receiving financial assistance and
  supplemental nutrition assistance benefits on a slow reduction
  scale;
               (2)  assess, at the follow-up meeting scheduled under
  Subsection (g)(5), the family's crisis, review available referral
  services, and create a service plan; and
               (3)  during the initial phase of the program, create
  medium- and long-term goals consistent with the strategies
  developed under Subsection (g)(4).
         (i)  The pilot program must provide each participating
  family placed in the research group described by Subsection
  (j)(3)(C) with holistic, wraparound case management services that
  meet all applicable program requirements under 7 C.F.R. Section
  273.7(e) or 45 C.F.R. Section 261.10, as applicable. Case
  management services provided under this subsection must include the
  strategic use of financial assistance and supplemental nutrition
  assistance benefits to ensure that the goals included in the
  family's service plan are achieved. The wraparound case management
  services must be provided through a community-based provider.
         (j)  The pilot program must operate for at least 24 months.
  The program shall also include 16 additional months for:
               (1)  planning and designing the program before the
  program begins operation;
               (2)  recruiting eligible families to participate in the
  program;
               (3)  randomly placing each participating family in one
  of at least three research groups, including:
                     (A)  a control group;
                     (B)  a group consisting of families for whom the
  application of income, asset, and time limits described by
  Subsection (c) is waived; and
                     (C)  a group consisting of families for whom the
  application of income, asset, and time limits described by
  Subsection (c) is waived and who receive wraparound case management
  services under the program; and
               (4)  after the program begins operation, collecting and
  sharing data that allows for:
                     (A)  obtaining participating families'
  eligibility and identification data before a family is randomly
  placed in a research group under Subdivision (3);
                     (B)  conducting surveys or interviews of
  participating families to obtain information that is not contained
  in records related to a family's eligibility for financial
  assistance, supplemental nutrition assistance, or other
  means-tested public benefits;
                     (C)  providing quarterly reports for not more than
  60 months after a participating family is enrolled in the pilot
  program regarding the program's effect on the family's labor market
  participation and income and need for means-tested public benefits;
                     (D)  assessing the interaction of the program's
  components with the desired outcomes of the program using data
  collected during the program and data obtained from state agencies
  concerning means-tested public benefits; and
                     (E)  a third party to conduct a rigorous
  experimental impact evaluation of the pilot program.
         (k)  The commission shall develop and implement the pilot
  program with the assistance of the Texas Workforce Commission,
  local workforce development boards, faith-based and other relevant
  public or private organizations, and any other entity or person the
  commission determines appropriate.
         (l)  The commission shall monitor and evaluate the pilot
  program in a manner that allows for promoting research-informed
  results of the program.
         (m)  On the conclusion of the pilot program but not later
  than 48 months following the date the last participating family is
  enrolled in the program, the commission shall report to the
  legislature on the results of the program. The report must include:
               (1)  an evaluation of the program's effect on
  participating families in achieving self-sufficiency and no longer
  requiring means-tested public benefits;
               (2)  the impact to this state on the costs of the
  financial assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance
  programs and of the child-care services program operated by the
  Texas Workforce Commission;
               (3)  a cost-benefit analysis of the program; and
               (4)  recommendations on the feasibility and
  continuation of the program.
         (n)  During the operation of the pilot program, the
  commission shall provide to the legislature additional reports
  concerning the program that the commission determines to be
  appropriate.
         (o)  The executive commissioner and the Texas Workforce
  Commission may adopt rules to implement this section.
         (p)  This section expires September 1, 2026.
         SECTION 2.  The Health and Human Services Commission is
  required to implement a provision of this Act only if the
  legislature appropriates money specifically for that purpose.  If
  the legislature does not appropriate money specifically for that
  purpose, the commission may, but is not required to, implement a
  provision of this Act using other appropriations available for that
  purpose.
         SECTION 3.  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 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1483 was passed by the House on April
  9, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 148, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 1483 on May 15, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 146, Nays 0,
  2 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1483 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 13, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor