Text: HSB00209 Text: HSB00211 Text: HSB00200 - HSB00299 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. WELFARE REFORM.
1 2 1. The department of human services shall submit a waiver
1 3 request or requests to the United States department of health
1 4 and human services as necessary to implement the changes in
1 5 the family investment program under chapter 239 and the job
1 6 opportunities and basic skills program under chapter 249C, as
1 7 provided by this section. In addition, the department may
1 8 submit additional waiver requests to the United States
1 9 department of agriculture to make changes in the federal food
1 10 stamp program and to the United States department of health
1 11 and human services to make changes to the medical assistance
1 12 program under chapter 249A, as necessary to revise these
1 13 programs in accordance with any waiver provision implemented
1 14 pursuant to this section.
1 15 2. For the purposes of this section unless the context
1 16 otherwise requires:
1 17 a. "Applicant" means an individual who has applied to be a
1 18 recipient of public assistance.
1 19 b. "Minor parent" means an applicant or recipient parent
1 20 who is less than eighteen years of age and has never been
1 21 married.
1 22 c. "Public assistance" means the family investment program
1 23 under chapter 239 and job opportunities and basic skills or
1 24 JOBS program under chapter 249C.
1 25 d. "Recipient" means the same as provided in chapter 239
1 26 and includes individuals whose income is considered by the
1 27 department.
1 28 3. The department of human services shall apply for
1 29 federal waivers to implement the following provisions for
1 30 applicants for and recipients of public assistance:
1 31 a. To promote responsibility and strengthen family values,
1 32 the department shall require the following of minor parents,
1 33 and recipient parents who are 19 years of age or less, as
1 34 indicated:
1 35 (1) Unless any of the following conditions apply, a minor
2 1 parent shall be required to live with their parent or legal
2 2 guardian:
2 3 (a) The parent or guardian of the minor parent is
2 4 deceased, missing, or living in another state.
2 5 (b) The minor parent's health or safety would be
2 6 jeopardized if the minor parent is required to live with the
2 7 parent or guardian.
2 8 (c) The minor parent is in foster care.
2 9 (d) The minor parent is participating in the job corps
2 10 solo parent program or independent living program.
2 11 (e) Other good cause exists which is identified in rules
2 12 adopted by the department for this purpose for the minor
2 13 parent to receive public assistance while living apart from
2 14 the minor parent's parent or guardian.
2 15 (2) A minor parent who is a recipient and is not required
2 16 to live with the minor parent's parent or guardian pursuant to
2 17 subparagraph (1) shall be required to participate in a family
2 18 development program identified in rules adopted by the
2 19 department.
2 20 (3) Minor parents who are recipients and recipient parents
2 21 who are 19 years of age or less shall be required to attend
2 22 parenting classes.
2 23 b. To focus on the educational needs of minor parents, the
2 24 department shall require that a minor parent must either have
2 25 graduated from high school or have received a high school
2 26 equivalency diploma, or be engaged full-time in completing
2 27 high school graduation or equivalency requirements.
2 28 c. To encourage the development of a strong work ethic, in
2 29 calculating public assistance eligibility and the amount of
2 30 assistance, the department shall disregard earnings of an
2 31 applicant or a recipient who is 19 years of age or younger who
2 32 is engaged full-time in completing high school graduation or
2 33 equivalency requirements.
2 34 d. To strengthen measures addressing welfare fraud and
2 35 abuse, the department shall strengthen sanctions to disqualify
3 1 recipients who defraud or abuse public assistance. In
3 2 establishing sanctions pursuant to this paragraph, the
3 3 department shall establish the same or similar penalties for
3 4 the family investment program and for the food stamp program.
3 5 e. To make expectations of recipients consistent with
3 6 practices in the private sector, the department shall revise
3 7 the JOBS program exemption for recipient parents with young
3 8 children to be limited to parents with children who are less
3 9 than three months of age.
3 10 f. To remove incentives for parent and caretaker relative
3 11 applicants who received public assistance in another state and
3 12 move to Iowa to seek public assistance, the department shall
3 13 limit public assistance payment amounts to the lesser of
3 14 Iowa's standard of payment or the standard of payment of the
3 15 person's previous state of residence. If such an applicant
3 16 received aid to families with dependent children in another
3 17 state within one year of applying for public assistance in
3 18 this state, the requirements of this paragraph shall apply.
3 19 The department shall determine the applicant's eligibility for
3 20 public assistance in this state using the eligibility
3 21 requirements of this state. If eligible in this state, based
3 22 upon the family size used to determine eligibility, the
3 23 department shall compare the standard grant amount the
3 24 applicant would receive in this state with the standard grant
3 25 amount in the other state. The applicant's standard grant
3 26 amount when receiving public assistance shall be the lesser of
3 27 the two amounts. The department shall apply this state's
3 28 policies in determining the applicant's amount of net income
3 29 and the resulting amount shall be subtracted from the
3 30 applicant's applicable standard grant.
3 31 g. To encourage responsible decision making by families
3 32 receiving public assistance, the department shall limit
3 33 eligibility for the family investment program to a certain
3 34 number of children as follows:
3 35 (1) If a family is a recipient on the effective date of
4 1 the waiver, in any period of eligibility on or after the
4 2 waiver's initial effective date the family's eligible children
4 3 shall be limited to those children living in the recipient's
4 4 household on the waiver's initial effective date and children
4 5 born into the recipient's household within ten months of the
4 6 waiver's initial effective date.
4 7 (2) If a family is not a recipient as of the waiver's
4 8 initial effective date, in any period of eligibility following
4 9 the waiver's initial effective date the family's eligible
4 10 children shall be limited to those children living in the
4 11 recipient's household on the date the family's eligibility for
4 12 public assistance is first approved following the waiver's
4 13 initial effective date and to children born within 10 months
4 14 of the date first approved for eligibility.
4 15 (3) For the purposes of this paragraph, children
4 16 considered to be living in the recipient's household shall
4 17 include children for whom the household is the children's
4 18 primary residence and children who are temporarily absent from
4 19 the household but for whom the household would otherwise be
4 20 the children's primary residence.
4 21 Sec. 2. CONTINGENCY PROVISION &endash; TRANSFER. The waiver
4 22 request or requests submitted by the department of human
4 23 services pursuant to section 1 of this Act to the United
4 24 States department of health and human services shall be to
4 25 apply the provisions of section 1 statewide. If federal
4 26 waiver approval of a provision of section 1 of this Act is
4 27 granted, the department of human services shall implement the
4 28 provision in accordance with the federal approval. If a
4 29 provision of this Act is in conflict with a provision of
4 30 chapter 239 or 249C, notwithstanding that provision in chapter
4 31 239 or 249C, the provision of this Act shall be implemented
4 32 and the department shall propose an amendment to chapter 239
4 33 or 249C to resolve the conflict. The department may transfer
4 34 moneys appropriated for a waiver provision to another
4 35 appropriation as deemed necessary by the department if the
5 1 waiver provision is denied by the federal government.
5 2 Sec. 3. RULES. The department of human services shall
5 3 adopt administrative rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
5 4 implement the provisions of section 1 of this Act. If
5 5 necessary to conform with federal waiver terms and conditions
5 6 or to efficiently administer the provisions, the rules may
5 7 apply additional policies and procedures which are consistent
5 8 with the provisions of section 1 of this Act.
5 9 Sec. 4. APPLICABILITY. The effective date of each waiver
5 10 provision in section 1 of this Act granted by the federal
5 11 government shall be set by rule. However, provisions of
5 12 section 1, subsection 3, paragraphs "a" through "f", of this
5 13 Act, shall not be implemented before July 1, 1996, and
5 14 provisions of section 1, subsection 3, paragraph "g", of this
5 15 Act, shall not be implemented before January 1, 1997. If
5 16 federal law is amended to permit this state to initiate any of
5 17 the provisions of section 1 of this Act without a federal
5 18 waiver, the department of human services shall proceed to
5 19 implement the provisions within the time period required by
5 20 this section.
5 21 EXPLANATION
5 22 This bill relates to the family investment program and
5 23 related human services programs by requiring the department of
5 24 human services to apply for certain federal waivers and
5 25 providing applicability provisions.
5 26 The bill describes provisions of waivers involving the
5 27 family investment program (formerly aid to families with
5 28 dependent children now referred to as FIP) and the federal-
5 29 state job opportunities and basic skills (JOBS) program (a
5 30 work and training program for recipients under FIP). In
5 31 addition, the department may apply for federal waivers under
5 32 the federal food stamp program and medical assistance program
5 33 for any changes to coordinate with waivers approved for FIP
5 34 and JOBS.
5 35 The bill requires the department to apply for waivers to
6 1 implement the following provisions: require minor parents to
6 2 live with their parent or guardian except under certain
6 3 exceptions, require those who do not live with their parent or
6 4 guardian to participate in a family development program, and
6 5 require any recipient parent who is 19 years of age or less to
6 6 attend parenting classes; require that a minor parent must
6 7 either have graduated from high school or have completed an
6 8 equivalent, or be engaged full-time in completing high school
6 9 graduation or equivalency requirements; for a family with a
6 10 recipient who is less than 20 years of age and engaged full-
6 11 time in completing high school graduation or equivalency
6 12 requirements, the department is required to disregard that
6 13 recipient's earnings in calculating eligibility and amount of
6 14 assistance for the family; adopt measures to strengthen
6 15 sanctions to disqualify recipients who defraud or abuse public
6 16 assistance; revise the JOBS program participation exemption
6 17 for recipients with young children to only apply the exemption
6 18 to parents with children who are less than three months of
6 19 age; require reduction of the FIP grant amount for those
6 20 recipients who received aid to families with dependent
6 21 children in another state which is less than paid in this
6 22 state; and require a limitation in the FIP grant amount so
6 23 that after the implementation date specified in the waiver if
6 24 a recipient's family size increases, the children born after
6 25 that date are not eligible for assistance.
6 26 A contingency provision requires the department to request
6 27 approval of the waiver provisions statewide and authorize
6 28 implementation of a federally approved waiver in accordance
6 29 with the approval. In addition, if any of the waiver
6 30 provisions are in conflict with a state law in the FIP or JOBS
6 31 chapters, the provision is still to be implemented and the
6 32 department is directed to propose an amendment to resolve the
6 33 conflict. If moneys are appropriated for a waiver provision
6 34 that is later denied, the department may transfer the
6 35 appropriation to another appropriation, as deemed necessary by
7 1 the department.
7 2 The department is directed to adopt rules through the
7 3 regular rulemaking procedures to implement approved waiver
7 4 provisions. All of the waiver provisions except for the
7 5 limitation in the family size are not to be implemented until
7 6 July 1, 1996. The family size waiver is not to be implemented
7 7 until January 1, 1997. If federal law changes so that a
7 8 waiver is not necessary to implement any of the provisions in
7 9 the bill, the same start date restrictions apply.
7 10 LSB 1603XL 76
7 11 jp/sc/14.3
Text: HSB00209 Text: HSB00211 Text: HSB00200 - HSB00299 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
Iowa General Assembly
Search: House Bills and Amendments (76th General Assembly)
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