81R10683 KLA-F
By: Davis of Harris H.B. No. 3388
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to mandatory participation in certain TANF employment
programs by certain persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.0033(d), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) The department by rule shall establish criteria for good
cause failure to cooperate and guidelines for what constitutes a
good faith effort on behalf of a recipient under this section,
except that the Texas Workforce Commission shall establish criteria
for good cause failure to cooperate with regard to work or
employment activities in accordance with Section 31.012(b).
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 31.012, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 31.012. MANDATORY WORK OR PARTICIPATION IN EMPLOYMENT
ACTIVITIES [THROUGH THE JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND BASIC SKILLS
PROGRAM].
SECTION 3. Section 31.012, Human Resources Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) and adding
Subsections (c-1) and (g) to read as follows:
(a) The Health and Human Services Commission [department]
shall require that, during any one-month period in which an adult is
receiving or the child of a nonrecipient parent is receiving
financial assistance under this chapter, the adult or nonrecipient
parent shall during that period:
(1) work not less than 30 hours a week; or
(2) participate for not less than 20 hours a week in an
activity established under a Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families employment program under Part A, Subchapter IV, Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 601 et seq.) [the job opportunities
and basic skills (JOBS) training program under Part F, Subchapter
IV, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 682)].
(b) The Texas Workforce Commission [department] by rule
shall establish criteria for good cause failure to cooperate and
for notification procedures regarding participation in work or
employment activities under this section.
(c) An adult recipient providing care for a disabled family
member living in the home, if the family member does not attend
school full-time, [A person who is the caretaker of a physically or
mentally disabled child who requires the caretaker's presence] is
not required to participate in a program under this section. A
single person who is the caretaker of a child is not required to
participate in a program under this section [exempt] until the
caretaker's youngest child at the time the caretaker first became
eligible for assistance reaches the age of one. Notwithstanding
Sections 31.0035(b) and 32.0255(b), the department shall provide to
a person who is not required to participate in a program [exempt]
under this subsection and who voluntarily participates in a program
under Subsection (a)(2) six months of transitional benefits in
addition to the applicable limit prescribed by Section 31.0065.
(c-1) Notwithstanding Section 531.0055, Government Code,
the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
Commission may not adopt rules that provide exceptions to a
person's required participation in work or employment activities
that are in addition to the exceptions provided by Subsection (c).
(d) A state program operated under this section shall be
administered by the division of workforce development of the Texas
Workforce Commission [when the program is transferred to that
commission].
(g) A nonrecipient parent who receives Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.
is not subject to the requirements of this section. The Texas
Workforce Commission may provide services to the nonrecipient
parent under this chapter in accordance with commission rules.
SECTION 4. Section 31.014(a), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The Health and Human Services Commission [department]
shall provide financial assistance, in accordance with
[department] rules adopted by the executive commissioner of the
Health and Human Services Commission, to a two-parent family if the
primary wage earner parent, other than a nonrecipient parent
described by Section 31.012(g), is registered with a Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families employment program under Part A,
Subchapter IV, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 601 et seq.)
[in the job opportunities and basic skills (JOBS) training program
under Part F, Subchapter IV, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section
682)], or is registered with the Texas Workforce [Employment]
Commission.
SECTION 5. Sections 31.0126(c) and 31.014(c), Human
Resources Code, are repealed.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
person receiving financial assistance, including a nonrecipient
parent, as defined by Section 31.0021, Human Resources Code, on or
after the effective date of this Act, regardless of the date the
determination of eligibility for that assistance was made.
SECTION 7. 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 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.