Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB643 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R4582 KKR-D
2	2	By: Perry S.B. No. 643
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a pilot program for assisting certain recipients of
8	8	public benefits to gain permanent self-sufficiency.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 531.02241 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 531.02241. PILOT PROGRAM FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF
13	13	CERTAIN PERSONS RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE OR SUPPLEMENTAL
14	14	NUTRITION ASSISTANCE BENEFITS. (a) In this section:
15	15	(1) "Financial assistance benefits" means money
16	16	payments under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
17	17	program operated under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, or under
18	18	the state temporary assistance and support services program
19	19	operated under Chapter 34, Human Resources Code.
20	20	(2) "Living wage" means an amount of money, determined
21	21	by a market-based calculation that uses geographically specific
22	22	expenditure data, that is sufficient to meet a family's minimum
23	23	necessary spending on basic needs, including food, child care,
24	24	health insurance, housing, and transportation.
25	25	(3) "Self-sufficiency" means being employed in a
26	26	position that pays a living wage, having financial savings in an
27	27	amount that is equal to at least $1,000 per member of a family's
28	28	household, and owing only a reasonable amount of harmful or
29	29	unsecure debt.
30	30	(4) "Slow reduction scale" means a graduated plan for
31	31	reducing financial assistance or supplemental nutrition assistance
32	32	benefits that correlates with a phase of the pilot program's
33	33	progressive stages toward self-sufficiency.
34	34	(5) "Supplemental nutrition assistance benefits"
35	35	means money payments under the supplemental nutrition assistance
36	36	program operated under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code.
37	37	(b) The commission shall develop and implement a pilot
38	38	program for assisting not more than 500 eligible families to gain
39	39	permanent self-sufficiency and no longer require financial
40	40	assistance, supplemental nutrition assistance, or other
41	41	means-tested public benefits. If the number of families
42	42	participating in the program during a year reaches capacity for
43	43	that year as determined by the commission, the number of families
44	44	that may be served under the program in the following year may be
45	45	increased by 20 percent.
46	46	(c) The pilot program will test extending, for at least 24
47	47	months but not more than 60 months, financial assistance and
48	48	supplemental nutrition assistance benefits by deferring the
49	49	application of income and asset limit eligibility requirements for
50	50	continuation of the benefits and reducing the benefits using a slow
51	51	reduction scale. The amount of any income limit requirement that is
52	52	applied must be in an amount that does not exceed the amount, based
53	53	on a participating family's makeup and the living wage in the
54	54	family's geographical area of residence, determined to be necessary
55	55	for the purposes of the program. The deferral of the application of
56	56	any asset limit requirement must allow the family to have assets in
57	57	an amount that is equal to or less than $1,000 per member of the
58	58	family's household.
59	59	(d) The pilot program must be designed to allow social
60	60	services providers, public benefit offices, and other community
61	61	partners to refer potential participating families to the program.
62	62	(e) A family is eligible to participate in the pilot program
63	63	established under this section if the family:
64	64	(1) includes one or more members who are recipients of
65	65	financial assistance or supplemental nutrition assistance
66	66	benefits, at least one of whom is:
67	67	(A) at least 18 but not more than 62 years of age;
68	68	and
69	69	(B) willing, and physically and legally able, to
70	70	be employed; and
71	71	(2) has a total household income that is less than a
72	72	living wage based on the family's makeup and geographical area of
73	73	residence.
74	74	(f) The pilot program must be designed to assist eligible
75	75	participating families in attaining self-sufficiency by:
76	76	(1) identifying eligibility requirements for the
77	77	continuation of financial assistance or supplemental nutrition
78	78	assistance benefits, the application of which may be deferred for a
79	79	limited period and that, if applied, would impede self-sufficiency;
80	80	(2) implementing strategies, including deferring the
81	81	application of the eligibility requirements identified in
82	82	Subdivision (1), to remove barriers to self-sufficiency; and
83	83	(3) moving eligible participating families through
84	84	progressive stages toward self-sufficiency that include the
85	85	following phases:
86	86	(A) an initial phase in which a family moves out
87	87	of an emergent crisis by securing housing, medical care, and
88	88	financial assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance
89	89	benefits, as necessary;
90	90	(B) a second phase in which:
91	91	(i) the family moves toward stability by
92	92	securing employment and, if necessary, child care and by
93	93	participating in services that build the financial management
94	94	skills necessary to meet financial goals; and
95	95	(ii) the family's financial assistance and
96	96	supplemental nutrition assistance benefits are reduced according
97	97	to the following scale:
98	98	(a) on reaching 25 percent of the
99	99	family's living wage, the amount of benefits is reduced by 10
100	100	percent;
101	101	(b) on reaching 50 percent of the
102	102	family's living wage, the amount of benefits is reduced by 25
103	103	percent; and
104	104	(c) on reaching 75 percent of the
105	105	family's living wage, the amount of benefits is reduced by 50
106	106	percent;
107	107	(C) a third phase in which the family:
108	108	(i) transitions to self-sufficiency by
109	109	securing employment that pays a living wage, reducing debt, and
110	110	building savings; and
111	111	(ii) becomes ineligible for financial
112	112	assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance benefits on
113	113	reaching 100 percent of the family's living wage; and
114	114	(D) a final phase in which the family attains
115	115	self-sufficiency by retaining employment that pays a living wage,
116	116	amassing at least $1,000 per member of the family's household, and
117	117	having manageable debt so that the family will no longer be
118	118	dependent on financial assistance, supplemental nutrition
119	119	assistance, or other means-tested public benefits for at least six
120	120	months following the date the family stops participating in the
121	121	program.
122	122	(g) A person from a family that wishes to participate in the
123	123	pilot program must attend an in-person intake meeting with a
124	124	program case manager. During the intake meeting the case manager
125	125	shall:
126	126	(1) determine whether:
127	127	(A) the person's family meets the eligibility
128	128	requirements under Subsection (e); and
129	129	(B) the application of income or asset limit
130	130	eligibility requirements for continuation of financial assistance
131	131	and supplemental nutrition assistance benefits may be deferred
132	132	under the program;
133	133	(2) review the family's demographic information and
134	134	household financial budget;
135	135	(3) assess the family members' current financial and
136	136	career situations;
137	137	(4) collaborate with the person to develop and
138	138	implement strategies for removing barriers to the family attaining
139	139	self-sufficiency, including deferring the application of income
140	140	and asset limit eligibility requirements for continuation of
141	141	financial assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance
142	142	benefits; and
143	143	(5) if the person's family is determined to be eligible
144	144	for and chooses to participate in the program, schedule a follow-up
145	145	meeting to further assess the family's crisis, review available
146	146	referral services, and create a service plan.
147	147	(h) The pilot program must provide each participating
148	148	family with holistic, wraparound case management services,
149	149	including the strategic use of financial assistance and
150	150	supplemental nutrition assistance benefits, to ensure that goals
151	151	included in the family's service plan are achieved. A
152	152	participating family must be assigned a program case manager who
153	153	shall:
154	154	(1) if the family is determined to be eligible,
155	155	provide the family with a verification of the deferred application
156	156	of asset and income limits described by Subsection (c), allowing
157	157	the family to continue receiving financial assistance and
158	158	supplemental nutrition assistance benefits on a slow reduction
159	159	scale;
160	160	(2) assess, at the follow-up meeting scheduled under
161	161	Subsection (g)(5), the family's crisis, review available referral
162	162	services, and create a service plan; and
163	163	(3) during the initial phase of the program, create
164	164	medium- and long-term goals consistent with the strategies
165	165	developed under Subsection (g)(4).
166	166	(i) The pilot program must operate for at least 24 months.
167	167	The program shall also include 16 additional months for:
168	168	(1) planning and designing the program before the
169	169	program begins operation;
170	170	(2) recruiting eligible families to participate in the
171	171	program;
172	172	(3) randomly placing each participating family in one
173	173	of at least three research groups, including:
174	174	(A) a control group;
175	175	(B) a group consisting of families for whom the
176	176	application of income and asset limits is deferred; and
177	177	(C) a group consisting of families for whom the
178	178	application of income and asset limits is deferred and who receive
179	179	wraparound case management services under the program; and
180	180	(4) after the program begins operation, collecting and
181	181	sharing data that allows for:
182	182	(A) obtaining participating families'
183	183	eligibility and identification data before a family is randomly
184	184	placed in a research group under Subdivision (3);
185	185	(B) conducting surveys or interviews of
186	186	participating families to obtain information that is not contained
187	187	in records related to a family's eligibility for financial
188	188	assistance, supplemental nutrition assistance, or other
189	189	means-tested public benefits;
190	190	(C) providing quarterly reports for not more than
191	191	60 months after a participating family is enrolled in the pilot
192	192	program regarding the program's effect on the family's labor market
193	193	participation and income and need for means-tested public benefits;
194	194	(D) assessing the interaction of the program's
195	195	components with the desired outcomes of the program using data
196	196	collected during the program and data obtained from state agencies
197	197	concerning means-tested public benefits; and
198	198	(E) a third party to conduct a rigorous
199	199	experimental impact evaluation of the pilot program.
200	200	(j) The commission shall develop and implement the pilot
201	201	program with the assistance of the Texas Workforce Commission,
202	202	local workforce development boards, faith-based and other relevant
203	203	public or private organizations, and any other entity or person the
204	204	commission determines appropriate.
205	205	(k) The commission shall monitor and evaluate the pilot
206	206	program in a manner that allows for promoting research-informed
207	207	results of the program.
208	208	(l) On the conclusion of the pilot program but not later
209	209	than 48 months following the date the last participating family is
210	210	enrolled in the program, the commission shall report to the
211	211	legislature on the results of the program. The report must include:
212	212	(1) an evaluation of the program's effect on
213	213	participating families in achieving self-sufficiency and no longer
214	214	requiring means-tested public benefits;
215	215	(2) the impact to this state on the costs of the
216	216	financial assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance
217	217	programs and of the child care services program operated by the
218	218	Texas Workforce Commission;
219	219	(3) a cost-benefit analysis of the program; and
220	220	(4) recommendations on the feasibility and
221	221	continuation of the program.
222	222	(m) During the operation of the pilot program, the
223	223	commission shall provide to the legislature additional reports
224	224	concerning the program that the commission determines to be
225	225	appropriate.
226	226	(n) The executive commissioner and the Texas Workforce
227	227	Commission may adopt rules to implement this section.
228	228	(o) This section expires September 1, 2026.
229	229	SECTION 2. If before implementing any provision of this Act
230	230	a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
231	231	federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
232	232	the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
233	233	authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
234	234	waiver or authorization is granted.
235	235	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
236	236	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
237	237	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
238	238	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
239	239	Act takes effect September 1, 2019.