[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3397 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3397
To prohibit waivers relating to compliance with the work requirements
for the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for
needy families, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 18, 2012
Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Grassley, Mr.
Enzi, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Thune, Mr. Burr, Mr. Kyl, and Mr.
McConnell) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit waivers relating to compliance with the work requirements
for the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for
needy families, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preserving Work Requirements for
Welfare Programs Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The bipartisan 1996 welfare reforms succeeded as a
result of their pro-work focus, as demonstrated by the
following:
(A) Research has shown that 65 percent of families
receiving welfare through the former Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which lacked
effective work requirements and was replaced by the
1996 welfare reform law (Public Law 104-193), remained
on welfare for 8 or more years, and the average
lifetime receipt of welfare for families then receiving
benefits was 13 years.
(B) The 1996 welfare reform law replaced the failed
AFDC program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) block grant program, which made
promoting work a central focus of each State's efforts
to assist low-income parents in achieving self-
sufficiency.
(C) The 1996 welfare reforms resulted in--
(i) significant increases in the employment
and earnings of single mothers;
(ii) record declines in welfare dependency
as TANF rolls fell by more than 57 percent; and
(iii) significant reductions in child
poverty in female-headed households, which even
after the impact of a deep recession are still
below pre-reform levels.
(2) The authors of the 1996 welfare reforms did not intend
for States to be able to ``waive'' this pro-work focus, as
indicated by the following:
(A) In the 1996 welfare reform law, Congress
created specific new work requirements for welfare
recipients.
(B) In the 1996 welfare reform law, Congress
allowed States some limited waiver authority over only
TANF State plan requirements which require the State to
describe how they intend to carry out various TANF
program requirements.
(C) In section 1115 of the Social Security Act,
Congress specifically did not authorize States to seek,
or the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award,
waivers involving TANF work requirements. In section
415 of the Social Security Act, Congress specified that
any waivers subsequently approved could not waive
features of those work requirements.
(D) In a Congressional summary published
immediately after enactment of the 1996 reforms, the
authors of the 1996 welfare reform law summarized its
intended treatment of waivers as follows: ``Waivers
granted after the date of enactment may not override
provisions of the TANF law that concern mandatory work
requirements.''.
(3) The recent Department of Health and Human Services
Information Memorandum dated July 12, 2012, suggesting States
may waive this pro-work focus should be immediately withdrawn
by the Obama Administration, or repealed through this
legislation, for the following reasons:
(A) In the 16 years since enactment of the 1996
welfare reforms, no previous Secretary of Health and
Human Services has ever asserted that he or she has
authority to grant waivers involving TANF work
requirements.
(B) Despite this fact, and without any prior Obama
Administration legislative proposal or consultation
with Congress, on July 12, 2012, the Department of
Health and Human Services unilaterally determined that
the Secretary could permit States to waive statutory
work requirements for welfare recipients.
(C) The Secretary should repeal the July 12, 2012
Information Memorandum and make it clear once again
that States do not have authority to seek, and the
Secretary does not have the authority to grant, waivers
of work requirements under the TANF program, consistent
with longstanding interpretation of TANF law.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON TANF WAIVERS RELATING TO COMPLIANCE WITH THE
TANF WORK REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services may not do the following:
(1) Finalize, implement, enforce, or otherwise take any
action to give effect to the Information Memorandum dated July
12, 2012 (Transmittal No. TANF-ACF-IM-2012-03), or to any
administrative action relating to the same subject matter set
forth in the Information Memorandum or that reflects the same
or similar policies as those set forth in the Information
Memorandum.
(2) Authorize, approve, renew, modify, or extend any
experimental, pilot, or demonstration project under section
1115 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1315) that waives
compliance with a requirement of section 407 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 607) through a waiver of section 402 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 602) or that provides authority for an expenditure which
would not otherwise be an allowable use of funds under a State
program funded under part A of title IV of such Act (42 U.S.C.
601 et seq.) with respect to compliance with the work
requirements in section 407 of such Act to be regarded as an
allowable use of funds under that program for any period.
(b) Rescission of Waivers.--Any waiver relating to the subject
matter set forth in the Information Memorandum or described in
subsection (a)(2) that is granted before the date of the enactment of
this Act is hereby rescinded and shall be null and void.
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