HBA-MSH, SEP H.B. 43 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 43
By: McClendon
Human Services
2/22/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is designed to
provide temporary cash assistance to poor single and two-parent families
with children as well as support services to transition recipients into the
workplace.   TANF grants are based upon need and families that receive
these grants may also receive food stamps and Medicaid.  Currently, certain
recipients of TANF benefits receive an earned income disregard for
employment.  The purpose of an earned income disregard is to allow the
families to transition gradually off cash assistance after they have become
employed.  Presently, the time limit for earned income disregard is 4
months, after which assistance is terminated.  A longer time limit will
ease the transition into the workplace and toward self-sufficiency.  House
Bill 43 extends to six months the time limit for earned income disregard
for TANF program recipients. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Human Services
in SECTION 1 (Section 31.0038, Human Resources Code) of this bill. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 43 amends the Human Resources Code to provide that if a
recipient of financial aid becomes employed while receiving assistance,
the Texas Department of Human Services (DHS) may not consider, for up to
the first six months in which income from employment is received, any
earned income received by the recipient in excess of $120 for the purposes
of determining either: 
 
 _the amount of financial assistance granted to an individual for the
support of dependent children; or  
 
 _whether the family meets income and  resource requirements for financial
assistance.   

DHS is prohibited from disregarding the earned income of a recipient who
voluntarily and without good cause left a position of employment while
receiving financial assistance or during a specific period, to be
determined by DHS rule, that immediately precedes the date on which the
recipient obtained new employment.  DHS is also prohibited from
disregarding the earned income of a former recipient of the earned income
disregards benefit, until the first anniversary of the day after the last
date on which the former recipient's earned income was disregarded.  The
bill also prohibits DHS from exempting the recipient from participating in
a work or employment activity during the period the earned income of a
recipient is disregarded. 

The bill requires DHS to ensure that adopted rules assist a person in
making a successful transition from the receipt of financial assistance to
employment and self sufficiency and apply only to recipients who have
income in an amount that does not exceed the maximum gross limit set by
DHS.  


 This bill also repeals law authorizing fill-the-gap budgeting, a system of
budgeting in which benefits are gradually lowered using a percentage of the
difference between the standard of need and the countable income to
calculate the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant benefit.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.