00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 409(HES) 01 "An Act relating to the maximum amount of assistance that may be granted 02 under the adult public assistance program and the program of aid to families 03 with dependent children; proposing a special demonstration project within the 04 program of aid to families with dependent children and directing the Department 05 of Health and Social Services to seek waivers from the federal government to 06 implement the project." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. WAIVER APPLICATION. (a) The Department of Health and Social 09 Services shall, by December 31, 1994, seek appropriate waivers from the federal government 10 to implement the AFDC demonstration project described in secs. 1 - 6 of this Act. To the 11 extent that the federal government approves the necessary waivers, the department shall 12 implement the project. The purpose of the project is to promote personal responsibility and 13 self-sufficiency. 14 (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, if changes in federal statutes or regulations 01 occur after the effective date of this section and would have a major effect on the design, 02 implementation, or operation of the project, the department shall 03 (1) apply for and implement only the waivers that relate to the parts of the 04 project that are not substantially affected by the changes in federal statutes or regulations; if 05 the department determines that the parts of the project that are not substantially affected by 06 the federal changes do not comprise a fiscally responsible project, the department is not 07 required to apply for or implement waivers under this Act and may discontinue operation of 08 the project under waivers that were implemented before the federal changes occurred; 09 (2) report to the legislature its recommendations for changes in its statutory 10 authority that may be needed in order to implement a fiscally responsible project in light of 11 conflicting or permissive changes in federal statutes or regulations. 12 * Sec. 2. EARNED INCOME DISREGARD; WAIVER OF "100-HOUR" RULE; AUTO 13 ALLOWANCE. When determining the AFDC eligibility of a family in the project area and 14 when determining the amount of assistance to which a family in the project area is entitled, 15 the department shall 16 (1) disregard, for 24 months, $200 plus one-third of the remainder of the 17 earned income of each person in the family unless federal regulations require that more earned 18 income of a person must be disregarded; for a family that applies for AFDC after this 19 paragraph has been implemented, this 24 months begins with the month for which the family 20 is first granted AFDC; for a family that is already receiving assistance when this paragraph 21 is implemented, this 24 months begins with the first month during which this paragraph is 22 implemented; 23 (2) waive the requirement that, for purposes of assistance for a dependent child 24 of unemployed parents, the principal wage-earning parent must be employed less than 100 25 hours a month; and 26 (3) allow the exclusion of $5,000 of the combined equity of motor vehicles 27 used by the family for basic family transportation, transportation of a disabled child in the 28 household, or transportation of a member of the family to or from employment, training, or 29 participation in an activity required under sec. 3 of this Act; if the combined equity of vehicles 30 described in this paragraph exceeds $5,000, the department shall apply the excess equity 31 amount toward the asset limit otherwise applicable to the family. 01 * Sec. 3. WORKFARE. (a) Each member of a family in the project area who is 18 years 02 of age or older shall participate for 21 hours a week in an uncompensated activity if assigned 03 to the activity by the department. The department shall assess the availability of activities that 04 satisfy the purposes of this subsection in each part of the project area and attempt to develop 05 additional activities where necessary. When assessing the availability of activities that are 06 suitable as uncompensated activities under this section and in assigning persons to those 07 activities, the department shall consider activities recommended by governmental 08 representatives of boroughs, cities, and communities and others in the project area. The 09 department shall penalize the family for failure of a person to comply with this subsection by 10 disregarding that person as a member of the family for purposes of determining the amount 11 of AFDC assistance given to the family. 12 (b) If organizations exist in the project area that have had successful experience in 13 conducting employment placement services, community services, and job training programs, 14 the department shall offer on a competitive basis contracts to those organizations to administer 15 (a) of this section. A contract under this subsection must provide that the department shall 16 make the determinations required under (c) and (d) of this section and the contractor shall 17 perform the duties assigned to the department under (a) of this section with respect to 18 uncompensated activities, including assessment of their availability, development of additional 19 activities, consideration of activities recommended by governmental representatives, and 20 assignment of persons to specific activities after referral of those persons to the contractor by 21 the department. 22 (c) The requirement to participate in an uncompensated activity under (a) of this 23 section does not apply to a person who 24 (1) has paid employment of at least 15 hours a week; a person who has paid 25 employment of less than 15 hours a week shall participate in an uncompensated activity 26 assigned under (a) of this section for the number of hours that, when added to the hours of 27 paid employment, equals 21; 28 (2) is participating in an activity under AS 47.25.421 - 47.25.429 (JOBS 29 program); 30 (3) is participating in an activity under a program operated by an Indian or 31 Native organization under 42 U.S.C. 682(i) unless the Indian or Native organization agrees 01 to the person's inclusion in the project; 02 (4) is exempt from participating in an activity under AS 47.25.421 - 47.25.429 03 (JOBS program); 04 (5) is the parent or other relative of a child under six years of age living in the 05 same household who personally provides care for the child; or 06 (6) is determined, according to regulations of the department, to be physically 07 or mentally unable to perform any reasonable activity that may be assigned under this section; 08 or 09 (7) is a parent who is providing care for a child with a developmental disability 10 as defined by AS 47.80.900(7). 11 (d) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, the department may not require a person to 12 participate in an uncompensated activity under (a) of this section unless the department agrees 13 to pay for 14 (1) costs of child care determined by the department to be necessary for the 15 person's participation; and 16 (2) transportation expenses determined by the department to be necessary for 17 the person's participation in the activity. 18 * Sec. 4. PROJECT AREA. The department shall determine the area in which the project 19 will be implemented by choosing four municipalities as follows: 20 (1) the municipality that had the highest number of households receiving 21 AFDC in fiscal year 1992; 22 (2) a municipality contiguous to the municipality determined under (1) of this 23 section; 24 (3) an area consisting of 25  (A) a home rule city that is contained within the boundaries of a second 26 class borough and has a population of at least 15,000 persons; and 27  (B) the second class borough that contains the city described in (A) of 28 this paragraph; and 29 (4) the largest municipality, as measured by square miles, including the cities 30 within the municipality. 31 * Sec. 5. COOPERATION. State agencies shall cooperate with the department to the 01 extent necessary to implement secs. 1 - 6 of this Act. 02 * Sec. 6. DEFINITIONS. In secs. 1 - 6 of this Act, 03 (1) "AFDC" means the program of aid to families with dependent children 04 under AS 47.25.310 - 47.25.420; 05 (2) "department" means the Department of Health and Social Services; 06 (3) "project" means the department's implementation of the eligibility 07 modifications of sec. 2 of this Act and the work requirements of sec. 3 of this Act, to the 08 extent that the federal government approves those modifications and requirements; 09 (4) "project area" means the area established by the department under sec. 4 10 of this Act. 11 * Sec. 7. AFDC. Notwithstanding AS 47.25.320(a)(1) - (3), the maximum amounts of 12 assistance under AS 47.25.320(a) may not exceed the amounts granted to similarly situated 13 recipients for the month of October 1993, subject to adjustments under other laws. 14 * Sec. 8. ADULT PUBLIC ASSISTANCE. Except as provided in AS 47.25.430(b), the 15 monthly state contribution to a recipient under AS 47.25.430 - 47.25.615 may not exceed the 16 amount of state assistance granted to a similarly situated recipient for the month of October 17 1993, unless adjusted under other laws. 18 * Sec. 9. This Act is repealed July 1, 1999.