HB 409: "An Act relating to the maximum amount of assistance that may be granted under the adult public assistance program and the program of aid to families with dependent children; proposing a special demonstration project within the program of aid to families with dependent children and directing the Department of Health and Social Services to seek waivers from the federal government to implement the project; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 409 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; and providing for an effective date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. AS 47.25.320(a) is amended to read: 09 (a) The department shall determine the amount of assistance for a dependent 10 child, and the relative with whom the dependent child is living, with regard to the 11 resources and necessary expenditures of the family and the condition existing in each 12 case. Assistance is sufficient if, when added to all other income and support available 13 to the child, the child and relative have reasonable subsistence compatible with 14 decency and health. However, the amount of assistance may not exceed the following:
01 (1) dependent child living with nonneedy relative: for a dependent child 02 who is living in the home of a nonneedy relative, $451 [$452], plus $100 [$102] for 03 each additional child; 04 (2) dependent child living with parent: 05 (A) for a parent and one dependent child, a maximum of 06 $806 [$821]; 07 (B) for each additional dependent child, or for a second parent, 08 $100 [$102] a month per individual; 09 (3) pregnant woman who is otherwise eligible for assistance under this 10 section, or a single-person household that does not consist of a dependent child: 11 $505 [$514] a month. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 47.25.320(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 13 (a) The department shall determine the amount of assistance for a dependent 14 child, and the relative with whom the dependent child is living, with regard to the 15 resources and necessary expenditures of the family and the condition existing in each 16 case. Assistance is sufficient if, when added to all other income and support available 17 to the child, the child and relative have reasonable subsistence compatible with 18 decency and health. However, the amount of assistance may not exceed the following: 19 (1) dependent child living with nonneedy relative: for a dependent 20 child who is living in the home of a nonneedy relative, $452, plus $102 for each 21 additional child; 22 (2) dependent child living with parent: 23 (A) for a parent with one dependent child, a maximum of $821; 24 (B) for each additional dependent child, or for a second parent, 25 $102 a month per individual; 26 (3) pregnant woman who is otherwise eligible for assistance under this 27 section, or a single-person household that does not consist of a dependent child: $514 28 a month. 29 * Sec. 3. AS 47.25.430 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 30 (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of AS 47.25.430 - 47.25.615, the monthly 31 state contribution to a recipient under AS 47.25.430 - 47.25.615 may not exceed the
01 amount of state assistance granted to a similarly situated recipient for the month of 02 January 1992, reduced by 1.7 percent. 03 * Sec. 4. WAIVER APPLICATION. The Department of Health and Social Services shall 04 seek appropriate waivers from the federal government to implement the AFDC demonstration 05 project described in secs. 4 - 9 of this Act. If the federal government approves only part of 06 the project, the department shall implement that part. 07 * Sec. 5. EARNED INCOME DISREGARD; WAIVER OF "100-HOUR" RULE; AUTO 08 ALLOWANCE. When determining the AFDC eligibility of an assistance unit in the project 09 area, the department shall 10 (1) disregard, for 24 months after the date of the assistance unit's application 11 for AFDC, $200 plus one-third of the remainder of the earned income of each person in the 12 assistance unit unless federal regulations require that more earned income of a person must 13 be disregarded; 14 (2) waive the requirement that, for purposes of assistance for a dependent child 15 of unemployed parents, the principal wage-earning parent must be employed less than 100 16 hours a month; and 17 (3) allow the exclusion of $5,000 of the combined equity of motor vehicles 18 used by the assistance unit for basic family transportation, transportation of a disabled child 19 in the household, or transportation of a member of the assistance unit to or from employment, 20 training, or participation in an activity required under sec. 6 of this Act; if the combined 21 equity of vehicles described in this paragraph exceeds $5,000, the department shall apply the 22 excess equity amount toward the asset limit otherwise applicable to the assistance unit. 23 * Sec. 6. WORKFARE. (a) Each member of an assistance unit in the project area who 24 is 18 years of age or older shall participate for 21 hours a week in an uncompensated activity 25 assigned by the department. The department shall penalize the assistance unit for failure of 26 a person to comply with this subsection by disregarding that person as a member of the unit 27 for purposes of determining the amount of AFDC assistance given to the unit. 28 (b) The requirement to participate in an uncompensated activity under (a) of this 29 section does not apply to a person who 30 (1) has paid employment of at least 10 hours a week; a person who has paid 31 employment of less than 10 hours a week shall participate in an uncompensated activity
01 assigned under (a) of this section for the number of hours that, when added to the hours of 02 paid employment, equals 21; 03 (2) is participating in an activity under AS 47.25.421 - 47.25.429 (JOBS 04 program); 05 (3) is participating in an activity under a program operated by an Indian or 06 Native organization under 42 U.S.C. 682(i) unless the Indian or Native organization agrees 07 to the person's inclusion in the project; 08 (4) is exempt from participating in an activity under AS 47.25.421 - 47.25.429 09 (JOBS program); or 10 (5) is determined, according to regulations of the department, to be physically 11 or mentally unable to perform any reasonable activity that may be assigned under this section. 12 (c) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, the department may not require a person to 13 participate in an uncompensated activity under (a) of this section unless the department agrees 14 to pay for 15 (1) costs of child care determined by the department to be necessary for the 16 person's participation; and 17 (2) other expenses, such as transportation expenses, determined by the 18 department to be necessary for the person's participation in the activity. 19 * Sec. 7. PROJECT AREA. The department shall determine the area in which the project 20 will be implemented by choosing three municipalities as follows: 21 (1) the municipality that had the highest number of households receiving 22 AFDC in fiscal year 1992; 23 (2) a municipality contiguous to the municipality determined under (1) of this 24 section; and 25 (3) a municipality in an area not connected by road to the Anchorage-Fairbanks 26 road system, whose boundaries are substantially coextensive with an area served by a Native 27 organization under 42 U.S.C. 682(i). 28 * Sec. 8. COOPERATION. State agencies shall cooperate with the department to the 29 extent necessary to implement secs. 4 - 9 of this Act. 30 * Sec. 9. DEFINITIONS. In secs. 4 - 9 of this Act, 31 (1) "AFDC" means the program of aid to families with dependent children
01 under AS 47.25.310 - 47.25.420; 02 (2) "department" means the Department of Health and Social Services; 03 (3) "project" means the department's implementation of the eligibility 04 modifications of sec. 5 of this Act and the work requirements of sec. 6 of this Act, to the 05 extent that the federal government approves those modifications and requirements; 06 (4) "project area" means the area established by the department under sec. 7 07 of this Act. 08 * Sec. 10. AS 47.25.430(f), added by sec. 3 of this Act, and secs. 4 - 9 of this Act are 09 repealed June 30, 1999. 10 * Sec. 11. Section 2 of this Act takes effect June 30, 1999. 11 * Sec. 12. Section 4 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 12 * Sec. 13. Except as provided in secs. 11 - 12 of this Act, this Act takes effect upon 13 approval of waivers applied for under sec. 4 of this Act. The commissioner of health and 14 social services shall promptly notify the revisor of statutes of the date of the approval required 15 under this section.