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 AS 47.25.320(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 13 (a) The department shall determine the amount of assistance for a dependent 14 child, and the relative with whom the dependent child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