HBA-CCH H.B. 1959 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1959 By: Naishtat Human Services 3/2/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current federal law makes certain legal immigrants ineligible for food stamps but allows states flexibility in determining how to count their income when determining the benefit levels of members of the same household who are eligible for food stamps. In 1998, there were more than 65,000 households in Texas that included both eligible members for food stamps and ineligible legal immigrants. Because of the way the Department of Human Services (DHS) counts the income of ineligible legal immigrants when determining the household's resources thousands of eligible members of these households have had their food stamp benefits reduced or taken away, including 145,000 children in Texas. House Bill 1959 requires DHS to exclude the income of legal immigrants who are ineligible for food stamps, to the extent allowed by federal law, when determining food stamp benefits for members of the same household who are eligible for food stamps. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1959 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Department of Human Services, to the maximum extent allowed by federal law, to exclude the income of a person who is ineligible for food stamps because of federal citizenship requirements when determining eligibility and benefit levels for another person of the same household. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.