HBA-SEP C.S.S.B. 42 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 42
By: Zaffirini
Human Services
4/26/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

A recipient of financial assistance is required to sign a personal
responsibility agreement and may be sanctioned for not complying with the
agreement.  Imposition of a sanction for not complying with family related
requirements may suggest that a caretaker of a child is facing some root
problem that contributes to the noncompliance.  C.S.S.B. 42 directs the
Department of Human Services to identify and address the needs of
recipients of financial assistance before imposing a penalty or sanction
for not meeting certain requirements.  

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 2 (Section 31.00331, Human Resources Code) of this bill.   

ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 42 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Texas Department
of Human Services (DHS), before applying a sanction or penalty to a
recipient of financial assistance for noncompliance with certain
requirements of the responsibility agreement, to conduct a case review to
determine the reasons for the noncompliance and whether the provisions of
local support services will enable the person to comply with that
requirement or prevent future noncompliance.  If DHS determines that local
support services are necessary, DHS is required to promptly refer the
person to appropriate support services.  DHS, by rule, is required to adopt
criteria for determining when to apply a sanction or penalty to a person
for whom DHS conducts a case review.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.  

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.S.B. 42 modifies the original to remove provisions requiring the Texas
Department of Human Services to develop and implement a needs assessment
program to identify the needs of dependant children of recipients of
financial assistance.