HBA-MPM C.S.S.B. 45 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 45
By: Zaffirini
Human Services
4/17/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In 1995, the 74th Texas Legislature enacted welfare reform. Rather than
immediately conform with federal welfare reform regulations enacted in
1996, the state was allowed to take advantage of a waiver option. When the
waiver expires in March 2002, the state may exempt up to 20 percent of its
caseload from federal lifetime time limits and work requirements due to
hardship if it first defines the circumstances that warrant hardship
exemption. C.S.S.B. 45 requires the Texas Department of Human Services
(DHS), the Health and Human Services Commission, and the Texas Workforce
Commission to jointly adopt rules prescribing what constitutes a hardship
and provides a hardship exemption to a recipient of financial assistance
who is younger than 20 years of age and who does not have a high school
diploma or equivalency certificate (GED) while participating in educational
activities, and authorizes DHS to impose time limits on assistance to a
person who reaches 20 years of age and does not have a diploma or GED. 

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,
the Health and Human Services Commission, and the Texas Workforce
Commission in SECTION 2 (Section 31.0065, Human Resources Code) of this
bill.  

ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 45 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Texas Department
of Human Services (DHS) to provide a person younger than 20 years of age
who does not have a high school diploma or high school equivalency
certificate (GED) to a hardship exemption from the time limits imposed on
recipients of financial assistance while the person is participating in
educational activities designed to result in the receipt of a diploma or
GED.  If the person reaches the age of 20 and has not yet received a
diploma or GED, DHS is authorized to impose a time limit on receipt of
financial assistance and transitional benefits of one, two, or three years,
as appropriate based on the person's educational status and work
experience, computed beginning with the person's 20th birthday. 

The bill requires DHS, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), and the Health
and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to jointly adopt rules prescribing
circumstances that constitute a hardship for purposes of exempting a person
from the time limits imposed by federal law.  The bill provides that the
rules must include a broad range of circumstances that reasonably prevent
recipients from becoming selfsupporting before the expiration date set by
federal law.  Before adopting a rule, DHS TWC, and HHSC must submit the
proposed rule to the lieutenant governor and speaker of the house of
representatives for referral to the appropriate standing committees of each
house of the legislature and consider any comments regarding the proposed
rule that are provided by the committees in a timely manner. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.


 COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.S.B. 45 differs from the original bill by requiring the Texas
Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide a person younger than 20
years old who does not have a high school diploma or high school
equivalency certificate (GED) with a hardship exemption from the time
limits imposed on recipients of financial assistance while the person is
participating in educational activities designed to result in the receipt
of a diploma or GED.  The substitute also adds provisions authorizing DHS
to impose time limits on receipt of financial assistance and transitional
benefits by a person who attains 20 years of age and has not yet received a
diploma or GED. 

The substitute specifies that before adopting a rule as required by this
bill, DHS, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Health and Human
Services Commission must submit the rule to the lieutenant governor and
speaker of the house of representatives for consideration by the
appropriate standing committees.