Northern Marianas Family Assistance Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1773 To make the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands eligible for the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 10, 2021 Mr. SABLAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To make the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- lands eligible for the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Marianas 4 Family Assistance Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1773.IH H1773 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1773 IH SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE 1 NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS FOR THE 2 TANF PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 419(5) of the Social Secu- 4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 619(5)) is amended by striking ‘‘and 5 American Samoa’’ and inserting ‘‘American Samoa, and 6 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 7 (b) FAMILY ASSISTANCE GRANT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(a)(1)(B) of 9 such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(1)(B)) is amended— 10 (A) by striking ‘‘specified in’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘in effect for purposes of’’; and 12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the 14 State family assistance grant for the Common- 15 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for 16 each fiscal year shall be the lesser of the 17 amount that equals 80 percent of the total ex- 18 penditures of the Commonwealth under the 19 Commonwealth program funded under this part 20 in the fiscal year, or the mandatory ceiling 21 amount (as defined in section 1108) with re- 22 spect to Guam.’’. 23 (2) APPROPRIATION.—Section 403(a)(1)(C) of 24 such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(1)(C)) is amended by 25 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The dollar amount 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1773.IH H1773 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1773 IH in effect under this subparagraph for a fiscal year 1 shall be the amount specified in the preceding sen- 2 tence increased by the mandatory ceiling amount (as 3 defined in section 1108) with respect to Guam, and 4 an amount equal to that increase shall be reserved 5 for a grant under this paragraph to the Common- 6 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 7 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR THE CONTINGENCY FUND.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on October 1 of 9 the 5th fiscal year immediately following the 1st fis- 10 cal year referred to in subsection (g): 11 (A) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 403(b)(7) of 12 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(b)(7)) is 13 amended by striking ‘‘States and the District of 14 Columbia’’ and inserting ‘‘States, the District 15 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the 16 Northern Mariana Islands’’. 17 (B) EXCLUSION FROM LIMITATION ON 18 PAYMENTS TO THE TERRITORIES.—Section 19 1108(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1308(a)(2)) 20 is amended by inserting ‘‘, or any payment 21 made to the Commonwealth of the Northern 22 Mariana Islands under section 403(b)’’ before 23 the period. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1773.IH H1773 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1773 IH (2) DEVELOPMENT OF NEEDY STATE CRI- 1 TERIA.—As soon as is practicable but not later than 2 the date paragraph (1) of this subsection takes ef- 3 fect, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 4 shall work with the Government of the Common- 5 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to develop 6 the criteria to be used in determining whether, on or 7 after such date, the Commonwealth is a needy State 8 for purposes of section 403(b) of the Social Security 9 Act, which shall not include the criteria used by the 10 Bureau of Labor Statistics in determining unem- 11 ployment or the caseload criteria used in the Supple- 12 mental Nutrition Assistance Program. 13 (d) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS 14 AND PROHIBITION.— 15 (1) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO 16 OPERATION OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AND 17 FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PRO- 18 GRAMS.—Section 402(a) of the Social Security Act 19 (42 U.S.C. 602(a)) is amended in each of para- 20 graphs (2) and (3) by adding at the end the fol- 21 lowing: ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply with 22 respect to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar- 23 iana Islands.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1773.IH H1773 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1773 IH (2) MANDATORY WORK REQUIREMENTS.—Sec- 1 tions 407 and 409(a)(3) of such Act shall not apply 2 to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 3 lands. 4 (3) BAN ON ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES NOT 5 ASSIGNING CERTAIN SUPPORT RIGHTS TO THE 6 STATE.—Section 408(a)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 7 608(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply with 9 respect to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar- 10 iana Islands.’’. 11 (4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT REQUIRE- 12 MENT.—Section 409(a)(7) of such Act shall not 13 apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar- 14 iana Islands. 15 (e) ASSESSMENT OF WORK, EMPLOYMENT, AND 16 TRAINING PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Health and 17 Human Services shall seek to negotiate an agreement with 18 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 19 under which the performance of the work, employment, 20 and training program of the Commonwealth will be as- 21 sessed. 22 (f) TRANSITION PROVISIONS.—With respect to each 23 of the 4 fiscal years immediately following the 1st fiscal 24 year referred to in subsection (g) of this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1773.IH H1773 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1773 IH (1) EXEMPTION FROM LIMITATION ON USE OF 1 GRANT FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURES.—Sec- 2 tion 404(b) of the Social Security Act shall not 3 apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar- 4 iana Islands. 5 (2) INAPPLICABILITY OF PENALTY FOR FAIL- 6 URE OF STATE RECEIVING AMOUNTS FROM CONTIN- 7 GENCY FUND TO MAINTAIN 100 PERCENT OF HIS- 8 TORIC EFFORT.—Section 409(a)(10) of such Act 9 shall not apply to the Commonwealth of the North- 10 ern Mariana Islands. 11 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Not later than Octo- 12 ber 1 of the 1st fiscal year that begins after the date of 13 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 14 Human Services shall provide the Commonwealth of the 15 Northern Mariana Islands with technical assistance in de- 16 veloping a plan to meet the requirements of section 402 17 of the Social Security Act. 18 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub- 19 section (c), the amendments made by this section shall 20 take effect on October 1 of the 2nd fiscal year that begins 21 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1773.IH H1773 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS