EMPOWERS Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2416 To provide States with the option of applying for and receiving temporary waivers for the States to experiment with new approaches that integrate Federal programs in order to provide more coordinated and holistic solutions to families in need, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 1, 2019 Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. PERDUE, and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- mental Affairs A BILL To provide States with the option of applying for and receiv- ing temporary waivers for the States to experiment with new approaches that integrate Federal programs in order to provide more coordinated and holistic solutions to families in need, 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 ‘‘Economic Mobility, 4 Prosperity, and Opportunity with Waivers that Enable Re- 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2416 IS forms for States Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘EMPOWERS Act 1 of 2019’’. 2 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of Congress that— 4 (1) each State is in the best position to deter- 5 mine— 6 (A) the specific needs of the population of 7 the State; and 8 (B) how those needs should be addressed; 9 and 10 (2) the purpose of expanding the use of State 11 waivers in Federal antipoverty programs— 12 (A) is not to cut the aggregate amount of 13 Federal antipoverty spending; but 14 (B) is to allow States the flexibility to im- 15 prove the effectiveness of that spending. 16 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY WAIVERS FOR FEDERAL ANTIPOVERTY 17 PROGRAMS. 18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 20 Interagency Board for Empowering Low-Income 21 Families established by subsection (b)(1). 22 (2) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered 23 program’’ means— 24 (A) in the case of nutrition programs— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2416 IS (i) the supplemental nutrition assist- 1 ance program established under the Food 2 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 3 et seq.); 4 (ii) the special supplemental nutrition 5 program for women, infants, and children 6 established by section 17 of the Child Nu- 7 trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); 8 (iii) the commodity supplemental food 9 program established under section 5 of the 10 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act 11 of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; Public Law 12 93–86); 13 (iv) the Senior Farmers’ Market Nu- 14 trition Program of the Department of Ag- 15 riculture; 16 (v) the emergency food assistance pro- 17 gram established under the Emergency 18 Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 19 7501 et seq.); 20 (vi) the congregate nutrition services 21 program carried out under subpart 1 of 22 part C of title III of the Older Americans 23 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030e); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2416 IS (vii) the home delivered nutrition serv- 1 ices program carried out under subpart 2 2 of part C of title III of the Older Ameri- 3 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030f et 4 seq.); and 5 (viii) the nutrition services incentives 6 program carried out under section 311 of 7 the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 8 U.S.C. 3030a); 9 (B) in the case of housing programs— 10 (i) the tenant-based rental assistance 11 program under section 8 of the United 12 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 13 1437f); 14 (ii) the project-based rental assistance 15 program under section 8 of the United 16 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 17 1437f); 18 (iii) assistance to public housing agen- 19 cies from the Capital Fund and Operating 20 Fund established under subsections (d) 21 and (e), respectively, of section 9 of the 22 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 23 U.S.C. 1437g); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2416 IS (iv) the single family rural housing 1 loan program under section 502 of the 2 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472); 3 (v) the rural rental assistance pro- 4 gram under section 521 of the Housing 5 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a); 6 (vi) the community development block 7 grant program under title I of the Housing 8 and Community Development Act of 1974 9 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); 10 (vii) the Home Investment Partner- 11 ships Program under title II of the Cran- 12 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 13 Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.); and 14 (viii) the neighborhood stabilization 15 program under title III of division B of the 16 Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 17 2008 (42 U.S.C. 5301 note); 18 (C) the temporary assistance for needy 19 families program established under part A of 20 title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 21 601 et seq.); 22 (D) the child and family services programs 23 carried out under subparts 1 and 2 of part B 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2416 IS of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1 621 et seq.); 2 (E) the program to provide Federal pay- 3 ments for foster care and adoption assistance 4 under part E of title IV of the Social Security 5 Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.), including the John 6 H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program 7 established under section 477 of the Social Se- 8 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 677); 9 (F) the block grant to States for social 10 services established under subtitle A of title XX 11 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et 12 seq.); 13 (G) the community services block grant 14 program carried out under the Community 15 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et 16 seq.); 17 (H) the Weatherization Assistance Pro- 18 gram for Low-Income Persons established 19 under part A of title IV of the Energy Con- 20 servation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6861 21 et seq.); 22 (I) the Low-Income Home Energy Assist- 23 ance Program carried out under the Low-In- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2416 IS come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 1 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.); 2 (J) programs carried out under the Child 3 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 4 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); and 5 (K) programs carried out under the Work- 6 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 7 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.). 8 (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 9 the Governor or chief executive of a State. 10 (4) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘‘partici- 11 pating State’’ means any of the States that apply 12 for and receive approval to carry out a project. 13 (5) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 14 project described in subsection (c). 15 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 16 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 17 Puerto Rico, a territory, or a possession that is eligi- 18 ble to participate in the applicable covered program. 19 (b) INTERAGENCY BOARD FOR EMPOWERING LOW- 20 INCOME FAMILIES.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an 22 interagency board, to be known as the ‘‘Interagency 23 Board for Empowering Low-Income Families’’, 24 which shall carry out this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2416 IS (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall be com- 1 posed of the following individuals: 2 (A) A Chairperson, who shall be appointed 3 by the President, by and with the advice and 4 consent of the Senate. 5 (B) The following agency heads (or a des- 6 ignee of any of the agency heads): 7 (i) The Secretary of Agriculture. 8 (ii) The Secretary of Health and 9 Human Services. 10 (iii) The Secretary of Housing and 11 Urban Development. 12 (iv) The Secretary of Labor. 13 (v) The Attorney General. 14 (vi) The Director of the Office of 15 Management and Budget. 16 (c) TEMPORARY WAIVERS FOR COVERED PRO- 17 GRAMS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Governor may apply to 19 the Board for the State to carry out a project for 20 a 4-year waiver to consolidate, replace, or alter eligi- 21 bility requirements for two or more covered pro- 22 grams. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2416 IS (2) PROVISIONS EXCLUDED FROM WAIVER AU- 1 THORITY.—A waiver shall not be granted under 2 paragraph (1)— 3 (A) with respect to any provision of law re- 4 lating to— 5 (i) civil rights or the prohibition of 6 discrimination; 7 (ii) the purposes or goals of any cov- 8 ered program; 9 (iii) maintenance of effort require- 10 ments; 11 (iv) health or safety; 12 (v) labor standards under the Fair 13 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 14 201 et seq.); or 15 (vi) environmental protection; 16 (B) in the case of a covered program de- 17 scribed in clauses (i) through (iii) of subsection 18 (a)(2)(B), with respect to any requirement 19 under section 5A of the United States Housing 20 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c–1); 21 (C) in the case of the supplemental nutri- 22 tion assistance program established under the 23 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2416 IS 2011 et seq.), with respect to any requirement 1 under— 2 (i) section 6 (if waiving a requirement 3 under that section would have the effect of 4 expanding eligibility for the program), 5 7(b), or 16(c) of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2015, 6 2016(b), 2025(c)); or 7 (ii) title IV of the Personal Responsi- 8 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 9 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 10 (D) with respect to— 11 (i) any requirement that a State pass 12 through to a sub-State entity part or all of 13 an amount paid to the State; 14 (ii) the work requirements under sec- 15 tion 407 of the Social Security Act (42 16 U.S.C. 607); 17 (iii) section 241(a) of the Adult Edu- 18 cation and Family Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 19 3331(a)); or 20 (iv) section 189(i)(3)(A)(i) of the 21 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 22 (29 U.S.C. 3249(i)(3)(A)(i)); 23 (E) if the waiver would— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2416 IS (i) waive any funding restriction or 1 limitation provided in an appropriations 2 Act; or 3 (ii) have the effect of transferring ap- 4 propriated funds from one appropriations 5 account to another appropriations account; 6 or 7 (F) except as otherwise provided by stat- 8 ute, if the waiver would— 9 (i) waive any funding restriction ap- 10 plicable to a program authorized under an 11 Act that is not an appropriations Act (but 12 not including program requirements, such 13 as application procedures, performance 14 standards, reporting requirements, or eligi- 15 bility standards); or 16 (ii) have the effect of transferring 17 funds from a program for which there is 18 direct spending (as defined in section 19 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emer- 20 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 21 U.S.C. 900(c))) to another program. 22 (d) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To obtain a 23 waiver for two or more covered programs under a project, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2416 IS a Governor shall submit to the Board an application that 1 describes— 2 (1) the programs and requirements of the cov- 3 ered programs under the project; 4 (2) the goals of the project; 5 (3) each change the State intends to make 6 under the project, including the manner in which the 7 change will— 8 (A) promote, with respect to program par- 9 ticipants— 10 (i) employment; 11 (ii) savings and financial literacy; and 12 (iii) family stability; 13 (B) reduce the dependence of program par- 14 ticipants on government assistance; and 15 (C) reduce poverty; 16 (4) the manner in which— 17 (A) program participants will be served 18 under the project, including eligibility criteria; 19 (B) program benefits will be reduced under 20 the project as the income of program partici- 21 pants is modified; 22 (C) funds will be used under the project, 23 including an assurance that all program funds 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 2416 IS will be used to assist program participants, sub- 1 ject to subsection (h)(2); 2 (D) the State will evaluate the project by 3 contracting with an independent, third-party 4 evaluator, including a description of— 5 (i) the methodology that will be used 6 to evaluate the project; 7 (ii) the impacts and outcomes that 8 will be measured, and how those impacts 9 and outcomes relate to the goals of the 10 project described under paragraph (2); and 11 (iii) the data that the State will collect 12 and provide to the evaluator that describes 13 program participants and control group 14 members, including— 15 (I) demographic characteristics; 16 (II) financial well-being; 17 (III) history of receipt of govern- 18 ment benefits; and 19 (IV) if a program seeks to in- 20 crease the employment or employ- 21 ability of participants, any barriers to 22 employment or work expenses; 23 (E) the project will be deficit neutral; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2416.IS S2416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 14 •S 2416 IS (F) the State will use any potential cost 1 savings on assistance to meet the needs of pro- 2 gram participants, subject to subsection (h)(2); 3 and 4 (5) in the case of a waiver for a covered pro- 5 gram described in subsection (a)(2)(B), an assur- 6 ance that public housing agencies received an oppor- 7 tunity to provide input in the preparation of the ap- 8 plication. 9 (e) EVALUATING AND APPROVING APPLICATIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A waiver to carry out a 11 project for a covered program und [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]