Coronavirus TANF Expansion Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3522 To extend and expand the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) program and related programs to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2020 Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To extend and expand the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) program and related programs to re- spond to the COVID-19 public health emergency, 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 ‘‘Coronavirus TANF 4 Expansion Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Apr 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3522.IS S3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3522 IS SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF THE TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR 1 NEEDY FAMILIES PROGRAM AND RELATED 2 PROGRAMS. 3 Activities authorized by part A of title IV and section 4 1108(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq., 5 1308(b)) shall continue through December 31, 2020, in 6 the manner authorized for fiscal year 2019, and out of 7 any money in the Treasury of the United States not other- 8 wise appropriated, there are hereby appropriated such 9 sums as may be necessary for such purpose. 10 SEC. 3. EXPANDED TANF ELIGIBILITY AND WAIVER OF CER- 11 TAIN REQUIREMENTS DURING THE COVID-19 12 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each month that occurs on 14 or after the date of enactment of this Act during the 15 COVID-19 public health emergency period, a State may— 16 (1) expand eligibility for basic assistance pro- 17 vided under a State program funded under part A 18 of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 19 et seq.) or under any other State program funded 20 with qualified State expenditures (as defined in sec- 21 tion 409(a)(7)(B)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 22 609(a)(7)(B)(i)) to eligible families described in sub- 23 section (b); and 24 (2) provide all families eligible for basic and 25 other assistance under such State programs (includ- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Apr 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3522.IS S3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3522 IS ing eligible families described in subsection (b)) with 1 a one-time cash payment that is not less than $500 2 and not more than $1,000 per each dependent in the 3 family. 4 (b) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—For purposes of sub- 5 section (a), an eligible family is a family— 6 (1) with children under 18 years of age; 7 (2) whose income during the COVID-19 public 8 health emergency period has been reduced as a re- 9 sult of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), in- 10 cluding due to a family member’s exposure to, or ill- 11 ness from, COVID-19, a quarantine imposed with 12 respect to COVID-19, or the closure of a family 13 member’s place of employment, school, or childcare 14 facility due to COVID-19; and 15 (3) whose annual income does not exceed 400 16 percent of the income official poverty line (as de- 17 fined by the Office of Management and Budget, and 18 revised annually in accordance with section 673(2) 19 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981) 20 applicable to a family of the size involved. 21 (c) INCREASED STATE FAMILY ASSISTANCE 22 GRANTS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro- 24 priated under subsection (g), with respect to a State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Apr 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3522.IS S3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3522 IS the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 1 increase the amount of the State family assistance 2 grant payable under part A of title IV and section 3 1108(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 4 et seq., 1308(b)) for the 2d, 3rd, and 4th quarters 5 of fiscal year 2020 and the 1st quarter of fiscal year 6 2021 by such amount as the Secretary determines is 7 necessary to offset the increased expenditures of the 8 State resulting from the enactment of this section. 9 (2) DISREGARD FROM LIMITATION ON TOTAL 10 PAYMENTS TO TERRITORIES.—Section 1108(a)(1) of 11 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1308(a)(1)) shall 12 be applied without regard to amounts paid to a ter- 13 ritory under this section. 14 (d) SUSPENSION OF WORK REQUIREMENTS AND 15 RULES WITH RESPECT TO TIME LIMITS AND CHILD SUP- 16 PORT.—For each month that occurs on or after the date 17 of enactment of this Act during the COVID-19 public 18 health emergency period, the following requirements shall 19 be suspended for families receiving basic or other assist- 20 ance (including eligible families described in subsection 21 (b)) under a State program funded under part A of title 22 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or 23 under any other State program funded with qualified 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Apr 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3522.IS S3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3522 IS State expenditures (as defined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i) 1 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)(B)(i))): 2 (1) Time limits for receipt of assistance under 3 section 408(a)(7) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)). 4 (2) Work requirements and determination of 5 monthly participation rates under section 407 of 6 such Act (42 U.S.C. 607). 7 (3) Imposition of individual and State penalties 8 under sections 407, 408, and 409 of such Act (42 9 U.S.C. 607, 608, 609). 10 (4) Orders to participate in work activities 11 issued under section 466(a)(15) of such Act (42 12 U.S.C. 666(a)(15)). 13 (e) APPLICATION TO TRIBAL PLANS.—This section 14 shall apply to an Indian tribe with an approved tribal fam- 15 ily assistance plan under section 412 of such Act (42 16 U.S.C. 612) in the same manner as this section applies 17 to a State. 18 (f) COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY PE- 19 RIOD DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘COVID-19 20 public health emergency period’’ means any period begin- 21 ning on or after the date of the enactment of this section 22 and before January 1, 2021, that occurs during— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:26 Apr 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3522.IS S3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3522 IS (1) an emergency period defined in paragraph 1 (1)(B) of section 1135(g) of the Social Security Act 2 (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)); 3 (2) the emergency involving Federal primary re- 4 sponsibility determined to exist by the President 5 under section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis- 6 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 7 U.S.C. 5191(b)) with respect to the Coronavirus 8 Disease 2019 (COVID-19); 9 (3) the national emergency declared by the 10 President under the National Emergencies Act (50 11 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with respect to the Coronavirus 12 Disease 2019 (COVID-19); or 13 (4) a declaration of a state of emergency on the 14 part of a State or Indian tribe with respect to the 15 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 16 (g) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in the 17 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 18 there are appropriated for the period beginning on the 19 date of enactment of this Act and ending on December 20 31, 2020, such sums as are necessary to carry out this 21 section. Amounts appropriated under this subsection are 22 designated by the Congress as being for an emergency re- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:26 Apr 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3522.IS S3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3522 IS quirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Bal- 1 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Apr 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3522.IS S3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS