Federal

People CARE Act

Source: Congress.gov · 7,165 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill creates a new commission called the People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Commission (or CARE Commission) to review federal welfare programs. The commission will study how to improve these programs so they work together better and help people earn enough income to no longer need government assistance. The commission will make recommendations and propose new legislation to Congress within 18 months of being fully staffed. ##

Who It Affects

People receiving federal welfare benefits, federal agencies that run welfare programs, members of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget, and the general public (who can submit suggestions to the commission). ##

Key Provisions

- The CARE Commission will be made up of 8 members appointed by Senate and House leaders, and will review all federal welfare programs to find ways to consolidate them and improve their effectiveness (Sec. 4(b)(1)). - The commission must identify ways to reduce "benefit cliffs" (situations where losing benefits penalizes people for earning more income) through gradual benefit reductions as wages increase (Sec. 4(b)(1)(A)(vii)). - The commission will create a report within 18 months that includes proposed legislation, findings, and recommendations for restructuring welfare programs to achieve the bill's stated purposes (Sec. 4(b)(3)). - The proposed commission legislation will go through fast-track procedures in both the House and Senate with limited debate time and no amendments allowed (Sec. 5). - Commission members cannot be former registered lobbyists within the past 5 years (Sec. 4(c)(2)). ##

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, a new commission will be created in the legislative branch to study federal welfare programs. Within 18 months, the commission will submit proposed legislation to restructure these programs. That proposed legislation will automatically be introduced in Congress under special expedited rules that limit debate and amendments. The bill defines which 57 federal programs count as "means-tested welfare programs" subject to this commission's review. ##

Important Definitions

**Means-tested welfare program:** Any federal program designed specifically to give assistance or benefits only to low-income Americans, including but not limited to programs providing cash assistance, medical care, food assistance, housing, energy assistance, education, job training, and child care services. Programs based on earned eligibility (like Social Security), veterans benefits, unemployment compensation, and trade adjustment assistance are excluded (Sec. 3). **Benefit cliff:** Not explicitly defined in bill text, though the bill instructs the commission to identify ways to eliminate them through gradual benefit reductions as wages increase (Sec. 4(b)(1)(A)(vii)). ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text. The bill states that all commission members must be appointed not later than 1 month after enactment (Sec. 4(c)(4)), and the commission must submit its report not later than 18 months after all members are appointed (Sec. 4(b)(3)).

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 323 To establish the People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Commission, to improve the social safety net and increase social mobility by increasing access to resources which address the underlying causes of poverty. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 12, 2023 Mr. DAVIDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Edu- cation and the Workforce, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, the Judiciary, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish the People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Commission, to improve the social safety net and in- crease social mobility by increasing access to resources which address the underlying causes of poverty. 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 ‘‘People-Centered As- 4 sistance Reform Effort Act’’ or the ‘‘People CARE Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 323 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to structure means-tested 2 welfare programs so that— 3 (1) welfare programs work in an integrated 4 manner and provide social workers with the tools to 5 assist people holistically; 6 (2) welfare programs work together in a 7 streamlined and comprehensible manner, and, over 8 time, individuals on such programs will earn enough 9 income on their own to transition off of means-test- 10 ed welfare programs; and 11 (3) means-tested welfare programs increase em- 12 ployment, encourage healthy families and further 13 educational attainment so that households maintain 14 an income above the poverty level without services 15 and benefits from the Federal Government. 16 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF MEANS-TESTED WELFARE PRO- 17 GRAM. 18 (a) MEANS-TESTED WELFARE PROGRAM.—In this 19 Act, the term ‘‘means-tested welfare program’’— 20 (1) means any Federal program that is de- 21 signed to specifically provide assistance or benefits 22 exclusively to low-income Americans; 23 (2) does not include such a program if the pro- 24 gram— 25 (A) is based on earned eligibility; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 323 IH (B) is not need-based; 1 (C) provides to an individual benefits 2 under title 38, United States Code, or other 3 provisions of law administered by the Secretary 4 of Veterans Affairs; or 5 (D) offers universal or near universal eligi- 6 bility to the working population and their de- 7 pendents; and 8 (3) includes community and economic develop- 9 ment programs targeted to low-income communities 10 or populations. 11 (b) PROGRAMS INCLUDED.—For purposes of sub- 12 section (a), the following Federal programs shall be con- 13 sidered means-tested welfare programs: 14 (1) CASH AND GENERAL ASSISTANCE.— 15 (A) The Supplemental Security Income 16 program under title XVI of the Social Security 17 Act. 18 (B) The earned income tax credit deter- 19 mined under section 32 of the Internal Revenue 20 Code of 1986. 21 (C) The refundable portion of the child tax 22 credit determined under section 24 of the Inter- 23 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 323 IH (D) The program of block grants to States 1 for temporary assistance for needy families 2 under part A of title IV of the Social Security 3 Act. 4 (E) The foster care and adoption assist- 5 ance program under part E of title IV of the 6 Social Security Act. 7 (F) General Assistance to Indians. 8 (G) The programs operated under the As- 9 sets for Independence Act. 10 (2) MEDICAL.— 11 (A) The Medicaid program under title XIX 12 of the Social Security Act. 13 (B) The State Children’s Health Insurance 14 Program under title XXI of the Social Security 15 Act. 16 (C) Health programs operated by the In- 17 dian Health Service, Indian tribes, tribal orga- 18 nizations, and Urban Indian organizations (as 19 those terms are defined in section 4 of the In- 20 dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 21 1603)). 22 (D) The health center programs under sec- 23 tion 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 24 U.S.C. 254b). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 323 IH (E) The Maternal and Child Health Serv- 1 ices Block Grant program under title V of the 2 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.). 3 (F) The Healthy Start Initiative under 4 section 330H of the Public Health Service Act 5 (42 U.S.C. 254c–8). 6 (G) Premium tax credits and cost sharing 7 reductions available pursuant to the Patient 8 Protection and Affordable Health Care Act 9 (PPACA) and the amendments made by such 10 Act. 11 (3) FOOD.— 12 (A) The supplemental nutrition assistance 13 program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 14 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 15 (B) The school lunch program under the 16 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 18 (C) The special supplemental nutrition 19 program for women, infants, and children under 20 section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act (42 21 U.S.C. 1786). 22 (D) The school breakfast program under 23 section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 24 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 323 IH (E) The child and adult care food program 1 under section 17 of the Richard B. Russell Na- 2 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766). 3 (F) The nutrition services programs under 4 the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 5 3001 et seq.). 6 (G) The summer food service program for 7 children under section 13 of the Richard B. 8 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 9 1761). 10 (H) The commodity supplemental food 11 program under section 4 of the Agriculture and 12 Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 13 612c note). 14 (I) Commodity distribution programs 15 under the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 16 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.). 17 (J) The seniors farmers’ market nutrition 18 program under section 3007 of Public Law 19 107–171 (7 U.S.C. 3007). 20 (K) The special milk program established 21 under section 3 of the Child Nutrition Act of 22 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772). 23 (4) HOUSING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 323 IH (A) The rental assistance program under 1 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 2 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 3 (B) The public housing program under 4 title I of the United States Housing Act of 5 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.). 6 (C) The Home Investment Partnerships 7 Program under title II of the Cranston-Gon- 8 zalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 9 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.). 10 (D) The programs for homeless assistance 11 under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 12 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.). 13 (E) The rural housing programs under 14 title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 15 1471 et seq.). 16 (F) The program for supportive housing 17 for elderly persons under section 202 of the 18 Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 19 (G) The program for Native American 20 housing block grants under the Native Amer- 21 ican Housing Assistance and Self-Determina- 22 tion Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.). 23 (H) The program for supportive housing 24 for persons with disabilities under section 811 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 323 IH of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 1 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013). 2 (5) ENERGY AND UTILITIES.— 3 (A) Low-income home energy assistance 4 under the Low-Income Home Energy Assist- 5 ance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.). 6 (B) The Lifeline Assistance Program of 7 the Federal Communications Commission and 8 the Tribal Link Up assistance program defined 9 in section 54.413 of title 47, Code of Federal 10 Regulations. 11 (C) Weatherization assistance for low-in- 12 come persons under part A of title IV of the 13 Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 14 U.S.C. 6861 et seq.). 15 (6) EDUCATION.— 16 (A) Federal Pell Grants under subpart 1 17 of part IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 18 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.). 19 (B) Grants for improving basic programs 20 operated by local educational agencies under 21 part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec- 22 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 23 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 323 IH (C) Federal TRIO programs under chapter 1 1 of subpart 2 of title IV of the Higher Edu- 2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–11 et 3 seq.). 4 (D) Federal supplemental educational op- 5 portunity grants under subpart 3 of part A of 6 title IV the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1070b et seq.). 8 (E) Programs for the education of migra- 9 tory children under part C of title 1 of the Ele- 10 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 11 (20 U.S.C. 6391 et seq.). 12 (F) Gaining early awareness and readiness 13 for undergraduate programs under chapter 2 of 14 subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher 15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–21 et 16 seq.). 17 (G) The education for homeless children 18 and youth program under subtitle B of title VII 19 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 20 Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.). 21 (H) The leveraging educational assistance 22 partnership program of subpart 4 of part A of 23 title IV the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 24 U.S.C. 1070c et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 323 IH (7) TRAINING.— 1 (A) Job Corps under subtitle C of title I 2 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 3 Act (29 U.S.C. 3191 et seq.). 4 (B) Adult employment and training activi- 5 ties under title I of the Workforce Innovation 6 and Opportunity Act (20 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.). 7 (C) Senior community service employment 8 programs under title V of the Older Americans 9 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056 et seq.). 10 (D) Employment and training programs 11 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 12 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 13 (E) Migrant and seasonal farmworker pro- 14 grams under section 167 of the Workforce In- 15 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 16 3222). 17 (F) The YouthBuild Program under sec- 18 tion 171 of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 19 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226). 20 (G) Native American Programs under sec- 21 tion 166 of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 22 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3221). 23 (8) SERVICES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 323 IH (A) The Social Services Block Grant pro- 1 gram under title XX of the Social Security Act. 2 (B) Programs under the Community Serv- 3 ices Block Grant Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9901 4 et seq.). 5 (C) Services for aliens admitted to the 6 United States as refugees or granted asylum in 7 the United States, and other special populations 8 of aliens. 9 (D) State and community programs on 10 aging that receive Federal funds. 11 (E) Legal Services Corporation. 12 (F) Family planning services under title X 13 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 14 300 et seq.). 15 (G) The Emergency Food and Shelter Pro- 16 gram for homeless persons under title III of the 17 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 18 U.S.C. 11331 et seq.). 19 (H) The AmeriCorps VISTA program 20 under subtitle C of title I of the National and 21 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 22 12571 et seq.). 23 (9) CHILD CARE AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 323 IH (A) Head Start programs and Early Head 1 Start programs under the Head Start Act (42 2 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 3 (B) Programs under the Child Care and 4 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 5 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.). 6 (10) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.— 7 (A) The Community Development Block 8 Grant Program under title I of the Housing 9 and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 10 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 11 (B) Programs administered by the Eco- 12 nomic Development Administration under the 13 Public Works and Economic Development Act 14 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.). 15 (C) Programs administered by the Appa- 16 lachian Regional Commission under subtitle IV 17 of title 40, United States Code. 18 (D) Empowerment zones and enterprise 19 communities under subchapter U, and renewal 20 communities under subchapter X, of the Inter- 21 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 22 (c) PROGRAMS EXCLUDED.—For purposes of sub- 23 section (a), the following Federal programs shall not be 24 considered means-tested welfare programs: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H323.IH H323 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 323 IH (1) The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability In- 1 surance Benefit program under title II of the Social 2 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.). 3 (2) The Medicare program under title XVIII of 4 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.). 5 (3) A program designed exclusively or primarily 6 to provide to an individual benefits under title 38, 7 United States Code, or other provisions of law ad- 8 ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 9 (4) A program that provides for the receipt of 10 ‘‘regular compensation’’, ‘‘extended compensation’’, 11 or ‘‘additional compensation’’ (as such terms are de- 12 fined by section 205 of the Federal-State Extended 13 Unemployment Compensation Act (26 U.S.C. 3304 14 note)). 15 (5) The program that provides for trade adjust- 16 ment assistance under title [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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