Florida Senate - 2016                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 750
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì648412ÇÎ648412                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: FAV            .                                
                  02/17/2016           .                                
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       The Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs (Hutson)
       recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (3), and subsection
    6  (11) of section 414.095, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
    7         414.095 Determining eligibility for temporary cash
    8  assistance.—
    9         (3) ELIGIBILITY FOR NONCITIZENS.—A “qualified noncitizen”
   10  is an individual who is admitted to the United States as a
   11  refugee under s. 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act or
   12  who is granted asylum under s. 208 of the Immigration and
   13  Nationality Act; a noncitizen whose deportation is withheld
   14  under s. 243(h) or s. 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and
   15  Nationality Act; a noncitizen who is paroled into the United
   16  States under s. 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality
   17  Act, for at least 1 year; a noncitizen who is granted
   18  conditional entry pursuant to s. 203(a)(7) of the Immigration
   19  and Nationality Act as in effect prior to April 1, 1980; a Cuban
   20  or Haitian entrant; or a noncitizen who has been admitted as a
   21  permanent resident. In addition, a “qualified noncitizen”
   22  includes an individual who, or an individual whose child or
   23  parent, has been battered or subject to extreme cruelty in the
   24  United States by a spouse, a parent, or other household member
   25  under certain circumstances, and has applied for or received
   26  protection under the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994,
   27  Pub. L. No. 103-322, if the need for benefits is related to the
   28  abuse and the batterer no longer lives in the household. A
   29  “nonqualified noncitizen” is a nonimmigrant noncitizen,
   30  including a tourist, business visitor, foreign student, exchange
   31  visitor, temporary worker, or diplomat. In addition, a
   32  “nonqualified noncitizen” includes an individual paroled into
   33  the United States for less than 1 year. A qualified noncitizen
   34  who is otherwise eligible may receive temporary cash assistance
   35  to the extent permitted by federal law. The income or resources
   36  of a sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse shall be included in
   37  determining eligibility to the maximum extent permitted by
   38  federal law.
   39         (d) The income of an illegal noncitizen or ineligible
   40  noncitizen who is a mandatory member of a family, less a pro
   41  rata share for the illegal noncitizen or ineligible noncitizen,
   42  counts in full in determining a family’s eligibility to
   43  participate in the program.
   44         (11) DISREGARDS.—
   45         (a) As an incentive to employment, the first $200 plus one
   46  half of the remainder of earned income shall be disregarded. In
   47  order to be eligible for earned income to be disregarded, the
   48  individual must be:
   49         1. A current participant in the program; or
   50         2. Eligible for participation in the program without the
   51  earnings disregard.
   52         (b) A child’s earned income shall be disregarded if the
   53  child is a family member, attends high school or the equivalent,
   54  and is less than 19 years of age or younger.
   55         Section 2. For the purpose of incorporating the amendments
   56  made by this act to sections 414.095, Florida Statutes, in
   57  references thereto, subsection (1) of section 414.045, Florida
   58  Statutes, is reenacted to read:
   59         414.045 Cash assistance program.—Cash assistance families
   60  include any families receiving cash assistance payments from the
   61  state program for temporary assistance for needy families as
   62  defined in federal law, whether such funds are from federal
   63  funds, state funds, or commingled federal and state funds. Cash
   64  assistance families may also include families receiving cash
   65  assistance through a program defined as a separate state
   66  program.
   67         (1) For reporting purposes, families receiving cash
   68  assistance shall be grouped into the following categories. The
   69  department may develop additional groupings in order to comply
   70  with federal reporting requirements, to comply with the data
   71  reporting needs of the board of directors of CareerSource
   72  Florida, Inc., or to better inform the public of program
   73  progress.
   74         (a) Work-eligible cases.—Work-eligible cases shall include:
   75         1. Families containing an adult or a teen head of
   76  household, as defined by federal law. These cases are generally
   77  subject to the work activity requirements provided in s. 445.024
   78  and the time limitations on benefits provided in s. 414.105.
   79         2. Families with a parent where the parent’s needs have
   80  been removed from the case due to sanction or disqualification
   81  shall be considered work-eligible cases to the extent that such
   82  cases are considered in the calculation of federal participation
   83  rates or would be counted in such calculation in future months.
   84         3. Families participating in transition assistance
   85  programs.
   86         4. Families otherwise eligible for temporary cash
   87  assistance which receive diversion services, a severance
   88  payment, or participate in the relocation program.
   89         (b) Child-only cases.—Child-only cases include cases that
   90  do not have an adult or teen head of household as defined in
   91  federal law. Such cases include:
   92         1. Children in the care of caretaker relatives, if the
   93  caretaker relatives choose to have their needs excluded in the
   94  calculation of the amount of cash assistance.
   95         2. Families in the Relative Caregiver Program as provided
   96  in s. 39.5085.
   97         3. Families in which the only parent in a single-parent
   98  family or both parents in a two-parent family receive
   99  supplemental security income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI of
  100  the Social Security Act, as amended. To the extent permitted by
  101  federal law, individuals receiving SSI shall be excluded as
  102  household members in determining the amount of cash assistance,
  103  and such cases shall not be considered families containing an
  104  adult. Parents or caretaker relatives who are excluded from the
  105  cash assistance group due to receipt of SSI may choose to
  106  participate in work activities. An individual whose ability to
  107  participate in work activities is limited who volunteers to
  108  participate in work activities shall be assigned to work
  109  activities consistent with such limitations. An individual who
  110  volunteers to participate in a work activity may receive child
  111  care or support services consistent with such participation.
  112         4. Families in which the only parent in a single-parent
  113  family or both parents in a two-parent family are not eligible
  114  for cash assistance due to immigration status or other
  115  limitation of federal law. To the extent required by federal
  116  law, such cases shall not be considered families containing an
  117  adult.
  118         5. To the extent permitted by federal law and subject to
  119  appropriations, special needs children who have been adopted
  120  pursuant to s. 409.166 and whose adopting family qualifies as a
  121  needy family under the state program for temporary assistance
  122  for needy families. Notwithstanding any provision to the
  123  contrary in s. 414.075, s. 414.085, or s. 414.095, a family
  124  shall be considered a needy family if:
  125         a. The family is determined by the department to have an
  126  income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level;
  127         b. The family meets the requirements of s. 414.095(2) and
  128  (3) related to residence, citizenship, or eligible noncitizen
  129  status; and
  130         c. The family provides any information that may be
  131  necessary to meet federal reporting requirements specified under
  132  Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act.
  133  
  134  Families described in subparagraph 1., subparagraph 2., or
  135  subparagraph 3. may receive child care assistance or other
  136  supports or services so that the children may continue to be
  137  cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. Such
  138  assistance or services may be funded from the temporary
  139  assistance for needy families block grant to the extent
  140  permitted under federal law and to the extent funds have been
  141  provided in the General Appropriations Act.
  142         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.
  143  
  144  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  145  And the title is amended as follows:
  146         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  147  and insert:
  148                        A bill to be entitled                      
  149         An act relating to the temporary cash assistance
  150         program; amending s. 414.095, F.S.; revising the
  151         consideration of income from illegal noncitizen or
  152         ineligible noncitizen family members in determining
  153         eligibility for temporary cash assistance; reenacting
  154         s. 414.045, F.S., incorporate the amendments made to
  155         s. 414.095, F.S., in references thereto;; providing an
  156         effective date.