Florida Senate - 2016              PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
       Bill No. CS for SB 750
       
       
       
       
       
                               Ì743014qÎ743014                          
       
       576-04125-16                                                    
       Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Appropriations
       (Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services)
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the temporary cash assistance
    3         program; amending s. 414.095, F.S.; revising the
    4         consideration of income from certain illegal
    5         noncitizen or ineligible noncitizen family members in
    6         determining the family’s eligibility for temporary
    7         cash assistance on or after a specified date; revising
    8         the age of a child whose earned income is disregarded;
    9         reenacting s. 414.045(1)(b), F.S., relating to the
   10         cash assistance program, to incorporate the amendment
   11         made to s. 414.095, F.S., in a reference thereto;
   12         providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (3), and subsection
   17  (11) of section 414.095, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   18         414.095 Determining eligibility for temporary cash
   19  assistance.—
   20         (3) ELIGIBILITY FOR NONCITIZENS.—A “qualified noncitizen”
   21  is an individual who is admitted to the United States as a
   22  refugee under s. 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act or
   23  who is granted asylum under s. 208 of the Immigration and
   24  Nationality Act; a noncitizen whose deportation is withheld
   25  under s. 243(h) or s. 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and
   26  Nationality Act; a noncitizen who is paroled into the United
   27  States under s. 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality
   28  Act, for at least 1 year; a noncitizen who is granted
   29  conditional entry pursuant to s. 203(a)(7) of the Immigration
   30  and Nationality Act as in effect prior to April 1, 1980; a Cuban
   31  or Haitian entrant; or a noncitizen who has been admitted as a
   32  permanent resident. In addition, a “qualified noncitizen”
   33  includes an individual who, or an individual whose child or
   34  parent, has been battered or subject to extreme cruelty in the
   35  United States by a spouse, a parent, or other household member
   36  under certain circumstances, and has applied for or received
   37  protection under the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994,
   38  Pub. L. No. 103-322, if the need for benefits is related to the
   39  abuse and the batterer no longer lives in the household. A
   40  “nonqualified noncitizen” is a nonimmigrant noncitizen,
   41  including a tourist, business visitor, foreign student, exchange
   42  visitor, temporary worker, or diplomat. In addition, a
   43  “nonqualified noncitizen” includes an individual paroled into
   44  the United States for less than 1 year. A qualified noncitizen
   45  who is otherwise eligible may receive temporary cash assistance
   46  to the extent permitted by federal law. The income or resources
   47  of a sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse shall be included in
   48  determining eligibility to the maximum extent permitted by
   49  federal law.
   50         (d) Effective July 1, 2016, the income of an illegal
   51  noncitizen or ineligible noncitizen who is a mandatory member of
   52  a family, less a pro rata share for the illegal noncitizen or
   53  ineligible noncitizen, counts in full for a new applicant or for
   54  a person reapplying in determining a family’s eligibility to
   55  participate in the program.
   56         (11) DISREGARDS.—
   57         (a) As an incentive to employment, the first $200 plus one
   58  half of the remainder of earned income shall be disregarded. In
   59  order to be eligible for earned income to be disregarded, the
   60  individual must be:
   61         1. A current participant in the program; or
   62         2. Eligible for participation in the program without the
   63  earnings disregard.
   64         (b) A child’s earned income shall be disregarded if the
   65  child is a family member, attends high school or the equivalent,
   66  and is less than 19 years of age or younger.
   67         Section 2. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
   68  made by this act to section 414.095, Florida Statutes, in a
   69  reference thereto, paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
   70  414.045, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
   71         414.045 Cash assistance program.—Cash assistance families
   72  include any families receiving cash assistance payments from the
   73  state program for temporary assistance for needy families as
   74  defined in federal law, whether such funds are from federal
   75  funds, state funds, or commingled federal and state funds. Cash
   76  assistance families may also include families receiving cash
   77  assistance through a program defined as a separate state
   78  program.
   79         (1) For reporting purposes, families receiving cash
   80  assistance shall be grouped into the following categories. The
   81  department may develop additional groupings in order to comply
   82  with federal reporting requirements, to comply with the data
   83  reporting needs of the board of directors of CareerSource
   84  Florida, Inc., or to better inform the public of program
   85  progress.
   86         (b) Child-only cases.—Child-only cases include cases that
   87  do not have an adult or teen head of household as defined in
   88  federal law. Such cases include:
   89         1. Children in the care of caretaker relatives, if the
   90  caretaker relatives choose to have their needs excluded in the
   91  calculation of the amount of cash assistance.
   92         2. Families in the Relative Caregiver Program as provided
   93  in s. 39.5085.
   94         3. Families in which the only parent in a single-parent
   95  family or both parents in a two-parent family receive
   96  supplemental security income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI of
   97  the Social Security Act, as amended. To the extent permitted by
   98  federal law, individuals receiving SSI shall be excluded as
   99  household members in determining the amount of cash assistance,
  100  and such cases shall not be considered families containing an
  101  adult. Parents or caretaker relatives who are excluded from the
  102  cash assistance group due to receipt of SSI may choose to
  103  participate in work activities. An individual whose ability to
  104  participate in work activities is limited who volunteers to
  105  participate in work activities shall be assigned to work
  106  activities consistent with such limitations. An individual who
  107  volunteers to participate in a work activity may receive child
  108  care or support services consistent with such participation.
  109         4. Families in which the only parent in a single-parent
  110  family or both parents in a two-parent family are not eligible
  111  for cash assistance due to immigration status or other
  112  limitation of federal law. To the extent required by federal
  113  law, such cases shall not be considered families containing an
  114  adult.
  115         5. To the extent permitted by federal law and subject to
  116  appropriations, special needs children who have been adopted
  117  pursuant to s. 409.166 and whose adopting family qualifies as a
  118  needy family under the state program for temporary assistance
  119  for needy families. Notwithstanding any provision to the
  120  contrary in s. 414.075, s. 414.085, or s. 414.095, a family
  121  shall be considered a needy family if:
  122         a. The family is determined by the department to have an
  123  income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level;
  124         b. The family meets the requirements of s. 414.095(2) and
  125  (3) related to residence, citizenship, or eligible noncitizen
  126  status; and
  127         c. The family provides any information that may be
  128  necessary to meet federal reporting requirements specified under
  129  Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act.
  130  
  131  Families described in subparagraph 1., subparagraph 2., or
  132  subparagraph 3. may receive child care assistance or other
  133  supports or services so that the children may continue to be
  134  cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. Such
  135  assistance or services may be funded from the temporary
  136  assistance for needy families block grant to the extent
  137  permitted under federal law and to the extent funds have been
  138  provided in the General Appropriations Act.
  139         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.