Florida Senate - 2016                       CS for CS for SB 750
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Appropriations; and Children, Families, and
       Elder Affairs; and Senators Hutson and Bean
       
       576-04833-16                                           2016750c2
    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; revising the eligibility requirements
    8         for earned-income disregards for certain persons;
    9         revising the age of a child whose earned income is
   10         disregarded; reenacting s. 414.045(1)(b), F.S.,
   11         relating to the cash assistance program, to
   12         incorporate the amendment made to s. 414.095, F.S., in
   13         a reference thereto; providing effective dates.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Effective October 1, 2016, paragraph (d) of
   18  subsection (3), and subsection (11) of section 414.095, Florida
   19  Statutes, are amended to read:
   20         414.095 Determining eligibility for temporary cash
   21  assistance.—
   22         (3) ELIGIBILITY FOR NONCITIZENS.—A “qualified noncitizen”
   23  is an individual who is admitted to the United States as a
   24  refugee under s. 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act or
   25  who is granted asylum under s. 208 of the Immigration and
   26  Nationality Act; a noncitizen whose deportation is withheld
   27  under s. 243(h) or s. 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and
   28  Nationality Act; a noncitizen who is paroled into the United
   29  States under s. 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality
   30  Act, for at least 1 year; a noncitizen who is granted
   31  conditional entry pursuant to s. 203(a)(7) of the Immigration
   32  and Nationality Act as in effect prior to April 1, 1980; a Cuban
   33  or Haitian entrant; or a noncitizen who has been admitted as a
   34  permanent resident. In addition, a “qualified noncitizen”
   35  includes an individual who, or an individual whose child or
   36  parent, has been battered or subject to extreme cruelty in the
   37  United States by a spouse, a parent, or other household member
   38  under certain circumstances, and has applied for or received
   39  protection under the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994,
   40  Pub. L. No. 103-322, if the need for benefits is related to the
   41  abuse and the batterer no longer lives in the household. A
   42  “nonqualified noncitizen” is a nonimmigrant noncitizen,
   43  including a tourist, business visitor, foreign student, exchange
   44  visitor, temporary worker, or diplomat. In addition, a
   45  “nonqualified noncitizen” includes an individual paroled into
   46  the United States for less than 1 year. A qualified noncitizen
   47  who is otherwise eligible may receive temporary cash assistance
   48  to the extent permitted by federal law. The income or resources
   49  of a sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse shall be included in
   50  determining eligibility to the maximum extent permitted by
   51  federal law.
   52         (d) The income of an illegal noncitizen or ineligible
   53  noncitizen who is a mandatory member of a family, less a pro
   54  rata share for the illegal noncitizen or ineligible noncitizen,
   55  counts in full in determining a family’s eligibility to
   56  participate in the program.
   57         (11) DISREGARDS.—
   58         (a) As an incentive to employment, the first $200 plus one
   59  half of the remainder of earned income shall be disregarded. In
   60  order to be eligible for earned income to be disregarded, the
   61  individual must be:
   62         1. A current participant in the program; or
   63         2. Eligible for participation in the program without the
   64  earnings disregard; or
   65         3. The ineligible noncitizen parent of a child who is a
   66  recipient or who would be eligible without the disregarded
   67  earned income.
   68         (b) A child’s earned income shall be disregarded if the
   69  child is a family member, attends high school or the equivalent,
   70  and is less than 19 years of age or younger.
   71         Section 2. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
   72  made by this act to section 414.095, Florida Statutes, in a
   73  reference thereto, paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
   74  414.045, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
   75         414.045 Cash assistance program.—Cash assistance families
   76  include any families receiving cash assistance payments from the
   77  state program for temporary assistance for needy families as
   78  defined in federal law, whether such funds are from federal
   79  funds, state funds, or commingled federal and state funds. Cash
   80  assistance families may also include families receiving cash
   81  assistance through a program defined as a separate state
   82  program.
   83         (1) For reporting purposes, families receiving cash
   84  assistance shall be grouped into the following categories. The
   85  department may develop additional groupings in order to comply
   86  with federal reporting requirements, to comply with the data
   87  reporting needs of the board of directors of CareerSource
   88  Florida, Inc., or to better inform the public of program
   89  progress.
   90         (b) Child-only cases.—Child-only cases include cases that
   91  do not have an adult or teen head of household as defined in
   92  federal law. Such cases include:
   93         1. Children in the care of caretaker relatives, if the
   94  caretaker relatives choose to have their needs excluded in the
   95  calculation of the amount of cash assistance.
   96         2. Families in the Relative Caregiver Program as provided
   97  in s. 39.5085.
   98         3. Families in which the only parent in a single-parent
   99  family or both parents in a two-parent family receive
  100  supplemental security income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI of
  101  the Social Security Act, as amended. To the extent permitted by
  102  federal law, individuals receiving SSI shall be excluded as
  103  household members in determining the amount of cash assistance,
  104  and such cases shall not be considered families containing an
  105  adult. Parents or caretaker relatives who are excluded from the
  106  cash assistance group due to receipt of SSI may choose to
  107  participate in work activities. An individual whose ability to
  108  participate in work activities is limited who volunteers to
  109  participate in work activities shall be assigned to work
  110  activities consistent with such limitations. An individual who
  111  volunteers to participate in a work activity may receive child
  112  care or support services consistent with such participation.
  113         4. Families in which the only parent in a single-parent
  114  family or both parents in a two-parent family are not eligible
  115  for cash assistance due to immigration status or other
  116  limitation of federal law. To the extent required by federal
  117  law, such cases shall not be considered families containing an
  118  adult.
  119         5. To the extent permitted by federal law and subject to
  120  appropriations, special needs children who have been adopted
  121  pursuant to s. 409.166 and whose adopting family qualifies as a
  122  needy family under the state program for temporary assistance
  123  for needy families. Notwithstanding any provision to the
  124  contrary in s. 414.075, s. 414.085, or s. 414.095, a family
  125  shall be considered a needy family if:
  126         a. The family is determined by the department to have an
  127  income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level;
  128         b. The family meets the requirements of s. 414.095(2) and
  129  (3) related to residence, citizenship, or eligible noncitizen
  130  status; and
  131         c. The family provides any information that may be
  132  necessary to meet federal reporting requirements specified under
  133  Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act.
  134  
  135  Families described in subparagraph 1., subparagraph 2., or
  136  subparagraph 3. may receive child care assistance or other
  137  supports or services so that the children may continue to be
  138  cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. Such
  139  assistance or services may be funded from the temporary
  140  assistance for needy families block grant to the extent
  141  permitted under federal law and to the extent funds have been
  142  provided in the General Appropriations Act.
  143         Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
  144  act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2016.