 |
Permanently added publicly-operated community mental
health centers to the definition of "drug addiction or
alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation program". |
|
|
Based the determination of the food sales volume of
applicant retail and wholesale food stores on methods
customary or reasonable to the industry. |
|
|
Changed the upper age limit of adults in the reference
family for the TFP from 54 to 50. |
|
|
Expanded the definition of "disabled" to include
recipients of supplemental SSI benefits, no service-connected
disability benefits for veterans, government disability
retirement benefits, and Railroad Retirement disability
benefits. |
|
|
Prohibited participation in the FSP by States in which
sales taxes are assessed on food stamp transactions,
effective no later than October 1, 1987. |
|
|
Repealed the ban on dual commodity distribution/FSP
operations. |
|
|
Made households in which all members receive AFDC, SSI,
or other disability payments under the SSA categorically
eligible for the FSP (subject only to the provisions on
institutional status, work requirements, fraud
disqualification, and SSI cash-out) through FY 1989;
required USDA to conduct a study of categorical
eligibility within 2 years. |
|
|
Prohibited termination of food stamps solely on the
basis of termination of participation in another
program. |
|
|
Provided that third-party payments made on behalf of a
household by a State or local government are income to
the household if the payments are in lieu of payments
for living expenses under AFDC or a general assistance
program and are not provided for medical, child care,
energy, housing, or emergency assistance. |
|
|
Extended the exclusion for tuition and mandatory fees
paid for by educational assistance to students at
institutions of post-secondary (rather than "higher")
education. |
|
|
Excluded as income any portion of loans that are
origination fees or insurance premiums; prohibited any
portion of nonfederal educational assistance provided
for living expenses from being excluded as a
reimbursement; prohibited any portion of Federal
assistance above that used for tuition and mandatory
fees from being excluded as a reimbursement; prohibited
any portion of educational assistance provided for
living expenses from being excluded as a vendor payment. |
|
|
Permitted farm self-employment losses to be offset
against income not from self-employment. |
|
|
Included as income earnings provided under the Job
Training Partnership Act (JTPA), except for dependents
under age 19. |
|
|
Allowed States to exclude child support payments
excluded under AFDC if the State pays for the cost of
additional benefits paid because of this exclusion. |
|
|
Replaced references to "homeownership component" of
shelter costs in the CPI with "homeowners' costs and
maintenance and repair component". |
|
|
Raised the earned income deduction from 18 to 20
percent. |
|
|
Uncoupled the child care and shelter deductions and
raised the shelter deduction limit to $147 (effective
May 1, 1986) and the dependent care deduction to $160
(not indexed). |
|
|
Permitted States to use either separate standard utility
allowances (SUAs) for households which get Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Act (LIHEAA) payments and other
households, or to give full SUAs to all households;
permitted households to switch between SUAs and actual
expenses at the end of certification periods and one
other time a year. |
|
|
Required self-employment income to be calculated on the
basis of anticipated earnings if prior self-employment
income does not reflect actual circumstances. |
|
|
Limited mandatory MRRB to households with earnings or
recent work history; provided authority for the
Department to waive mandatory MRRB if State agencies
establish that MRRB would result in unwarranted
administrative costs; made MRRB a State agency option
for other households (except for migrant farmworkers and
certain elderly households which must be prospectively
budgeted). |
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
-- |
Raised
the asset limit from $1,500 to $2,000 for
households with no elderly members; extended the
$3,000 asset limit for households with elderly
members to one-person households. |
|
-- |
Permitted
the Department to change regulations on
inaccessible resources. |
|
-- |
Excluded from the asset test property necessary
to maintain a vehicle excluded from the fair
market value test. |
|
-- |
Excluded one burial plot for each household
member. |
|
|
|
Required the Secretary to establish a Disaster Task
Force and send its members to a disaster area to provide
assistance when cost-effective. |
|
|
Disqualified only the violating member if the person who
violates a work requirement is not the head of
household. |
|
|
Extended the work requirements to 16- and 17-year-old
heads of households who are not attending school or
enrolled in a training program on at least a half-time
basis. |
|
|
Expanded exceptions to student ineligibility to include
students assigned to college by JTPA programs. |
|
|
Updated references to the Immigration and Nationality
Act. |
|
|
Employment and Training/Workfare. |
|
|
|
-- |
Required
all States to implement an employment and
training (E&T) program approved by the Secretary
by April 1, 1987. |
|
-- |
Included
as E&T components: job search, job search
training, workfare, employment or training
experience, or other projects approved by the
Secretary. |
|
-- |
Allowed State agencies to exempt individuals or
categories of individuals from the E&T program. |
|
-- |
Required
State agencies to establish requirements for E&T
participation for nonexempt individuals.
Requirements may vary among individuals, but
hours may not exceed 1) for all household
members, the quotient of the households's
allotment divided by the minimum wage, or 2) 120
per person per month (including both E&T
participation and other hours worked for
compensation). |
|
-- |
Required State agencies to reimburse E&T
participants for expenses; permitted State
agencies to limit reimbursements to $25 per
person per month. |
|
-- |
Required the Secretary to establish State E&T
performance standards which can vary by State
but cannot exceed 50% of nonexempt persons. |
|
-- |
Authorized the Secretary to withhold
administrative funding if a State agency fails
to meet a work program requirement, including a
performance standard. |
|
-- |
Provided the following funding grants for E&T
operations only: |
|
|
FY 1986: $40 million
FY 1987: $50 million
FY 1988: $60 million
FY 1989: $75 million
FY 1990: $75 million |
|
-- |
Provided
50% Federal funding for State agencies E&T
expenses (including participant reimbursements
up to $12.50 per person per month) above the
grant levels. |
|
-- |
Required
a report to Congress on E&T programs by January
1, 1989. |
|
-- |
Extended
workfare requirements to 16- or 17-year-old
heads of households if they are not enrolled in
school or employment training. |
|
-- |
Based the
workfare obligations of an AFDC/FSP recipient on
the combined AFDC grant and food stamp allotment
of his/her household. |
|
|
|
Authorized State agencies to stagger issuance over the
entire month, provided that no household goes more than
40 days between issuances. |
|
|
Required that any household applying for and receiving
benefits in the last 15 days of a month must get its
next allotment by the 8th day of the next month. |
|
|
Required (in lieu of permitting) the Secretary to
require State agencies to adopt alternative means of
coupon issuance to improve program integrity. |
|
|
Authorized simplified application/standardized benefit
programs for households in which at least one member
receives AFDC, SSI, or Medicaid and which meet the gross
income test; limited programs to 5 Statewide and 5
local; required that average allotments in simplified
application projects cannot be less than what would be
provided under regular procedures. |
|
|
Permitted food stamp retailer information to be shared
with WIC State agencies. |
|
|
Allowed credit unions with food retailers or wholesalers
in their fields of membership to redeem food stamps. |
|
|
Prohibited financial institutions from imposing a
redemption fee on retail food stores which submit food
stamps in accordance with Federal Reserve requirements
(other than cancellation); required the Secretary to
consult with the Federal Reserve Board in developing
regulations. |
|
|
Required the Secretary to establish standards for State
agencies to periodically review the adequacy of their
food stamp offices' hours. |
|
|
Required one adult household member to certify, under
penalty of perjury, the accuracy of information provided
in applications. |
|
|
Required units for detecting and investigating fraud and
for assisting fraud prosecutions in project areas with
5,000 or more participating households. |
|
|
Removed restrictions on the eligibility factors State
agencies can mandate to be verified; enacted the
regulatory requirement that questionable household size
be verified; authorized State agencies to identify
additional eligibility factors to be verified. |
|
|
Added cost-effectiveness as a criterion for requiring
photo IDs; authorized State agencies to accept photo IDs
of other welfare/PA programs where photo IDs are
required. |
|
|
Required State agencies to provide a means for
certifying and issuing food stamps to eligible homeless
people while ensuring that only eligible homeless people
participate. |
|
|
Required State agencies to encourage food stamp
recipients to participate in the expanded food and
nutrition education program (EFNEP) and, upon request of
EFNEP personnel and where practicable, to place EFNEP
personnel and materials in food stamp offices. |
|
|
Joint processing: |
|
|
|
-- |
Extended
SSI joint processing provisions to households in
which all members are SSI applicants or
participants. |
|
-- |
Expanded
SSI joint processing to include providing
information about the availability of food stamp
benefits and assistance in applying for the FSP. |
|
-- |
Revised joint processing for social security
applicants/recipients to require providing
information about the availability of benefits
and of a simple application. |
|
-- |
Required USDA and DHHS to revise the joint
processing memorandum of understanding to insure
that the above provisions are met and that DHHS
receives reimbursement from USDA for its costs;
required a report by April 1, 1987, from USDA to
the Congressional Committees on the nature and
extent of DHHS' joint processing costs. |
|
|
|
Converted the time remaining in the disqualification
period of any store that is sold or transferred to a
civil money penalty; authorized USDA to seek judicial
action to collect the penalty, and prohibited courts, in
such event, from reviewing the validity or amount of the
penalty; denied authorization to a buyer/transferee that
is not bona fide until the civil money penalty is paid;
permitted a bona fide buyer/transferee of a disqualified
store to be authorized without furnishing a bond. |
|
|
Provided that every adult household member is liable for
the value of an overissuance. |
|
|
Required State agencies to pursue other means of
collecting fraud claims unless those means are not cost
effective. |
|
|
Unemployment Compensation Intercepts |
|
|
|
-- |
Permitted
State agencies to recover uncollected fraud
claims through intercepting unemployment
compensation (UC) benefits by agreement with
individuals or by obtaining court orders;
permitted State agencies to retain 50% of UC
intercept recoveries. |
|
-- |
Amended
the Wagner-Peyser Act and the SSA to authorize
providing UC information to food stamp State
agencies, requiring UC applicants to disclose
uncollected fraud overissuances, and withholding
amounts from UC benefits for food stamp claims
collection purposes. |
|
-- |
Required food stamp State agencies to reimburse
UC State agencies for their administrative costs
from the intercepts. |
|
|
|
Pegged granting judicial stays to likelihood of
prevailing as well as irreparable injury. |
|
|
Quality Control |
|
|
|
-- |
Excluded
from State agencies' error rate liability any
errors caused by using a Federal automatic
information exchange system. |
|
-- |
Required
State agencies to submit QC data expeditiously. |
|
-- |
Required USDA to notify State agencies of their
error rate liability by June 30 of each year and
initiate collection action by Sept. 30, subject
to the completion of administrative and judicial
reviews. |
|
|
|
State Agency Automation |
|
|
|
-- |
Required
USDA with State agency assistance to develop a
model ADP plan for public comment as a proposed
rule by October 1, 1986, with a final rule by
Feb. 1, 1987. |
|
-- |
Required
each State agency that does not already have
sufficient computerization to submit a plan by
Oct. 1, 1987, for automating its FSP. |
|
-- |
Required State agencies to begin implementation
of their ADP plans by Oct. 1, 1988, and to
complete implementation in accordance with
timeframes included in their plans; these
deadlines could be extended by USDA. |
|
-- |
Required USDA to report to Congress by April 1,
1988, on the degree and sufficiency of each
State agency's actual or planned automation,
including additional steps needed. (Periodic
updates of the report are also required.) |
|
-- |
Authorized the Secretary to require State
agencies to take specific computerization steps
for rectifying identified administrative
shortcomings. |
|
-- |
Extended injunctive relief to State agencies'
failure to comply with ADP plan requirements. |
|
|
|
QC Study |
|
|
|
-- |
Required
USDA to study the QC system, focusing on how the
system can provide 1) State agencies information
on improving administration and 2) reasonable
data for establishing each State agency's error
rate liability; required a concurrent contracted
study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS);
and required a report to Congress, on both
studies by one year after enactment of the 1985
Farm Bill. |
|
-- |
Imposed a
six-month moratorium on error rate sanctions; |
|
-- |
Required publication of regulations by 18 months
after enactment restructuring the QC system
based on the USDA and the NAS studies and
establishing criteria for recomputing prior
liabilities using the new system. |
|
-- |
Required implementation of the new QC system and
reductions in administrative funding for error
rate liabilities based on the new system for
current and past periods beginning two years
after enactment. |
|
-- |
Authorized USDA to use QC data to identify
project areas where excessive error rates impair
program integrity and to require State agencies
to implement new or modified certification
procedures in those project areas if they are
cost effective; required an annual report to the
Agriculture Committees on any project areas
identified and any procedures required to be
implemented. |
|
|
|
Extended SSI cash-out through FY 1990 upon State agency
request. |
|
|
Set authorization limits at: |
|
|
|
|
$13.037
billion for FY 1986
$13.936 billion for FY 1987
$14.741 billion for FY 1988
$15.435 billion for FY 1989
$15.970 billion for FY 1990 |
|
|
|
Tied allotment reduction for insufficient funding to
authorized amounts. |
|
|
Prohibited the transfer of funds authorized under the
FSA to OIG or OGC, effective with FY 1987. |
|
|
Set future funding for Puerto Rico's NAP at the
following levels: |
|
|
|
|
$852.750
million for FY 1987
$879.750 million for FY 1988
$908.250 million for FY 1989
$936.750 million for FY 1990 |
|
|
|
Deleted the requirement that a single State agency must
be responsible for administering Puerto Rico's NAP. |
