Senate Bill sb1910c1
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1910
By the Committee on Children and Families; and Senator King
586-1987-05
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to workforce innovation;
3 amending s. 445.048, F.S.; requiring that
4 Workforce Florida, Inc., expand the Passport to
5 Economic Progress demonstration program to a
6 statewide program; authorizing Workforce
7 Florida, Inc., to designate regional workforce
8 boards to participate in the program; deleting
9 the provision relating to the disregarding of
10 income for purposes of determing eligibility
11 for cash assistance; requiring that Workforce
12 Florida, Inc., offer incentive bonuses;
13 providing requirements for the incentive
14 bonuses; providing that the bonuses are not an
15 entitlement; deleting obsolete provisions;
16 requiring Workforce Florida, Inc., to submit
17 evaluations and recommendations for the program
18 as part of its annual report to the
19 Legislature; deleting obsolete provisions;
20 providing an effective date.
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22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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24 Section 1. Section 445.048, Florida Statutes, as
25 amended by section 53 of chapter 2004-269, Laws of Florida, is
26 amended to read:
27 445.048 Passport to Economic Progress demonstration
28 program.--
29 (1) AUTHORIZATION.--Notwithstanding any law to the
30 contrary, Workforce Florida, Inc., in conjunction with the
31 Department of Children and Family Services and the Agency for
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1 Workforce Innovation, shall implement a Passport to Economic
2 Progress demonstration program by November 1, 2001, consistent
3 with the provisions of this section in Hillsborough and
4 Manatee counties. Workforce Florida, Inc., may designate
5 regional workforce boards to participate in the program.
6 Expenses for the program may come from appropriated revenues
7 or from funds otherwise available to a regional workforce
8 board which may be legally used for such purposes. Workforce
9 Florida, Inc., must consult with the applicable regional
10 workforce boards and the applicable local offices of the
11 Department of Children and Family Services which serve the
12 program demonstration areas and must encourage community input
13 into the implementation process.
14 (2) WAIVERS.--If Workforce Florida, Inc., in
15 consultation with the Department of Children and Family
16 Services, finds that federal waivers would facilitate
17 implementation of the demonstration program, the department
18 shall immediately request such waivers, and Workforce Florida,
19 Inc., shall report to the Governor, the President of the
20 Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives if any
21 refusal of the federal government to grant such waivers
22 prevents the implementation of the demonstration program. If
23 Workforce Florida, Inc., finds that federal waivers to
24 provisions of the Food Stamp Program would facilitate
25 implementation of the demonstration program, the Department of
26 Children and Family Services shall immediately request such
27 waivers in accordance with s. 414.175.
28 (3) INCOME DISREGARD.--In order to provide an
29 additional incentive for employment, and notwithstanding the
30 amount specified in s. 414.095(12), for individuals residing
31 in the areas designated for this demonstration program, the
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1910
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1 first $300 plus one-half of the remainder of earned income
2 shall be disregarded in determining eligibility for temporary
3 cash assistance. All other conditions and requirements of s.
4 414.095(12) shall continue to apply to such individuals.
5 (3)(4) TRANSITIONAL BENEFITS AND SERVICES.--In order
6 to assist them in making the transition to economic
7 self-sufficiency, former recipients of temporary cash
8 assistance participating in the passport residing within the
9 areas designated for this demonstration program shall be
10 eligible for the following benefits and services:
11 (a) Notwithstanding the time period specified in s.
12 445.030, transitional education and training support services
13 as specified in s. 445.030 for up to 4 years after the family
14 is no longer receiving temporary cash assistance;
15 (b) Notwithstanding the time period specified in s.
16 445.031, transitional transportation support services as
17 specified in s. 445.031 for up to 4 years after the family is
18 no longer receiving temporary cash assistance; and
19 (c) Notwithstanding the time period specified in s.
20 445.032, transitional child care as specified in s. 445.032
21 for up to 4 years after the family is no longer receiving
22 temporary cash assistance.
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24 All other provisions of ss. 445.030, 445.031, and 445.032
25 shall apply to such individuals, as appropriate. This
26 subsection does not constitute an entitlement to transitional
27 benefits and services. If funds are insufficient to provide
28 benefits and services under this subsection, the board of
29 directors of Workforce Florida, Inc., or its agent, may limit
30 such benefits and services or otherwise establish priorities
31 for the provisions of such benefits and services.
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1 (4)(5) INCENTIVES TO ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY WAGE
2 SUPPLEMENTATION.--
3 (a) The Legislature finds that:
4 1. There are former recipients of temporary cash
5 assistance and families who are eligible for temporary
6 assistance for needy families who are working full time but
7 whose incomes are below 200 percent of the federal poverty
8 level.
9 2. Having incomes below 200 percent of the federal
10 poverty level makes such individuals particularly vulnerable
11 to reliance on public assistance despite their best efforts to
12 achieve or maintain economic independence through employment.
13 3. It is necessary to implement a performance-based
14 program that defines economic incentives for achieving
15 specific benchmarks toward self-sufficiency while the
16 individual is working full-time supplement the wages of such
17 individuals for a limited period of time in order to assist
18 them in fulfilling the transition to economic
19 self-sufficiency.
20 (b) Workforce Florida, Inc., in cooperation with the
21 Department of Children and Family Services and the Agency for
22 Workforce Innovation, shall offer performance-based incentive
23 bonuses create a transitional wage supplementation program by
24 November 1, 2001, as a component of the Passport to Economic
25 Progress demonstration program in the areas designated for the
26 demonstration program. This wage supplementation program does
27 not constitute an entitlement to wage supplementation. The
28 bonuses do not represent a program entitlement and shall be
29 contingent on achieving specific benchmarks prescribed in the
30 self-sufficiency plan. If the funds appropriated for this
31 purpose are insufficient to provide this financial incentive
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1 wage supplementation, the board of directors of Workforce
2 Florida, Inc., may reduce or suspend the bonuses in order not
3 to exceed the appropriation or may direct the regional boards
4 to use resources otherwise given to the regional workforce to
5 pay such bonuses if such payments comply with applicable state
6 and federal laws limit wage supplementation or otherwise
7 establish priorities for wage supplementation.
8 (c) To be eligible for an incentive bonus wage
9 supplementation under this subsection, an individual must:
10 1. Be a former recipient of temporary cash assistance
11 who last received such assistance on or after January 1, 2000,
12 or be part of a family that is eligible for temporary
13 assistance for needy families;
14 2. Be employed full time, which for the purposes of
15 this subsection means employment averaging at least 32 hours
16 per week, until the United States Congress enacts legislation
17 reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
18 block grant and, after the reauthorization, means employment
19 complying with the employment requirements of the
20 reauthorization; and
21 3. Have an average family income for the 6 months
22 preceding the date of application for an incentive bonus wage
23 supplementation which is less than 200 100 percent of the
24 federal poverty level.
25 (d) Workforce Florida, Inc., shall determine the
26 schedule for the payment of wage supplementation under this
27 subsection. An individual eligible for wage supplementation
28 under this subsection may receive a payment that equals the
29 amount necessary to bring the individual's total family income
30 for the period covered by the payment to 100 percent of the
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1 federal poverty level. An individual may not receive wage
2 supplementation payments for more than a total of 12 months.
3 (e) The wage supplementation program authorized by
4 this subsection shall be administered through the regional
5 workforce boards and the one-stop delivery system, under
6 policy guidelines, criteria, and applications developed by
7 Workforce Florida, Inc., in cooperation with the Department of
8 Children and Family Services and the Agency for Workforce
9 Innovation. To the maximum extent possible, the regional
10 workforce boards shall use electronic debit card technologies
11 to provide wage supplementation payments under this program.
12 (5)(6) EVALUATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.--Workforce
13 Florida, Inc., in conjunction with the Department of Children
14 and Family Services, the Agency for Workforce Innovation, and
15 the regional workforce boards in the areas designated for this
16 demonstration program, shall conduct a comprehensive
17 evaluation of the effectiveness of the demonstration program
18 operated under this section. Evaluations and recommendations
19 for the program shall be submitted by Workforce Florida, Inc.,
20 as part of its annual report to the Legislature. By January 1,
21 2003, Workforce Florida, Inc., shall submit a report on such
22 evaluation to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and
23 the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The report must
24 include recommendations as to whether the demonstration
25 program should be expanded to other service areas or statewide
26 and whether the program should be revised to enhance its
27 administration or effectiveness.
28 (6)(7) CONFLICTS.--If there is a conflict between the
29 implementation procedures described in this section and
30 federal requirements and regulations, federal requirements and
31 regulations shall control.
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1 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
2 law.
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4 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
5 Senate Bill 1910
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7 Removes obsolete language to clarify that the Passport to
Economic Progress program is no longer a pilot program.
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Conforms the legislative findings regarding this program to
9 the program qualifications in the committee substitute.
10 Expands eligibility for the Passport to Economic Progress
program to include families who are eligible for Temporary
11 Assistance to Needy Families.
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