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.