Bipartisan Welfare Reform Act of 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Block Grants for Temporary Assistance for Needy

Families

Title II: Supplemental Security Income

Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions

Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children

Subtitle C: State Supplementation Programs

Subtitle D: Studies Regarding Supplemental Security

Income Program

Subtitle E: National Commission on the Future of

Disability

Title III: Child Support

Subtitle A: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of

Payments

Subtitle B: Locate and Case Tracking

Subtitle C: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures

Subtitle D: Paternity Establishment

Subtitle E: Program Administration and Funding

Subtitle F: Establishment and Modification of Support

Orders

Subtitle G: Enforcement of Support Orders

Subtitle H: Medical Support

Subtitle I: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity

for Non-Residential Parents

Subtitle J: Effect of Enactment

Title IV: Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens

Subtitle A: Eligibility for Federal Benefits

Subtitle B: Eligibility for State and Local Public

Benefits Programs

Subtitle C: Attribution of Income and Affidavits of

Support

Subtitle D: General Provisions

Subtitle E: Conforming Amendments

Title V: Reductions in Federal Government Positions

Title VI: Reform of Public Housing

Title VII: Child Care

Title VIII: Child Nutrition Programs

Subtitle A: National School Lunch Act

Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Act of 1966

Title IX: Food Stamp and Related Programs

Title X: Miscellaneous

Subtitle A: General Provisions

Bipartisan Welfare Reform Act of 1996 - Title I: Block Grants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - Expresses the sense of the Congress that prevention of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and reduction in out-of-wedlock births are very important Government interests.

(Sec. 103) Replaces the current Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) under, respectively, parts A and F of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) with a program of block grants to the States for temporary assistance for needy families already with or expecting children (TEA program). Gives such program the stated purpose of increasing the flexibility of States in operating approved statewide programs, with: (1) certain mandatory work and education requirements (as well as penalties against adult family members on TEA who refuse to engage in various specified work activities); and (2) adult- supervised living arrangements for unmarried teenage parents to enable such families to leave the program and become self-sufficient. Includes participation in community service programs and subsidized public sector employment as TEA program work activities.

Requires TEA programs to provide certain time-limited cash assistance (and thereafter vouchers) to eligible families entering into an individual responsibility plan with the State (with certain exceptions involving minor children and hardship situations), outlining their obligations in receiving TEA assistance (such as immunizing their children or finishing high school), as well as the specific services the State will provide (such as job preparation and family planning services and, at the State's option, substance abuse treatment services) to enable them to move into private sector employment.

Requires State TEA programs also to: (1) establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, with special emphasis on teenage pregnancies, over a specified ten-year period; and (2) encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

Denies TEA for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators and minor children absent from the home for a significant period. Suspends it for ten years for persons who have fraudulently misrepresented residence to obtain assistance in two or more States. Denies additional cash assistance, as a general rule, for additional children born to families already on TEA (except in cases of rape and incest), unless State law specifically exempts the State TEA program from such denial. Reduces or denies TEA for noncooperation in child support.

Outlines State TEA plan contents. Provides for the State's choice of treatment of aliens and families moving interstate, and for the exchange of certain plan information about TEA applicants or recipients with law enforcement officers under prescribed conditions. Sets forth requirements for State plan approval by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), which include certifications that the State will operate a child protection and child support enforcement program under SSA title IV parts B and D (Child-Welfare Services Program and Child Support and Establishment of Paternity Program), respectively.

Details TEA program grant administrative provisions: (1) determining the amounts of State grants for family assistance for FY 1996 through 2001; (2) outlining grant uses, including assistance to families in meeting home heating and cooling costs, and a State program under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990; (3) rewarding States with additional grant amounts for reductions in illegitimate births, as well as for population increases and TEA program work activities; and (4) establishing in the Treasury (and providing deposits for) a Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs for payments to certain eligible participating States. Makes necessary appropriations.

Sets up a Federal loan program for certain State TEA programs for anti-fraud and other specified activities. Makes necessary appropriations.

Establishes penalties for States and individual families for specified grant and program violations, respectively, through reduced grants and assistance payments. Allows States to terminate assistance payments, but prohibits assistance reduction or termination based on a refusal of an adult to work if the adult is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six and unable to obtain needed child care for one or more specified reasons.

Provides for State appeal of Federal adverse decisions with respect to State plans or imposition of penalties.

Outlines specific program data collection and reporting requirements, as well as certain research, evaluation, and study requirements. Makes necessary appropriations.

Provides for TEA grants to Indian tribes (with a special rule for Alaskan Native tribes). Makes necessary appropriations.

Directs the Bureau of the Census to expand the Survey of Income and Program Participation to obtain information enabling interested persons to evaluate the impact of this title on a random national sample of State TEA recipients and other appropriate low-income families. Makes necessary appropriations.

Provides for the treatment of current and previously granted State AFDC (welfare reform) waiver projects.

Retains the HHS Assistant Secretary for Family Support as the official responsible for administering SSA title IV part A and D programs.

Expresses the sense of the Congress encouraging each State operating a TEA program to: (1) assign the highest priority to requiring adults in two-parent families and in single-parent families with older preschool or school-age children to engage in work activities; and (2) require non-custodial, nonsupporting parents under age 18 to fulfill community work obligations and attend appropriate parenting or money management classes after school.

(Sec. 104) Allows States to contract with charitable, religious, or private organizations to provide services and administer programs established or modified by this Act, or to provide program beneficiaries with certificates, vouchers, or other forms of disbursement redeemable with such organizations. Prohibits the expenditure of financial assistance under such programs for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytization.

(Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to expand the data collection efforts of the Bureau of the Census to enable it to collect certain data on grandparent caregivers.

(Sec. 106) Directs the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress on the status of State automated data processing systems used in administering State programs under SSA title IV part A.

(Sec. 107) Requires the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress on outcomes measures for evaluating the success of the States in moving individuals out of the welfare system through employment as an alternative to the minimum participation rates under mandatory TEA work requirements.

(Sec. 108) Makes conforming amendments to SSA, the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and related provisions of other specified Federal laws.

(Sec. 111) Directs the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner) to develop a prototype of a counterfeit-resistant social security card and study and report to the Congress on different methods of improving the social security card application process.

(Sec. 112) Requires any organization accepting Federal funds under this Act to disclose that fact in any communication it makes that intends to promote public support or opposition to any Federal, State, or local government policy through any broadcasting station, periodical, or other specified type of general public advertising. Makes any organization failing to make such a disclosure ineligible to receive Federal funds under this Act.

(Sec. 113) Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to remove the "demonstration" status of the Job Opportunities for Certain Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) program and give it an increased annual authorization for any fiscal year.

Title II: Supplemental Security Income - Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions - Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to: (1) deny SSI by reason of disability to drug addicts and alcoholics for whom addiction or alcoholism would be a contributing factor material to the disability determination; (2) revise representative payee and treatment requirements; (3) deny SSI benefits for ten years to individuals found to have fraudulently misrepresented residence in order to obtain benefits simultaneously in two or more States; (4) deny SSI benefits for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators; and (5) outline the process for periodic review with respect to the continuing eligibility of an individual 18 years of age or older to receive certain SSI disability benefits.

Provides certain supplemental funding for alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs.

Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children - Revises the rules with respect to childhood eligibility, with corresponding changes to childhood SSI regulations modifying the medical criteria for evaluation of mental and emotional disorders, and discontinuing the use of individualized functional assessments for children. Requires the Commissioner to redetermine the eligibility of any individual under age 18 receiving SSI benefits based on a disability as of the enactment of this Act, and whose eligibility for such benefits may terminate by reason of this Act.

(Sec. 212) Provides that at least once every three years the Commissioner shall review the continued SSI eligibility of each individual who has not attained age 18 and is eligible for such benefits by reason of an impairment (or combination of impairments) which may improve (or, which is unlikely to improve, at the option of the Commissioner). Requires a parent or guardian of a recipient whose case is so reviewed to present evidence that the recipient is and has been receiving treatment of the condition which was the basis for the SSI benefits.

Provides that if an individual is eligible for SSI disability benefits for the month preceding the month in which the individual attains age 18, the Commissioner shall redetermine such eligibility: (1) during the one year period beginning on the individual's 18th birthday; and (2) by applying the criteria used in determining the initial eligibility for applicants who have attained age 18.

Outlines specific requirements governing: (1) continuing disability reviews for low birth weight babies; and (2) benefit payments through representative payees to eligible individuals and their spouses.

(Sec. 214) Provides for a reduction in cash SSI benefits payable to institutionalized individuals whose medical costs are covered by private insurance.

(Sec. 215) Reduces by specified basic needs and earned income disregard allocations the amount of parental income attributed to disabled children.

Subtitle C: State Supplementation Programs - Repeals maintenance of effort requirements applicable to optional State programs for supplementation of SSI benefits.

Subtitle D: Studies Regarding Supplemental Security Income Program - Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to report annually to the President and the Congress regarding the SSI program and to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences, or other independent entity, to study the disability determination process under SSA titles II and XVI for similar reports.

(Sec. 233) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report on the: (1) impact of this title on the SSI program; and (2) extra expenses incurred by families of children receiving SSI benefits that are not covered by other Federal, State, or local programs.

Subtitle E: National Commission on the Future of Disability - Establishes the National Commission on the Future of Disability to develop and report to the President and the Congress: (1) a comprehensive study of all matters related to the nature, purpose, and adequacy of all Federal programs serving individuals with disabilities, including the programs under SSA titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI; and (2) recommendations for appropriate action. Authorizes appropriations.

Title III: Child Support - Subtitle A: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to require State plans for child and spousal support to provide: (1) certain services relating to paternity establishment or enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) continuation of services for families ceasing to receive assistance under Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

(Sec. 302) Revises payment distribution guidelines for support obligations collected by the State on behalf of a family.

(Sec. 303) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions; and (2) notification of State plan services applicants or recipients about all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations.

Subtitle B: Locate and Case Tracking - Mandates that single statewide automated data systems include a State case registry containing records of: (1) each case in which services are provided by the State agency; and (2) each support order established on or after a specified date. Permits the linking of local registries.

(Sec. 312) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. Permits the unit to be established by linking local disbursement units through an automated information network if the Secretary agrees that it will not cost more or take more time to establish or operate than a centralized system.

(Sec. 313) Requires State plans to: (1) provide for a State-operated and automated State Directory of New Hires containing prescribed information furnished by employers on new personnel; and (2) transmit such information to the National Directory of New Hires.

(Sec. 314) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which wages of a person with a support obligation imposed by a child support order issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement.

(Sec. 315) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to ensure that Federal and State agencies conducting income-withholding activities have access to State locator systems for motor vehicle or law enforcement purposes.

(Sec. 316) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to provide for additional information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of: (1) establishing parentage; (2) establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations; and (3) enforcing child custody or visitation orders.

Directs the HHS Secretary to establish in the Federal Parent Locator Service an automated Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders and an automated National Directory of New Hires.

(Sec. 317) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring recordation on such documents of the Social Security number of: (1) specified driver's, marriage, and occupational, and professional license applicants; (2) individuals subject to certain domestic relations orders; and (3) deceased individuals (on death records).

Subtitle C: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures - Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1998. Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for the court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders.

(Sec. 323) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring: (1) expedited administrative enforcement in interstate cases and support orders; and (2) expedited administrative and judicial procedures for establishing paternity and enforcing support obligations.

Subtitle D: Paternity Establishment - Revises the guidelines for State laws governing paternity establishment. Requires State procedures under which the name of the father shall be included on the birth certificate only: (1) if the mother and father have signed a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity; or (2) pursuant to a judicial or administrative order.

(Sec. 333) Requires State plans for child and spousal support to provide that the State agency administering the plan will make a determination as to whether a program recipient is cooperating in good faith with State efforts to establish paternity and secure support.

Subtitle E: Program Administration and Funding - Directs the Secretary to develop a new incentive system to replace the current one. Revises the guidelines for Federal performance-based incentive payments to the States for effective child support enforcement programs.

(Sec. 342) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location.

(Sec. 344) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks.

(Sec. 345) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service.

Subtitle F: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders - Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders.

(Sec. 352) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to authorize a consumer agency to furnish a consumer report: (1) in response to a request by a governmental child support enforcement agency; or (2) to the State administrative agency which sets child support awards.

(Sec. 353) Shields a depository institution from Federal or State liability for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency. Prohibits such agency from disclosing such a financial record except for the purpose of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation. Sets forth civil penalties for any person knowingly or negligently violating such prohibition.

Subtitle G: Enforcement of Support Orders - Amends Internal Revenue Code procedural guidelines for the collection of arrearages to provide that no additional fee may be assessed for adjustments to a previously certified amount.

(Sec. 362) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed Forces.

(Sec. 364) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to have in effect the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act of 1981, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act of 1984, or a similar law, as well as certain procedures governing the voiding of fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor.

(Sec. 365) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include specified procedures: (1) to ensure that persons owing past-due support work or participate in work activities the court deems appropriate; (2) to report to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (3) to provide for liens against real and personal property for the support arrearages of an absent parent; and (4) to implement the restriction of driver's, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses of individuals owing support arrearages.

(Sec. 370) Instructs the Secretary of State to deny a passport to any individual certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to be in arrears of more than $5,000 for child support payments. Authorizes revocation, restriction or limitation of a previously issued passport in connection with such individuals.

(Sec. 371) Authorizes the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the HHS Secretary, to declare any foreign country a reciprocating country if it has established, or undertakes to establish, procedures for the establishment and enforcement of child support obligations whose obligees are U.S. citizens. Provides for revocation of such declaration in certain circumstances. Designates the HHS Secretary as the central authority for such enforcement.

(Sec. 372) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which a State agency shall enter agreements with financial institutions doing business within the State to develop and operate a data match system to provide identifying information for each noncustodial parent targeted by the State who maintains an account at the institution, and to encumber or surrender such parent's assets at the institution pursuant to a lien or levy.

(Sec. 373) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which child support orders relating to the child of minor parents, where the custodial parents are receiving assistance, are enforceable against the child's paternal or maternal grandparents.

(Sec. 374) Amends Federal bankruptcy law to make nondischargeable in bankruptcy any debts owed to a State or municipality for child support.

Subtitle H: Medical Support - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process.

(Sec. 377) Amends part D of SSA title IV to mandate statutorily prescribed procedures under which all enforced child support orders shall include a provision for the health care coverage of the child.

Subtitle I: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non- Residential Parents - Amends part D of SSA title IV to prescribe guidelines under which the Administration for Children and Families shall make grants to enable States to establish and administer access and visitation programs to facilitate noncustodial parents' access to their children.

Subtitle J: Effect of Enactment - Sets forth effective dates for this title.

Title IV: Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens - Subtitle A: Eligibility for Federal Benefits - Denies Federal public benefits (except certain emergency disaster relief, public health, housing, and child nutrition benefits) to non-qualified aliens.

(Sec. 402) Denies SSI and food stamp eligibility to all but certain qualified aliens, who may receive only limited benefits.

(Sec. 403) Makes qualified aliens ineligible (with limited exceptions) for Federal means-tested public benefits for the first five years after U.S. entry.

Amends SSA and the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide for reporting of certain illegal alien information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

Subtitle B: Eligibility for State and Local Public Benefits Programs - Makes an alien who is not a qualified alien, a nonimmigrant, or a parolee for less than one year ineligible for State or local benefits (except certain emergency disaster relief, public health, housing, and child nutrition benefits).

(Sec. 412) Authorizes States, with certain exceptions, to determine eligibility for State means-tested public benefits for qualified aliens, nonimmigrants, or certain parolees.

Subtitle C: Attribution of Income and Affidavits of Support - Deems the income and resources of any alien over age 18 (who is not pregnant) applying for Medicaid and SSA title XXI benefits to include: (1) the income and resources of any person who executed an affidavit of support on the alien's behalf; and (2) the income and resources of the person's spouse (if any).

(Sec. 422) Authorizes States to make similar attributions with respect to State programs (except certain emergency disaster relief, public health, housing, and child nutrition benefits).

Subtitle D: General Provisions - Sets forth definitions and requires appropriate regulations by the Attorney General for State use.

Subtitle E: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 and the Housing Act of 1949.

Title V: Reductions in Federal Government Positions - Outlines the mechanism for various specified Federal executive agency workforce reductions, requiring submission to specified congressional committees of determinations about the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions of their respective departments by the Secretaries of Agriculture, of Education, of Labor, of Housing and Urban Development, and of HHS. Requires the Secretaries to make FTE reductions, including reductions-in-force, over the ensuing 14 months. Requires the Comptroller General to analyze and report to such committees on such determinations, with recommendations for further FTE reductions, if appropriate.

(Sec. 502) Requires the HHS Secretary to reduce the Federal workforce within HHS: (1) by 75 percent of the FTE positions relating to any direct or indirect discretionary spending program converted into a block grant program by this Act (including 245 FTE positions related to the program converted into TEA block grants); and (2) by 75 percent of a proportionate number of the total FTE departmental management positions (including 60 FTE managerial positions related to the program converted into TEA block grants).

(Sec. 503) Encourages the HHS Secretary to reduce personnel in the Washington, D.C., area office (agency headquarters) before reducing field personnel.

Title VI: Reform of Public Housing - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to prohibit increased housing assistance (except instances of limited-time frame benefits) to a family whose benefits under other public assistance programs have been reduced because of noncompliance.

(Sec. 602) States that a person whose benefits under a means-tested welfare or public assistance program have been reduced because of fraud shall not, during such reduction period, receive an income-based increase in any other means-tested assistance program.

Title VII: Child Care - Child Care and Development Block Grant Amendments of 1995 - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations for FY 1996 through 2002.

(Sec. 703) Amends part A (TEA) of title IV of the Social Security Act to establish a general child care assistance entitlement program funded by Federal grants to the States. Authorizes appropriations. Prescribes program parameters.

(Sec. 708) Repeals the program requirement for early childhood development and before- and after-school services. Revises enforcement guidelines to require a State to reimburse the Secretary for funds improperly expended on prohibited or non-authorized purposes.

(Sec. 712) Revises the Secretary's congressional reporting requirements to mandate biannual reports to the House Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities.

(Sec. 713) Authorizes an Indian tribe or tribal organization to use Federal funds for the construction or renovation of child care facilities.

(Sec. 715) Repeals the Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985 and the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act. Repeals funding authority for certain programs of national significance, involving: (1) child care for children of at-risk students; (2) alternative programs for bilingual and special education students; and (3) rural child care centers for student parents and their children. Repeals funding authority for Native Hawaiian Family-based Education Centers.

Title VIII: Child Nutrition Programs - Subtitle A: National School Lunch Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to repeal specified authorities and requirements for the school lunch and related programs, including: (1) State educational authority to use resources from the nutrition and education (NET) program; (2) prohibition of State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; (3) certain demonstration grants to private nonprofit organizations or educational institutions for elementary school curriculum food and nutrition projects; (4) aspects of summer food service programs, reducing payment rates and daily meals at camps, reducing the National Youth Sports Program, and revising nutritional standards compliance requirements; (5) certain commodity distribution program requirements, including State Advisory Councils; (6) expansion of the child care food program; (7) adult care food aid to adult day care centers and services for persons over 60; (8) certain pilot projects, including one for paperwork reduction; and (9) an information clearinghouse.

(Sec. 807) Prohibits, in general, any waiver that will increase Federal costs.

(Sec. 810) Provides for grants for State assistance to family or group day care homes.

Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services to study and report to specified congressional committees on the impact of this title on adult food care program participation and family day care licensing.

Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to revise the school breakfast program: (1) eliminating Federal assistance for food preparation training and program expansion and start-up costs; (2) repealing certain authorities and requirements relating to State administrative expenses; (3) repealing the prohibition against State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; (4) repealing the program of cash grants for nutrition education.

(Sec. 830) Revises the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC), among other things repealing specified requirements and changing from mandatory to optional: (1) drug abuse education; and (2) provision of WIC information in languages other than English.

(Sec. 832) Makes the Nutrition and Education program discretionary rather than mandatory. Authorizes appropriations.

Title IX: Food Stamp Program and Related Programs - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to: (1) increase the standard deduction from income resources for eligibility purposes; (2) treat electronic benefit transfer cards and personal identification (PIN) numbers as coupons; (3) count vendor payments for transitional housing as income; (4) increase penalties for specified program violations; (5) revise disqualification penalties and periods, and their applications to entire households, for persons refusing to comply with work requirements; (6) revise general exemptions from employment and training requirements and funding for related programs; and (7) mandate disqualification of individuals for multiple receipt of food stamp benefits, of fleeing felons, and of individuals delinquent in child support payments.

(Sec. 915) Authorizes State food stamp disqualification of a household member also disqualified from another means-tested public assistance program for failure to perform an action required for such program under Federal, State, or local law.

(Sec. 918) Makes it an eligibility requirement for custodial parents to cooperate with child support agencies.

(Sec. 920) Prescribes additional work requirements for able-bodied food stamp recipients. Requires State agencies to implement electronic benefit transfer systems.

(Sec. 924) Provides for: (1) optional combined value allotments for expedited households; and (2) allotments to individuals residing in drug or alcohol abuse treatment centers.

(Sec. 925) Authorizes reduction in State food stamp benefits of a household for whom benefits are also reduced in another means-tested public assistance program for a similar failure.

(Sec. 927) Authorizes regulations to establish specific authorization periods, and specific periods for prohibiting participation of stores based on lack of business integrity.

(Sec. 931) Revises requirements for State agency procedures for food stamp office operation. Augments the kinds of information (including retailer information) that may be exchanged among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. Authorizes the suspension of stores violating program requirements pending administrative and judicial review.

(Sec. 939) Mandates regulations for: (1) food stamp program disqualification of retailers disqualified from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and (2) the permanent debarment of retailers who intentionally submit falsified applications. Subjects food stamp benefits to civil and criminal forfeiture for benefit violations.

(Sec. 948) Authorizes States to operate simplified food stamp programs according to specified requirements. Repeals the authority to conduct specified pilot projects and the Food Bank Demonstration Project.

(Sec. 949) Revises State plan requirements for the emergency food assistance program.

Title X: Miscellaneous - Provides, among other things, for: (1) the expenditure of Federal funds received by a State under TEA and certain other Federal programs only in accordance with laws and procedures applicable to expenditure of the State's own revenues; (2) elimination of housing assistance with respect to fugitive felons and probation and parole violators; (3) certain options for State consideration of the resources of an ineligible household member when determining the food stamp eligibility and allotment of such individual's household; and (4) an increase in funding for abstinence education under SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services).

(Sec. 1003) Expresses the sense of the Senate that Congress should adopt enterprise zone legislation in the 104th Congress providing for various specified incentives, regulatory reforms, and pilot projects.

(Sec. 1004) Expresses the sense of the Senate that States: (1) should diligently continue their efforts to enforce child support payments by the non-custodial parent; and (2) should pursue pilot programs in which the parents of a non-adult, non-custodial parent who refuses to or is unable to pay child support must pay or contribute to the child support owed by the non-custodial parent or otherwise fulfill all financial obligations and meet all conditions imposed on the non-custodial parent, such as participation in a work program or other related activity.

(Sec. 1006) Directs the HHS Secretary to: (1) implement a certain strategy for preventing out-of-wedlock teenage pregnancies and assuring that at least 25 percent of U.S. communities have teenage pregnancy prevention programs; and (2) report to the Congress on the State programs so implemented to determine their progress.

(Sec. 1007) Expresses the sense of the Senate that States and local jurisdictions should aggressively enforce statutory rape laws.

(Sec. 1008) Declares that States shall not be prohibited by the Federal Government from sanctioning welfare recipients who test positive for use of controlled substances.

(Sec. 1010) Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to generally exempt from the required disclosures, protections, responsibilities, and authorized remedies of such Act, and any implementing regulation prescribed by the Federal Reserve Board, any electronic benefit transfer program established under State or local law or administered by a State or local government that distributes needs-tested benefits.

(Sec. 1011) Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to reduce the authorization of appropriations for social services block grants.

(Sec. 1012) Encourages the HHS Secretary to work in coordination with State agencies to ensure the efficient use of Federal transportation funds by recipients of public assistance under this Act.