Number:104-4
Date: April 3, 1995

HOUSE PASSES H.R. 4.
THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1995

 

On March 24, 1995, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4, the Personal Responsibility Act of 1995. by a vote of 234 to 199. H.R. 4 (as passed) contains the text of H.R. 1214 as amended on the floor of the House. The bill includes SSI provisions affecting drug addicts and alcoholics, children, and noncitizens. The bill also includes a provision to require SSA to verify personal information for the Parent Locator Service and a provision permitti ng the use of SSNs in child support enforcement efforts.

Eliminates SSI Benefits to Drug Addicts and Alcoholics (DA&A)

  • Prohibits SSI eligibility to individuals disabled due to DA&A. Initially removes everyone eligible for SSI based on DA&A.

General Restrictions On Eligibility for Cash and Other New Benefits for Certain Children

  • Eliminates "individual ized functional assessments" (lFAs) in determining disability in children. Eligibility for cash benefits or newly authorized medical services will be based solely on meeting or equalling the current Listings of Impairments.

  • Allows cash payments to new child applicants only if the child is either institutionalized or otherwise would be if not receiving personal assistance necessitated by the child's disabling impairment. Also permits payment of cash benefits for qualifying children who accompany their military parents outside the U.S.

  • Requires continuing disability reviews once every 3 years for children with non-permanent
    disabilities.

Block Grants for Children with Disabilities

  • Provides block grants to States for authorized medical and non-medical services to children who are determined to be physically or mentally impaired under the medical listings.

Alien Benefit Eligibility

  • Prohibits SSI eligibility for any alien, with the following exceptions:

    • refugees for the first 5 years after their entry;

    • lawful permanent residents over age 75 who have resided in the United States for at least 5 years;

    • legal permanent residents who cannot take the naturalization examination because of physical or developmental disability or mental impairment; and

    • individuals lawfully present who are on active duty or have been honorably discharged from the u.s. armed forces, their spouses and unmarried dependent children.

  • Aliens who are on the SSI rolls at the time of enactment and who are not in one of the excepted statuses could remain on the rolls for 1 year, after which they would be ineligible.

Sponsor-To-Alien Deeming

  • Requires the deeming of the sponsor's (and spouse's, if any) income and resources to the immigrant until the immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen. The provision would not apply to aliens whose sponsors signed affidavits of support before the date such affidavits are required
    to be legally enforceable.

Legally Enforceable Sponsors' Affidavits of Support

  • Makes the sponsorsbip affidavit of support legally enforceable by the Federal, State, or local government that provides means-tested support--including SSI--to an a lien for a period of 10 years after the alien last receives benefits.

  • Requires the Federal, State, or local government that provided assistance to the alien to request reimbursement from the sponsor. If the sponsor does not respond or refuses to abide by repayment plans, the government entity may take legal action against the sponsor.

Fugitive Felons/Criminal Information

  • Prohibits SSI eligibility for fugitive felons and parole and probation violators.

  • Requires SSA to provide to law enforcement personnel, upon their request, the addresses of SSI recipients involved in parole or probation violations, other criminal activities, or criminal investigations.

Fraudulent Receipt of Benefits from Two or More States

  • Prohibits SSI eligibility for 10 years for individuals who have been found by the State or convicted in State or Federal court to have fraudulently misrepresented their State of residence in order to receive SSI, AFDC, Medicaid, or Food Stamp benefits simultaneously
    from two or more States.

Payments for SSI-Eligible Children in Mledical Facilities

  • Provides that individuals who are in a medical facility and whose care is being paid for through private insurance would be eligible for at-benefit of up to $30 a month. (Although the title indicates that this prov ision applies only to children, as drafted the provision would apply to all el igible individ uals.)

Delay in Child's Eligibility for SSI

  • Provides that, in the case of parents who disposed of their assets or their child' s assets (or a guardian who disposed of his ward's asset), within 36 months of the child's appl ication for SSI benefits, the child 's eligibility for benefits will be delayed for a number of months equal to the compensated value of the divested resource divided by the SSI Federal benefit rate.

Eliminate Maintenance of Effort Requirement

  • Eliminates the maintenance of effort requirement ("passalong") on States with regard to their State supplementary payment programs.

Expansion of Federal Parent Locator Service

  • Requires HHS to transmit to SSA for verification purposes, certain information about individuals and employers maintained under the Federal Parent Locator Service. SSA would be required to verify the accuracy of, correct, or supply to the extent possible, and report to HHS the name, SSN, and birth date of individuals and the employer identification number of employers. SSA would be reimbursed by BUS for the cost of this verification service.

Collection and Use of SSNs for Use in Child Support Enforcement

  • State child support enforcement procedures would have to require that: (I) the SSN of any applicant for a pro fessional license. commercial driver's license, occupational license, or marriage license be recorded on the application; (2) the SSN of any person subject to a divorce decree, support order, or paternity determinat ion or acknowledgement would have to be placed in the pertinent records; and (3) the SSN of any deceased person would have to be placed in the pertinent death records and be recorded on the death certificate.