CHAPTER 247
HB 1461 – FINAL VERSION
05/04/06 2001s
2006 SESSION
05/09
HOUSE BILL 1461
AN ACT establishing a task force to study Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).
SPONSORS: Rep. Wallner, Merr 12; Rep. MacKay, Merr 11; Rep. Emerton, Hills 7; Rep. Schulze, Hills 26; Sen. Barnes, Dist 17; Sen. Estabrook, Dist 21
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill establishes a task force to study cash assistance provided to eligible families with dependent children under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. The bill also directs the task force to study the federal reauthorization of TANF and to recommend appropriate changes at the state level.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05/04/06 2001s
06-2709
05/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT establishing a task force to study Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
247:1 Task Force Established. There is established a task force to study the cash assistance provided to needy families under the state Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.
247:2 Membership and Compensation. The members of the task force shall be as follows:
I. The governor, or designee.
II. Three members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.
III. Three members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, one of whom shall be a member of the health, human services and elderly affairs committee and one of whom shall be a member of the finance committee.
IV. The commissioner of health and human services, or a designee.
V. The director of the division of family services, or a designee.
VI. Two members of the public, one of whom shall have direct experience with low income family life, appointed by the governor.
VII. A parent currently enrolled in the TANF program in New Hampshire, appointed by the governor.
VIII. The director of the New Hampshire housing finance authority, or a designee.
IX. The director of the commission on the status of women, or a designee.
X. The chair of the family assistance advisory council, or a designee.
XI. The chair of the New Hampshire Local Welfare Administrators Association, or a designee.
XII. One member from the New Hampshire Child Advocacy Network, appointed by that organization.
XIII. A member of Families in Transition-NH, appointed by that organization.
XIV. A child care professional, appointed by the governor.
XV. The commissioner of the department of employment security, or designee.
XVI. A professional in the field of adult education, appointed by the governor.
XVII. A representative of the governor’s commission on disability, appointed by that organization.
XVIII. A representative of the community action program, appointed by that organization.
247:3 Duties of the Task Force. The task force shall:
I. Determine the cost and availability of rental housing and the costs of heat, utilities, transportation, and other necessities affected by recent increases in the price of fuel.
II. Determine the adequacy of current TANF grant levels, in relation to these costs, to support the successful movement of TANF parents toward economic self-sufficiency, and to provide a safe, secure, and healthy family life for TANF children while their parents are making that transition.
III. Determine, should current grant levels be insufficient to support these objectives, the grant levels that would be required and the total budgetary cost of such an adjustment.
IV. Consider, in the interest of the most efficient allocation of finite state resources to this purpose, whether the state should retain the current flat TANF grant structure or adopt a structure permitting the grant to reflect regional differences in the cost of housing, transportation, and other essentials, or some other more cost effective system.
V. Explore how TANF grant levels might be more smoothly adjusted to changes in essential living costs in the future, including, but not limited to, the consideration of the desirability and feasibility of tying the TANF grant structure to the TANF standard of need.
VI. Explore whether it may be possible save state funds and provide more affordable housing to TANF families by developing alternatives to the private rental market.
VII. Consider issues relative to child care in the context of providing assistance and meeting welfare-to-work goals under the TANF program.
VIII. Review changes to the TANF program made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Public Law 109-171. The task force also shall review how the current state TANF program may need to be changed in order to comply with the amended federal law.
IX. Recommend those changes in the levels and structure of the TANF grant, that the task force determines are necessary and desirable, to the governor, the commissioner of health and human services, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate.
X. Make recommendations for any proposed legislation the task force deems necessary.
247:4 Agency Support. The task force may request relevant information and testimony from the department of health and human services, the department of resources and economic development, the New Hampshire housing finance authority, and any other relevant government agency, as well as reasonable administrative support from the department of health and human services.
247:5 Appointments; Mileage. Appointments of all members of the task force shall be made within 30 days of the effective date of this act. The members of the task force shall serve without compensation, except that the legislative members shall receive compensation for mileage at the usual legislative rate, and the member who is a TANF parent shall receive an expense reimbursement from the division of family services calculated at the rate established by the department of health and human services for travel by its employees within the state.
247:6 Officers; Meeting. The first meeting of this task force shall be called within 45 days after the effective date of this act by the governor or the governor’s designee. At the first task force meeting, the members shall choose a chairperson and a vice chairperson by majority vote from among the membership. After the first meeting, all task force meetings shall be called by the chairperson. Meeting dates and places shall be at the discretion of the task force.
247:7 Reports. The task force shall submit a preliminary report of its findings and recommendations on or before December 10, 2006, and a final report of its findings and recommendations on or before December 1, 2007, to the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate president, the governor, the commissioner of the department of health and human services, the house clerk, the senate clerk, and the state library.
247:8 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved: June 5, 2006
Effective: June 5, 2006