[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 574 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 574
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to toll the 5-
year limit for assistance under the temporary assistance to needy
families program for recipients who live in a State that is
experiencing significant increases in unemployment.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 7, 2003
Mr. Corzine (for himself and Mrs. Murray) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to toll the 5-
year limit for assistance under the temporary assistance to needy
families program for recipients who live in a State that is
experiencing significant increases in unemployment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Unemployment Protection for Low-
Income Families on TANF Act of 2003'' or the ``UPLIFT Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. DISREGARD OF MONTHS OF ASSISTANCE RECEIVED DURING PERIODS OF
HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT.
(a) In General.--Section 408(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 608(a)(7)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(H) Disregard of assistance received during
periods of high unemployment.--
``(i) In general.--In determining the
number of months for which an adult has
received assistance under a State or tribal
program funded under this part, the State or
tribe shall disregard any month in which the
State is determined to be a high unemployment
State for that month.
``(ii) Definition of high unemployment
state.--For purposes of clause (i), a State
shall be considered to be a high unemployment
State for a month if it satisfies either of the
following criteria:
``(I) State rate of unemployment.--
The average--
``(aa) rate of total
unemployment (seasonally
adjusted) in the State for the
period consisting of the most
recent 3 months for which data
are available has increased by
the lesser of 1.5 percentage
points or by 50 percent over
the corresponding 3-month
period in either of the 2 most
recent preceding fiscal years;
or
``(bb) insured unemployment
rate (seasonally adjusted) in
the State for the most recent 3
months for which data are
available has increased by 1
percentage point over the
corresponding 3-month period in
either of the 2 most recent
preceding fiscal years.
``(II) National rate of
unemployment.--The average rate of
total unemployment (seasonally
adjusted) for all States for the period
consisting of the most recent 3 months
for which data for all States are
published equals or exceeds 6.5
percent.
``(iii) Duration.--A State that is
considered to be a high unemployment State
under clause (ii) for a month shall continue to
be considered such a State until the rate that
was used to meet the definition as a high
unemployment State under that clause for the
most recently concluded 3-month period for
which data are available, falls below the level
attained in the 3-month period in which the
State first qualified as a high unemployment
State under that clause.''.
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