SENATE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 6, 193, 380, PRINTER'S NO. 2343
402, 1519, 2244, 2310
No. 2 Session of 1995
INTRODUCED BY FLICK, RYAN, PERZEL, BARLEY, FARGO, PHILLIPS,
PITTS, E. Z. TAYLOR, D. W. SNYDER, DEMPSEY, FARMER, CLARK,
KING, MAYERNIK, KENNEY, GLADECK, TRUE, CORNELL, MAITLAND,
HESS, HARHART, HERMAN, FICHTER, BROWN, MILLER, ZUG, GAMBLE,
WAUGH, GODSHALL, SCHULER, ADOLPH, LEH, LYNCH, ALLEN,
S. H. SMITH, NYCE, PETTIT, RAYMOND, SHEEHAN, LAWLESS,
HUTCHINSON, EGOLF, CLYMER, ROHRER, BAKER, J. TAYLOR,
SCHRODER, RUBLEY, DeLUCA, STEIL, SATHER, MICOZZIE, MAJOR,
MARKOSEK, BIRMELIN, FAIRCHILD, FLEAGLE, STERN, McGILL,
HERSHEY, FEESE, CONTI, REINARD, SEMMEL, GEIST, CHADWICK,
PLATTS, SAYLOR, STISH AND VAN HORNE, JANUARY 19, 1995
SENATE AMENDMENTS TO HOUSE AMENDMENTS, JUNE 28, 1995
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), entitled "An
2 act to consolidate, editorially revise, and codify the public
3 welfare laws of the Commonwealth," providing for a job
4 training program AND for Federal funds for legal services; <--
5 prohibiting leases for use of a premises in Philadelphia for <--
6 operating a financial exchange office; restricting leases
7 involving the Embreeville Center; further providing for
8 administration of assistance, for the workfare program, for a
9 program for identification of assistance recipients AND for <--
10 eligibility for assistance and for determination of need; <--
11 prohibiting duplicate payments and providing for expedited
12 authorization; further providing for medical need
13 determinations and for relatives' responsibility for medical
14 assistance; providing for penalties for failure to appear at
15 criminal proceedings; and further providing for employment
16 incentive payments and for repayment from probate estates.
17 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
18 hereby enacts as follows:
19 Section 1. The act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known
1 as the Public Welfare Code, is amended by adding sections to
2 read:
3 Section 201.1. Federal Funds for Legal Services.--In
4 addition to the areas of expenditures for legal services
5 authorized by section 220 of the General Appropriation Act of
6 1995, Federal funds appropriated for fiscal year July 1, 1995,
7 through June 30, 1996, may only be used for the following:
8 termination of employment and unemployment compensation;
9 insurance; health care; discrimination due to age, race, sex or
10 handicap; wage and pension claims; taxation; wills and estates;
11 Social Security; disability; and debtor-creditor issues.
12 Section 214. Job Training.--(a) The department shall
13 establish, implement and administer a pilot job training program
14 with the ultimate goal of securing economic self-sufficiency for
15 welfare recipients. The program shall utilize Federal and State
16 funds available to the department for job training programs.
17 (b) The pilot program shall consist of three projects
18 located in three separate counties in different geographical
19 regions representing rural, suburban and urban populations of
20 this Commonwealth. In selecting sites for projects, preference
21 shall be given to areas of persistent unemployment and
22 widespread failure or closure of existing dominant industries.
23 (c) The goal of the pilot program shall be to match trainees
24 with existing job vacancies which pay wages and benefits based
25 on a forty-hour work week and which are sufficient to ensure the
26 financial security of the trainee and any dependents to enable
27 that trainee and dependents to remain free of any State
28 assistance for at least one year.
29 (d) The pilot program shall include provisions to:
30 (i) Ensure that contracts with training, placement and other
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1 service providers are performance-based, with payments derived
2 from successful placements of welfare recipients into adequate
3 employment.
4 (ii) Reward client initiative, by directing child-care,
5 training and other program resources to welfare recipients who
6 are actively working toward self-sufficiency.
7 (iii) Make receipt of benefits and/or incentives contingent
8 on recipients meeting of individualized obligations such as
9 attendance at training sessions and pursuit of job
10 opportunities.
11 (e) The department may contract with an employer, a
12 nonprofit association, corporation or government agency or any
13 combination thereof.
14 (f) Payments by the department to a project operator shall
15 be scheduled so that twenty-five percent of the contract price
16 is paid during training, twenty-five percent is paid upon
17 completion of training, twenty-five percent after the trainee is
18 employed continuously for a period of at least six months and
19 twenty-five percent after the trainee is employed continuously
20 for a period of at least one year.
21 (g) The department shall be required to analyze the pilot
22 program, measuring its results against the goals under this
23 section as well as comparing it to other Federal and State job
24 training programs. A report on the evaluation shall be submitted
25 to the Governor and the General Assembly detailing the findings
26 and recommendations of the evaluation no later than two years
27 following implementation of the pilot program. The report shall
28 include, but not be limited to:
29 (i) Cost-effectiveness in the use of job training resources.
30 (ii) Rate of job placements.
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1 (iii) Reduction of welfare enrollment.
2 (iv) Rate of in-migration and out-migration in the program
3 area.
4 (h) An employer may not contract a program participant to
5 another employer unless the program participant is the sole
6 recipient of any additional wages, benefits or compensation that
7 may result from the contract.
8 (i) The department shall promulgate regulations to implement
9 the provisions of this section.
10 Section 308.1. Property in Philadelphia.--Neither the <--
11 Department of Public Welfare nor any other Commonwealth agency
12 nor any official thereof shall lease the premises situated at
13 5243 Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia for the purpose of
14 operating a financial exchange office or any related office. Any
15 existing lease, including any renewal thereof, which is
16 inconsistent with this section shall be terminated by the
17 Commonwealth on the effective date of this section or as soon
18 thereafter as is legally possible.
19 Section 308.2. Embreeville Center.--Neither the department
20 nor any other Commonwealth agency nor any official thereof shall
21 lease the premises on which the Embreeville Center in Chester
22 County is situated, if the lease would permit the use of such
23 premises for any purpose relating to the shelter, care,
24 confinement, diagnosis or treatment of delinquent, predelinquent
25 and dependent juveniles under the jurisdiction of the juvenile
26 court or any person under sentence for a criminal conviction.
27 Any existing lease, including any renewal thereof, which is
28 inconsistent with this section shall be terminated by the
29 Commonwealth on the effective date of this section or as soon
30 thereafter as is legally possible and no such lease shall be
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1 modified to permit an expansion of any use prohibited by this
2 section prior to its termination.
3 Section 2. Section 403 of the act is amended by adding a
4 subsection to read:
5 Section 403. Uniformity in Administration of Assistance;
6 Regulations as to Assistance.--* * *
7 (g) Regulations which authorize payment for purchase of an
8 automobile, for parts for an automobile or for repair of an
9 automobile for a recipient of public assistance shall provide
10 that the payment shall be made jointly to the seller of the
11 automobile or parts or the garage or mechanic which made the
12 repairs and the recipient.
13 Section 3. Section 405.2(a), (b), (c) and (d) of the act,
14 amended or added April 8, 1982 (P.L.231, No.75) and June 16,
15 1994 (P.L.319, No.49), are amended to read:
16 Section 405.2. [Community Work] Workfare Program.--(a) The
17 department shall [coordinate the establishment of community work
18 projects by] enter into cooperative agreements to establish
19 workfare projects with departments, agencies or institutions of
20 the Commonwealth or any political subdivision located within the
21 Commonwealth or any agency of the Federal Government or
22 department-approved nonprofit organizations [that receive State
23 or county funds and] or established, for-profit temporary help
24 organizations for temporary placement with private, nonprofit or
25 for-profit employers. Participating, for-profit temporary help
26 organizations shall recover their costs and profit from fees
27 charged to employers. The department shall assign to these work
28 projects cash assistance recipients [for whom the Office of
29 Employment Security has] who are able to work but have been
30 unable to secure employment. In instances when [community work]
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1 workfare projects are not available for all [able-bodied cash
2 assistance] recipients, priority shall be given to general
3 assistance recipients for referral to available projects.
4 (b) Every individual who has not received a bona fide offer
5 of training or employment under section 405.1 shall, as a
6 condition of continuing eligibility for cash assistance, report
7 to and work in [a community work] an available workfare project
8 established under this section unless such individual is exempt
9 from the registration requirements of section 405.1. Such
10 individual shall be required to work that number of hours which
11 when multiplied by the applicable minimum wage equals the amount
12 of cash assistance such person receives: Provided, however,
13 That:
14 (1) such work shall not exceed forty hours per week; and
15 (2) the parent or other caretaker of a child between the
16 ages of six and fourteen who is personally providing care for
17 the child with only very brief and infrequent absences from the
18 child shall not be required to participate in [community work]
19 workfare projects except on days and at times when the child is
20 in school or when there are adequate day-care arrangements
21 available for the child at no cost to the recipient.
22 (c) [Community work] Workfare projects established under
23 this section must be approved by the department. To qualify for
24 approval, a work site must conform to appropriate health and
25 safety standards. Cash assistance recipients shall not be
26 assigned to work opportunities available due to a labor dispute,
27 strike, or lockout and shall not be assigned to perform work so
28 as to cause the layoff, downgrading or prevention of return to
29 work of an available competent employe. Cash assistance
30 recipients shall be assigned to [community work] workfare
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1 projects within twenty-five miles of their place of residence
2 unless the department determines that a greater distance is not
3 a hardship.
4 (d) A person who without good cause fails or refuses to
5 accept assignment to and participate in a [community work]
6 workfare project shall be [disqualified from receiving cash
7 assistance for sixty days for the first violation and thereafter
8 until such time he or she is willing to comply. For the second
9 violation and subsequent violations the disqualification period
10 shall be one hundred twenty days. The disqualification period
11 shall commence on the date the department's order imposing
12 disqualification is final.] terminated from assistance pursuant
13 to section 432.3.
14 * * *
15 Section 4. Section 414 of the act, added June 16, 1994
16 (P.L.319, No.49), is amended to read:
17 Section 414. Assistance Recipient Identification Program.--
18 (a) [Subject to Federal approval, only where necessary, there
19 is hereby created a pilot program within the] The department is
20 authorized to create, in geographic areas where the department
21 determines it to be cost effective, a program to be known as the
22 Assistance Recipient Identification Program.
23 (b) The purpose of the program is to eliminate duplication
24 of assistance to recipients, to deter fraud and to assist law
25 enforcement officials in their duties.
26 [(c) The department shall select three geographic areas in
27 this Commonwealth representing rural, suburban and urban areas
28 to participate in this program.]
29 (d) A person currently receiving or applying for assistance
30 shall participate in the program. The person shall be identified
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1 using available technological means that may include, but are
2 not limited to, two-digit fingerimaging.
3 (e) The department, wherever feasible, shall work with
4 neighboring states to execute agreements between each of those
5 states and the Commonwealth to implement compatible computer
6 cross-matching identification systems.
7 (f) It is a violation for a person in the program to acquire
8 or attempt to acquire duplication of assistance.
9 (g) Absent a court order, only the department, the
10 Pennsylvania State Police AND THE PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF <--
11 PROBATION AND PAROLE, the chief of a local municipal police
12 department, or his designee within the department, including the
13 sheriff's office in counties of the second class, and the
14 designated officials of neighboring states with whom the
15 department executes agreements under subsection (e) shall have
16 access to records under this program.
17 (h) The department shall make a report to the General
18 Assembly [one year after the effective date of this act. The] no
19 later than March 1, 1996, and every two years thereafter. Each
20 report shall include:
21 (1) Caseload data before implementation of this section as
22 well as after one year for comparison purposes to judge the
23 program's effectiveness at fraud deterrence.
24 (2) Attempts at and instances of multiple enrollment by
25 persons.
26 (3) Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of the project.
27 (4) Recommendations regarding whether the program should be
28 discontinued, expanded or otherwise modified.
29 [(i) This section shall expire two years after the effective
30 date of this act unless extended by the General Assembly.]
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1 (j) As used in this section, the term "program" means the
2 Assistance Recipient Identification Program.
3 Section 5. Section 432(3) of the act, amended June 16, 1994
4 (P.L.319, No.49), is amended and the section is amended by
5 adding clauses to read:
6 Section 432. Eligibility.--Except as hereinafter otherwise
7 provided, and subject to the rules, regulations, and standards
8 established by the department, both as to eligibility for
9 assistance and as to its nature and extent, needy persons of the
10 classes defined in clauses (1), (2), and (3) shall be eligible
11 for assistance:
12 * * *
13 (3) Other persons who are citizens of the United States, or
14 lawfully admitted aliens [and] who are [chronically needy or
15 transitionally needy persons] eligible for general assistance
16 benefits.
17 (i) [Chronically needy persons are those persons chronically
18 in need] Persons who may be eligible for general assistance for
19 an indeterminate period as a result of medical, social or
20 related circumstances [and] shall be limited to:
21 (A) A child who is under age eighteen or who is eighteen
22 through twenty years of age and attending a secondary or
23 equivalent vocational or technical school full-time and may
24 reasonably be expected to complete the program before reaching
25 twenty-one years of age.
26 (B) Persons who are parents residing in two-parent
27 households with their child who is under eighteen years of age.
28 Every possible effort shall be made by the department to place
29 these persons in the AFDC program.
30 (C) A person who has a serious physical or mental handicap
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1 which prevents him or her from working in any substantial
2 gainful activity as determined in accordance with standards
3 established by the department. The department may require that
4 documentation of disability be submitted from a physician or
5 psychologist. The department may also require further medical
6 documentation of disability and may also order at the
7 department's expense a person to submit to an independent
8 examination as a condition of receiving assistance under this
9 clause.
10 (D) A person who is a nonparental caretaker of a child under
11 eighteen years of age or a caretaker of another person because
12 of illness or disability. Such child or other person must be a
13 member of the household and the caretaker must be a person whose
14 presence is required in the home to care for another person as
15 determined in accordance with department regulations.
16 (E) A person who is currently undergoing active treatment
17 for substance abuse in a drug and alcohol program licensed or
18 approved by the Department of Health or administered by an
19 agency of the Federal Government. No individual shall qualify
20 [as chronically needy] FOR GENERAL ASSISTANCE under this clause <--
21 for more than nine months in a lifetime.
22 (F) A pregnant woman whose pregnancy has been medically
23 verified.
24 (G) A person who is a victim of domestic violence and who is
25 receiving protective services as defined by the department. No
26 individual shall qualify [as chronically needy] FOR GENERAL <--
27 ASSISTANCE under this provision for more than nine months in his
28 lifetime.
29 (ii) [Assistance for chronically needy persons] General
30 assistance shall continue as long as the person remains
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1 eligible. Redeterminations shall be conducted on at least an
2 annual basis and persons capable of work, even though otherwise
3 eligible for general assistance [to the chronically needy],
4 would be required to register for employment and accept
5 employment if offered as a condition of eligibility except as
6 otherwise exempt under section 405.1.
7 (iii) Transitionally needy persons are those persons who are
8 otherwise eligible for general assistance but do not qualify as
9 chronically needy. Assistance for transitionally needy persons
10 shall be authorized for not more than sixty days in any twenty-
11 four month period. Any transitionally needy benefits received in
12 the twelve-month period prior to the effective date of this
13 subclause shall be applied toward the total period of benefits
14 an individual is eligible for, beginning with the receipt of the
15 first cash assistance check in the previous twelve-month period.
16 This subclause shall expire September 1, 1995.
17 (iv) No transitionally needy benefits shall be initially
18 authorized after June 30, 1995. Any person receiving
19 transitionally needy general assistance as of the effective date
20 of this subclause may continue to receive that assistance until
21 sixty days of benefits are exhausted in accordance with
22 subclause (iii). Transitionally needy benefits received after
23 June 30, 1993, shall be applied to the total period of benefits.
24 Transitionally needy general assistance benefits shall cease on
25 the earlier of:
26 (A) the date of the final issuance of benefits; or
27 (B) August 29, 1995.
28 * * *
29 (9) Assistance may not be granted to any person who has been
30 sentenced for a felony or misdemeanor offense and who has not
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1 otherwise satisfied the penalty imposed on that person by law.
2 The department and the Pennsylvania State Police shall enter
3 into a cooperative agreement. Notwithstanding any provisions in
4 18 Pa.C.S. Ch. 91 (relating to criminal history record
5 information), this agreement shall provide the department with
6 access to the central repository within the Pennsylvania State
7 Police in order to carry out the objectives of this section. The
8 Pennsylvania State Police AND THE PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF <--
9 PROBATION AND PAROLE shall have access to the records of the
10 Assistance Recipient Identification Program under section 414
11 within the department in order to carry out the objectives of
12 section 414. For general assistance applicants and recipients,
13 the department shall enter into cooperative agreements with the
14 Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Board of
15 Probation and Parole to ensure that no general assistance is
16 granted to a person who has been sentenced for a felony or
17 misdemeanor offense. For this purpose, the department may access
18 and provide information available pursuant to section 414. As
19 used in this clause, "satisfied the penalty" means completed the
20 period of incarceration or extension thereof, and paid all
21 fines, costs and restitution. Nothing in this clause shall be
22 deemed to exclude from assistance any person who has been
23 paroled from a term of imprisonment, or any person who is in
24 compliance with all terms of probation, and who has made full
25 payment of all fines, costs and restitution.
26 (10) Assistance shall not be granted to any applicant who is
27 under eighteen years of age and who has never been married and
28 is pregnant and/or caring for a dependent child unless the
29 applicant is residing with a parent, guardian or other adult. In
30 the event that the applicant is residing with a parent, guardian
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1 or other adult, assistance shall be paid to the parent, guardian
2 or other adult with which the applicant is residing. Exemptions
3 to this subsection will be granted by the department if the
4 department determines that an exemption would be in the best
5 interests of the applicant and the child/children or if the
6 applicant can present evidence that the parent, guardian or
7 other adult:
8 (i) refuses or is unable to allow the applicant to live in
9 his or her home;
10 (ii) poses an emotional or physical threat to the applicant;
11 (iii) has physically or sexually abused the applicant or the
12 applicant's child/children, or poses a risk of doing so;
13 (iv) has exhibited neglect of the applicant or the
14 applicant's child/children; or
15 (v) has spent the applicant's assistance benefits in an
16 improper manner.
17 If an exemption is granted, the county assistance office shall
18 determine the most appropriate living arrangement for the
19 applicant and the applicant's child/children that would be in
20 the best interest of the applicant and the applicant's
21 child/children.
22 Section 6. Section 432.12 of the act is amended by adding <--
23 subsections to read:
24 Section 432.12. Determination of Need.--* * *
25 (d) In determining the amount of assistance payments to a
26 recipient family for aid to families with dependent children,
27 the department shall revise the schedule of benefits to be paid
28 to the recipient family by eliminating the increment in benefits
29 under the program for which that family would otherwise be
30 eligible as a result of the birth of a child conceived during
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1 the period in which the family is eligible for aid to families
2 with dependent children benefits, or during a temporary period
3 in which the family or recipient is ineligible for aid to
4 families with dependent children benefits pursuant to a penalty
5 imposed by the department for failure to comply with benefit
6 eligibility requirements, subsequent to which the family or
7 recipient is again eligible for benefits. The department shall
8 provide instead that a recipient family in which the recipient
9 parents an additional child conceived during the recipient's
10 period of eligibility for aid to families with dependent
11 children benefits, or during a temporary penalty period of
12 ineligibility for benefits, may receive additional benefits only
13 pursuant to subsection (e), except in the case of a general
14 increase in the amount of aid to families with dependent
15 children benefits which is provided to all program recipients
16 and provide that any child support paid for the excluded child
17 should be paid to the family for the benefit of the excluded
18 child and should be disregarded in computing the amount of
19 financial assistance which is available to the rest of the
20 family.
21 (e) In the case of a family that receives aid to families
22 with dependent children in which the recipient parents an
23 additional child conceived during the period in which the family
24 is eligible for aid to families with dependent children
25 benefits, or during a temporary penalty period of ineligibility
26 for benefits subsequent to which the family of the recipient
27 again becomes eligible for benefits, the department, subject to
28 Federal approval, shall, in addition to eliminating the increase
29 in the benefit as provided in subsection (d), provide that in
30 computing the amount of financial assistance which is available
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1 to the family that receives aid to families with dependent
2 children, the monthly earned income disregard for each employed
3 person in the family shall increase by an amount equal to that
4 which the family would have otherwise received by parenting an
5 additional child, adjusted for family size.
6 (f) Elimination of benefits under subsection (d) shall not
7 apply to any child conceived as a result of rape or incest if
8 the department:
9 (1) receives a non-notarized, signed statement from the
10 pregnant woman stating that she was a victim of rape or incest,
11 as the case may be, and that she reported the crime, including
12 the identity of the offender, if known, to a law enforcement
13 agency having the requisite jurisdiction or, in the case of
14 incest where a pregnant minor is the victim, to the county child
15 protective service agency and stating the name of the law
16 enforcement agency or child protective service agency to which
17 the report was made and the date such report was made;
18 (2) receives the signed statement of the pregnant woman
19 which is described in this subsection. The statement shall bear
20 the notice that any false statements made therein are punishable
21 by law and shall state that the pregnant woman is aware that
22 false reports to law enforcement authorities are punishable by
23 law; and
24 (3) verifies with the law enforcement agency or child
25 protective service agency named in the statement of the pregnant
26 woman whether a report of rape or incest was filed with the
27 agency in accordance with the statement.
28 The Commonwealth agency shall report any evidence of false
29 statements or of fraud in the procurement or attempted
30 procurement of any payment from Federal or State funds
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1 appropriated by the Commonwealth pursuant to this subsection to
2 the district attorney of appropriate jurisdiction and, where
3 appropriate, to the Attorney General.
4 Section 7 6. The act is amended by adding a section to read: <--
5 Section 434.2. Prohibition against Duplicate Payments and
6 Expedited Authorization.--In no case shall duplicate payments be
7 made on behalf of an aid to families with dependent children or
8 general assistance child. Notwithstanding any provision of this
9 act, a child, formerly in the custody of a parent or other
10 caregiver who is no longer exercising care and control of the
11 child, shall be eligible for expedited authorization of cash
12 assistance benefits.
13 Section 8 7. Section 442.1 of the act, amended June 16, 1994 <--
14 (P.L.319, No.49), is amended to read:
15 Section 442.1. The Medically Needy; Determination of
16 Eligibility.--(a) A person shall be considered medically needy
17 if he:
18 (1) Resides in Pennsylvania, regardless of the duration of
19 his residence or his absence therefrom;
20 (2) Meets the standards of financial eligibility established
21 by the department with the approval of the Governor. In
22 establishing these standards the department shall take into
23 account (i) the funds certified by the Budget Secretary as
24 available for medical assistance for the medically needy; (ii)
25 pertinent Federal legislation and regulations; and (iii) the
26 cost of living; and
27 (3) Is twenty-one years of age or older and receives or is
28 eligible to receive general assistance benefits.
29 (b) [Transitionally needy persons] Persons who are not
30 eligible for cash assistance by reason of section [432(3)(iii)]
19950H0002B2343 - 16 -
1 432(3)(i) shall be considered medically needy.
2 Section 9 8. Section 447 of the act, amended July 31, 1968 <--
3 (P.L.904, No.273), is amended to read:
4 Section 447. Relatives' Responsibility; Repayment.--(a)
5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no repayment shall
6 be required of any medical assistance paid in behalf of any
7 person for which he was eligible; and, with respect to the
8 determination of eligibility for such assistance, no relative,
9 other than spouses for each other and parents for unemancipated
10 minor children, shall be required to contribute to the cost of
11 the care for which such assistance is provided.
12 (b) Persons who apply for medical assistance shall be
13 required to cooperate with the department in establishing
14 paternity and pursuing a medical support order.
15 Section 10 9. The act is amended by adding a section to <--
16 read:
17 Section 481.1. Penalty for Failure to Appear at Criminal
18 Court Proceeding.--Any person receiving any form of assistance
19 under this article who fails, as a defendant, to appear at a
20 criminal court proceeding when issued a summons shall be
21 disqualified from receiving assistance until such time as that
22 person complies with the summons. The court shall cooperate with
23 the department in the implementation of this section.
24 Section 11 10. Sections 491(b) and 1412 of the act, <--
25 REENACTED AND amended or added June 16, 1994 (P.L.319, No.49), <--
26 are amended to read:
27 Section 491. Employment Incentive Payments.--* * *
28 (b) An employment incentive payment may be claimed by an
29 employer who hires any person who is receiving aid to families
30 with dependent children or who is [classified as chronically or
19950H0002B2343 - 17 -
1 transitionally needy] receiving general assistance at the time
2 of employment except that payments shall not be provided for:
3 (1) The employment of any person who displaces any other
4 individual from employment, except persons discharged for cause
5 as certified by the Office of Employment Security.
6 (2) The employment of any person closely related, as defined
7 by paragraphs (1) through (8) of section 152(a) of the Internal
8 Revenue Code, to the taxpayer, or, if the taxpayer is a
9 corporation, to an individual who owns, directly or indirectly
10 more than fifty percent of the outstanding stock of the
11 corporation, bank, savings institution, company, insurance
12 company, or mutual thrift institution.
13 (3) The employment of an individual for whom the employer is
14 simultaneously receiving Federally or State funded job training
15 payments.
16 * * *
17 Section 1412. Repayment from Probate Estates.--(a)
18 Notwithstanding any other provision of this act or any other
19 law, the department shall establish and implement an estate
20 recovery program to recover medical assistance paid with respect
21 to individuals who were fifty-five years of age or older at the
22 time that assistance was received. Under this program, the
23 department shall recover from the probate estate of an
24 individual the amount of medical assistance paid for all nursing
25 facility services, home- and community-based services and
26 related hospital and prescription drug services. With the
27 approval of the Governor, the department may expand the estate
28 recovery program by regulation to include medical assistance for
29 services other than those listed in this section and to recover
30 against other real and personal property in which an individual
19950H0002B2343 - 18 -
1 had any legal title or interest at the time of death. The
2 department's claim shall have the priority of a debt due the
3 Commonwealth. [If property subject to the department's claim is
4 transferred without the department's claim being satisfied, then
5 the executor or administrator transferring such property, if
6 applicable, and the person receiving such property shall become
7 liable to pay the department's claim.]
8 (a.1) Liability for debt shall be as follows:
9 (1) If property subject to the department's claim is
10 transferred without the department's claim being satisfied, then
11 the executor or administrator transferring such property, if
12 there is one, shall become liable to pay the department's claim.
13 (2) If property subject to the department's claim is
14 transferred to the extent that the transfer is made without
15 valuable and adequate consideration in money or something worth
16 money at the time of the transfer and without the department's
17 claim being satisfied, then the executor or administrator
18 transferring such property, if there is one, and the person
19 receiving such property shall become liable to pay the
20 department's claim.
21 (b) The executor or administrator of the estate of a
22 decedent who attained fifty-five years of age shall ascertain
23 whether the decedent received medical assistance during the five
24 years preceding death and, if so, shall give notice to the
25 department to secure from the department a statement of the
26 department's claim for medical assistance consistent with 20
27 Pa.C.S. § 3392(3) and (6) (relating to classification and order
28 of payment). The department must submit its claim to the
29 executor or administrator within [thirty] forty-five days of
30 receipt of notice or the claim shall be forfeited.
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1 (c) This section shall apply notwithstanding the provisions
2 of section 447.
3 Section 12 11. Within 90 days of the effective date of this <--
4 section, the Department of Public Welfare shall submit to the
5 appropriate Federal agency a request for any and all waivers of
6 Federal law and regulations and for any other approvals by the
7 Federal Government necessary for the implementation of the
8 programs added by this act. It shall be the obligation of the
9 Department of Public Welfare to enter into good faith
10 negotiations with the appropriate Federal authorities and to
11 make every effort to obtain the necessary Federal waivers and
12 approvals.
13 Section 13 12. It is the intent of the General Assembly that <--
14 the Department of Public Welfare promulgate final-form
15 regulations which omit notice of proposed rulemaking for the
16 purpose of revising regulations implementing sections 443.1,
17 443.3 and 443.4 of the act. These regulations shall be submitted
18 before September 1, 1995. This section shall expire September 1,
19 1995.
20 Section 14. Within 90 days of the effective date of this <--
21 act, the Department of Public Welfare shall submit to the
22 appropriate Federal agency a request for any and all waivers of
23 Federal law and regulations and for any other approvals by the
24 Federal Government necessary for the implementation of this act.
25 It shall be the obligation of the department to enter into good
26 faith negotiations with appropriate Federal authorities and to
27 make every effort to obtain the necessary Federal waivers and
28 approvals.
29 Section 15 13. All references in the act to the Community <--
30 Work Program shall be deemed to be references to the Workfare
19950H0002B2343 - 20 -
1 Program.
2 Section 16 14. This act shall take effect as follows: <--
3 (1) The addition of section 214 of the act shall take
4 effect in 120 days.
5 (2) The addition of section 432(3)(iv) of the act shall
6 take effect July 1, 1995, or immediately, whichever is later.
7 (3) the amendment of section 432.12 of the act shall <--
8 take effect July 1, 1996.
9 (4) (3) The remainder of this act shall take effect <--
10 immediately.
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