REPORT TITLE:



DESCRIPTION:


 
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 346-53, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
 3      "(a)  This subsection does not apply to general assistance
 
 4 to households without minor dependents.  The standard of need for
 
 5 families of given sizes shall equal the poverty level established
 
 6 by the federal government in 1993, prorated over a twelve-month
 
 7 period.
 
 8      The assistance allowance provided shall be based on a
 
 9 percentage of the standard of need.  For exempt households and
 
10 households in which all caretaker relatives are minors, living
 
11 independently with minor dependents and attending school, the
 
12 assistance allowance shall be set at sixty-two and one-half per
 
13 cent of the standard of need.  For all other households, the
 
14 assistance allowance shall be set no higher than sixty-two and
 
15 one-half per cent of the standard of need and set no lower than
 
16 fifty per cent of the standard of need.  The standard of need
 
17 shall be determined by dividing the 1993 federal poverty level by
 
18 twelve and rounding down the quotient.  The remaining quotient
 
19 shall be multiplied by the per cent as set by the director by
 

 
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 1 rules pursuant to chapter 91 and the final product shall be
 
 2 rounded down to determine the assistance allowance; provided
 
 3 that:
 
 4      (1)  The department may increase or reduce the assistance
 
 5           allowance as determined in this subsection for non-
 
 6           exempt households for the purpose of providing work
 
 7           incentives or services under part XI of this chapter;
 
 8      (2)  No reduction shall be allowed that jeopardizes
 
 9           eligibility for or receipt of federal funds;
 
10      (3)  Reductions in the assistance allowance shall be limited
 
11           to no more than one per year; and
 
12      (4)  No non-exempt household, which includes an adult who
 
13           has received sixty cumulative months of temporary
 
14           assistance to needy families with minor dependents,
 
15           shall be eligible for an assistance allowance, unless
 
16           authorized by federal regulations."
 
17      SECTION 2.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
18      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval. 
 
19 
 
20                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________
 

 
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