ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 430
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Buckalew,
By Request of the Executive)
____________
[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen and
eighteen, article nine, chapter nine of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended;
and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new
section, designated section twenty, all relating to
conforming the West Virginia works act to federal
requirements; legislative findings; defining terms; removing
obsolete language relating to program implementation, wavier
proposals and emergency rules; removing requirement that
rules be promulgated in accordance with administration
procedures act; changing work exemption for new mothers;
requiring personal responsibility contract be signed before receipt of cash assistance; diversionary assistance
allowances; providing for confidentiality of information;
and fines and criminal penalties for unauthorized release
of confidential information.
Adopted
Rejected
A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen and
eighteen, article nine, chapter nine of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended;
and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new
section, designated section twenty, all relating to
conforming the West Virginia works act to federal
requirements; and providing for confidentiality of
information and for fines and penalties for unauthorized
release of that information.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen and eighteen, article nine,
chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and
that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new
section, designated section twenty, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. WEST VIRGINIA WORKS PROGRAM.
§9-9-2. Legislative findings; purpose.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that:
(1) At-risk families are capable of becoming self- supporting;
(2) A reformed assistance program should both expect and
assist a parent and caretaker-relatives in at-risk families to
support their dependent children and children for which they are
caretakers;
(3) Every parent or caretaker-relative can exhibit
responsible patterns of behavior so as to be a positive role
model;
(4) Every parent or caretaker-relative who receives welfare cash assistance has a responsibility to participate in an
activity to help them prepare for, obtain and maintain gainful
employment;
(5) For a parent or caretaker-relative who receives welfare
cash assistance and for whom full-time work is not feasible,
participation in some activity is expected to further themselves,
their family or their community;
(6) The state should promote the value of work and the
capabilities of individuals;
(7) Job development efforts should enhance the employment
opportunities of participants;
(8) An effective public education system is the key to long- term self-support; and
(9) A reformed assistance program should be structured to
achieve a clear set of outcomes; deliver services in an
expedient, effective and efficient manner; and maximize community
support for participants. and demonstrate budget neutrality over
five years After five years, there is expected to be a decrease
in the following: (i) The number of persons receiving public
assistance; and (ii) the amount of time an individual remains on
public assistance. and (iii) the amount of money spent in the
West Virginia works program
(b) The goals of the program are to achieve more efficient
and effective use of public assistance funds; reduce dependency on public programs by promoting self-sufficiency; and structure
the assistance programs to emphasize employment and personal
responsibility. The program is to be evaluated on the increase
in employment rates in the program areas; the completion of
educational and training programs; the increased compliance in
preventive health activities, including immunizations; and a
decrease in the case-load of division of personnel.
§9-9-3. Definitions.
In addition to the rules for the construction of statutes in
section ten, article two, chapter two of this code and the words
and terms defined in section two, article one of this chapter,
unless a different meaning appears from the context:
(a) "At-risk family" means a group of West Virginians living
in the same household, living below the federally designated
poverty level, lacking the resources to become self-supporting,
and consisting of a dependent minor child or children living with
a parent, stepparent or caretaker-relative; an "at-risk family"
may include an unmarried minor parent and his or her dependent
child or children who live in an adult supervised setting;
(b) "Barrier" means any fact, circumstance or situation that
prevents a person from becoming self-sufficient or from seeking,
obtaining or maintaining employment of any kind, including
physical or mental disabilities, lack of education, testing,
training, counseling, child care arrangements, transportation, medical treatment or substance abuse treatment;
(c) (b) "Beneficiary" or "participant" means any person
parent or caretaker-relative in an at-risk family who receives
welfare cash assistance for himself or herself for and family
members; or for persons for whom he or she cares
(c) "Cash assistance" means temporary assistance for needy
families or diversionary assistance;
(d) "Challenge" means any fact, circumstance or situation
that prevents a person from becoming self-sufficient or from
seeking, obtaining or maintaining employment of any kind,
including physical or mental disabilities, lack of education,
testing, training, counseling, child care arrangements,
transportation, medical treatment or substance abuse treatment;
(d) (e) "Community or personal development" means activities
designed or intended to eliminate barriers challenges to
participation in self-sufficiency activities. These activities
are to provide community benefit and enhance personal
responsibility, including, but not limited to, classes or
counseling for learning life skills or parenting, dependent care,
job readiness, volunteer work, participation in sheltered
workshops or substance abuse treatment;
(e) (f) "Department" means the state department of health
and human resources;
(f) (g) "Division" means the division of human services;
(g) (h) "Income" means money received by any member of an
at-risk family which can be used at the discretion of the
household to meet its basic needs: Provided, That income shall
not include earnings of minor children in school, payments
received from earned income tax credit or tax refunds;
(h) (i) "Personal responsibility contract" means a written
agreement entered into by the division and a beneficiary which
establishes the responsibilities and obligations of the
beneficiary;
(i) (j) "Secretary" means the secretary of the state
department of health and human resources;
(j) (k) "Subsidized employment" means employment with
earnings provided by an employer who receives a subsidy from the
division for the creation and maintenance of the employment
position;
(k) (l) "Support services" means, but is not limited to, the
following services: Child care; medicaid; transportation
assistance; information and referral; resource development
services which is assisting families to receive child support
enforcement and supplemental social security income; family
support services which is parenting, budgeting and family
planning; relocation assistance; and mentoring services;
(l) "Supported employment" means employment with earnings,
after mandatory deductions, that provides a level of income that does not allow an at-risk family to exist independent of
government support such that supplemental cash assistance, child
care subsidies, food stamps, subsidized housing or other
assistance may be provided as necessary for a period of time;
(m) "Unsubsidized employment" means employment with earnings
provided by an employer who does not receive a subsidy from the
division for the creation and maintenance of the employment
position
; after mandatory deductions, that provides a level of
income that allows a family to become completely independent of
government support
(n) "Welfare assistance" means aid to families with
dependent children, food stamps or emergency assistance;
(o) (n) "Work" means unsubsidized employment, subsidized
employment, employment with support, work experience or community
or personal development; and
(p) (o) "Work experience" means unpaid structured work
activities that are provided in an environment where performance
expectations are similar to those existing in unsubsidized
employment and which provide training in occupational areas that
can realistically be expected to lead to unsubsidized employment.
§9-9-4. Authorization for program.
(a) The secretary shall conduct the West Virginia works
program in accordance with this article and any applicable
waivers from regulations promulgated by the secretary of the federal department of health and human services and the secretary
of the federal department of agriculture or in accordance with
federal block-grant funding or similar federal funding stream.
This program shall be implemented to replace welfare assistance
programs for at-risk families in accordance with this article and
within federal requirements; to coordinate the transfer of all
applicable state programs into the temporary assistance to needy
families West Virginia works program; to expend only the funds
appropriated by the Legislature to establish and operate the
program or any other funds available to the program pursuant to
any other provisions of the code or rules; to establish
administrative due process procedures for revocation or
termination proceedings; and implement such other procedures as
may be necessary to accomplish the purpose of this article.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the
contrary, the secretary shall implement the West Virginia works
program as soon as possible, but no later than three months after
receiving federal waiver approval and sufficient funds.
(c) The secretary shall submit federal waiver proposals to
permit this state to limit the duration of assistance to adults,
increase the asset test to five thousand dollars, to disregard
the restriction that limits the primary wage earner to working
less than one hundred hours per month and to eliminate the
requirement of recent attachment to the work force.
(d) (b) The secretary may establish the program as one or
more pilot projects to test the policy being evaluated. Any
pilot project so established is to be consistent with the
principles and goals set forth in this article. The secretary
shall determine the counties in which to implement the provisions
of this program, considering a fair representation of both rural
and urban areas, and may vary the program components to test the
effectiveness, efficiency and fiscal impact of each prior to
statewide implementation. The secretary shall structure the
initial pilot program, or programs to include a minimum of
fifteen percent of the state population that qualifies for aid to
families with dependent children temporary assistance for needy
families, or any successor program. The pilot program shall
eventually include a minimum of fifteen percent of the
participants eligible in other categories, as funds are
available.
(e) (c) The West Virginia works program authorized pursuant
to this act does not create an entitlement to that program or any
services offered within that program, unless entitlement is
created pursuant to a federal law or regulation. The West
Virginia works program, and each component of that program
established by this act or the expansion of any component
established pursuant to federal law or regulation, is subject to
the annual appropriation of funds by the Legislature. and the corresponding federal financial participation moneys
(f) On or before the first day of October, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six,
the secretary shall propose emergency rules
in accordance with the provisions of section fifteen, article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the
implementation of the pilot program, including, but not limited
to, rules establishing requirements for participation in the
program, and rules regarding the development, fulfillment and
cancellation of personal responsibility contracts.
(g) The secretary shall propose rules in accordance with the
provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code necessary to
accomplish all other purposes of this article, including, but not
limited to, rules for the regulation of the West Virginia works
program when expanded; rules establishing requirements for
participation in the program; and rules regarding the
development, fulfillment and cancellation of personal
responsibility contracts: Provided, That such rules shall not be
filed as emergency rules pursuant to section fifteen, article
three of said chapter.
(h) (d) Copies of all rules proposed by the secretary shall
also be filed with the legislative oversight commission on health
and human resources accountability established pursuant to
article twenty-nine-e, chapter sixteen of this code.
§9-9-5. West Virginia works program fund.
There is hereby created a special account within the state
treasury to be known as the "West Virginia Works Program Fund".
Expenditures from the fund shall be used exclusively to meet the
necessary expenditures of the program, including wage
reimbursements to participating employers, aid to dependent
children cash grants temporary assistance to needy families,
employment-related day child care payments, transportation
expenses and administrative costs directly associated with the
operation of the program. Moneys paid into the account shall be
from specific annual appropriations of funds by the Legislature.
and the corresponding federal financial participation moneys
§9-9-6. Program participation.
(a) Unless otherwise noted in this article, all adult
recipients of welfare cash assistance shall be required to
participate in the West Virginia works pilot program or pilot
program, in accordance with the provisions of this article. The
level of participation, services to be delivered and work
requirements shall be defined within the terms of the personal
responsibility contract and through rules established by the
secretary.
(b) To the extent funding permits, any individual exempt
under the provisions of section eight of this article may
participate in the activities and programs offered through the
West Virginia works program.
(c) Support services other than cash assistance through the
works program may be provided to at-risk families to eliminate
the need for cash assistance.
(d) Cash assistance through the works program may be
provided to an at-risk family if the combined family income is
below the income and asset test levels established by the
division: Provided, That an at-risk family that includes a
married man and woman and dependent children of either one or
both may receive an additional cash assistance benefit in an
amount ten percent greater than the cash assistance benefit
provided to the same size household in which there are no married
adults.
(e) The secretary shall promulgate legislative rules in
accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
and administer the West Virginia works program to insure that no
duplication of benefits occurs to the participants in the
program. Participants may not receive benefits under the works
program and at the same time and for the same time period also
receive aid to families with dependent children or other forms of
governmental assistance that are the same or similar to those
granted in this article.
§9-9-7. Work requirements
.
Unless otherwise exempted by the provisions of section eight
of this article, the West Virginia works program shall require that anyone who possesses a high school diploma, or its
equivalent, or anyone who is of the age of twenty years or more,
to work or attend an educational or training program for a
minimum of twenty hours per week to receive any form of welfare
cash assistance. In accordance with federal law or regulation,
the work, education and training requirements of this section are
waived for any qualifying participant if day care services are
not available with a child under six years of age if the
participant is unable to obtain appropriate and available child
care services. In order for any participant to receive welfare
cash assistance, he or she shall enter into personal
responsibility contracts pursuant to the provisions of section
nine of this article.
§9-9-8. Exemptions.
Participants exempt from the work requirements of the works
program pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be
required to develop a personal responsibility contract. The
secretary shall establish by rule categories of persons exempt
only from the work requirements of the program, which categories
shall may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(a) A parent caring for a dependent child with a life- threatening illness;
(b) Individuals over the age of sixty years;
(c) Persons working in unsubsidized employment;
(d) (c) Full-time students that are less than twenty years
of age and are pursuing a high school diploma or equivalent;
(e) Persons with a physical or mental incapacity as defined
pursuant to the provisions of title forty-two of the Social
Security Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder, 45
C.F.R. §233.90;
(f) Individuals suffering from a temporary debilitating
injury for the duration of that injury. For purposes of this
section, the injury must cause the temporary disability for more
than thirty days;
(d) Persons with a physical or mental incapacity or persons
suffering from a temporary debilitating injury lasting more than
thirty days; as defined by the secretary;
(g) (e) Relatives providing in-home care for an individual
that would otherwise be institutionalized; and
(h) (f) Any woman during the last trimester of pregnancy and
the first six months after the birth of the child but in no case
shall the woman be exempt from the work requirements for more
than a total of six months: Provided, That, in the case of the
birth of the first child to said woman after said woman first
becomes a public cash assistance recipient, the woman shall may
be exempt for the first two years after the birth of said child
up to the time her child reaches twelve months of age.
§9-9-9. Personal responsibility contract.
(a) Every eligible adult beneficiary shall participate in a
program orientation and the development, and subsequent
revisions, of a personal responsibility contract. The contract
shall be defined based on the assessed needs goals and challenges
of the participant:
(1) If the participant has a recent attachment to the work
force, the contract shall include provisions regarding required
job search activities, identified support services, level of
benefits requested and time limitation.
(2) If the participant does not have a recent attachment to
the work force, the contract shall identify the evaluation or
testing activities, and/or job training activities necessary
prior to job search activities, identified support services,
benefits requested and time limitation.
(3) If it is determined that the participant is not able to
obtain or maintain gainful employment, the contract shall contain
appropriate provisions defining the activities that benefit the
participant, their family or their community.
(4) If the participant is a parent or caretaker-relative,
The participant's contract shall include the requirement that the
participant develop and maintain, with the appropriate health
care provider, a schedule of preventive care for their dependent
child, including routine examinations and immunizations;
nutrition counseling; assurance of school attendance for school age children under their care; assurance of properly supervised
child care, including after-school care; and establish paternity
or actively pursue child support, or both, if applicable and if
deemed necessary, nutrition or other counseling, parenting or
family planning classes.
(5) If the participant is a parent or caretaker-relative who
must remove barriers overcome challenges prior to employment, the
contract shall include a list of the identified barriers
challenges and an individual plan for removing overcoming the
same.
(6) If the participant is a teenage parent, the participant
may work, and but the contract shall include the requirements
that the participant:
(A) Remain in an educational activity to complete high
school, obtain a general equivalent diploma or obtain vocational
training and make satisfactory scholastic progress; without
incurring any disciplinary actions
(B) Attend parenting classes or participate in a mentorship
program, or both if appropriate; and
(C) Live at home or in other adult supervised arrangements
if they are unemancipated minor parents.
(7) If the participant is under the age of twenty years and
does not have a high school education or its equivalent, the
contract shall include requirements to participate in mandatory education or training, which if the participant is unemployed,
may include a return to high school if the participant is
unemployed and to make with satisfactory scholastic progress.
and without incurring any disciplinary actions
(b) In order to receive cash assistance the participant
shall have up to thirty days from approval of application to
develop the enter into a personal responsibility contract. If
the participant refuses to sign the personal responsibility
contract, the department shall stop all benefits and services
until the participant complies with this section the participant
and family members shall be ineligible to receive cash
assistance.
(c) Personal responsibility contracts shall be drafted by
the division on a case-by-case basis; take into consideration the
individual circumstances of each beneficiary; reviewed and
reevaluated not less often than every two years; and, in the
discretion of the division, amended or extended on a periodic
basis.
§9-9-10. Participation limitation; exceptions.
The length of time a participant may receive cash assistance
through the West Virginia works program benefits shall be defined
in the personal responsibility contract: Provided, That no
participant may receive benefits for a period longer than sixty
months, except in circumstances as defined by the secretary.
§9-9-11. Breach of contract; notice; sanctions.
(a) The division may refuse to extend or renew a personal
responsibility contract and the benefits received by the
beneficiary, or may terminate an existing contract and benefits,
if the division finds any of the following:
(1) The employment of fraud or deception by the beneficiary
in applying for or receiving program benefits;
(2) A substantial breach of the requirements and obligations
set forth in the personal responsibility contract;
(3) A violation of any provision of the personal
responsibility contract, this article, or any rule promulgated by
the secretary pursuant to this article.
(b) In the event the division determines that a personal
responsibility contract or the benefits received by the
beneficiary are subject to revocation or termination, written
notice of the violation, revocation or termination shall be
deposited in the United States mail, postage pre-paid and
addressed to the beneficiary at his or her last known address
fourteen thirteen days prior to such termination or revocation.
Such notice shall state the action of the division, its reason or
reasons for such termination and grant to the beneficiary a
reasonable opportunity to be heard at a fair and impartial
hearing before the division in accordance with administrative
procedures established by the division and due process of law.
(c) In any hearing granted pursuant to the provisions of
this section, the beneficiary shall maintain the burden of
proving that his or her benefits were improperly terminated and
shall bear his or her own costs, including attorneys fees.
(d) The secretary shall determine by rule de minimis
violations and those violations subject to sanctions and maximum
penalties. In the event the division finds that a beneficiary
has violated any provision of this article, of his or her
personal responsibility contract or any applicable division rule,
the division shall impose sanctions against the beneficiary as
follows:
(1) For the first noncompliance, a one- third reduction of
benefits for three months;
(2) For the second noncompliance, a two-thirds reduction in
benefits for three months; and
(3) For the third noncompliance, a termination of benefits
for six months.
(e) For any sanction imposed pursuant to subsection (d) of
this section, if compliance occurs within ten thirteen days of
the date of the notice of the sanction, the reduction in benefits
shall not be imposed, but the noncompliance shall count in
determining the level of sanction to be imposed for any future
noncompliance. Once a reduction in benefits is in effect, it
shall remain in effect for the entire three months designated time period: Provided, That if a participant incurs a second
noncompliance sanction during the time period of an imposed first
noncompliance sanction, the sanctions shall run concurrently at
the second noncompliance sanction rate: Provided, however, That
if during the time period of an imposed second noncompliance
sanction, a third noncompliance occurs, the third noncompliance
sanction shall be imposed and the participant's benefits shall be
terminated. A reduction of benefits applies to both cash
assistance and support services. If benefits are terminated,
benefits may shall not be provided until after the six month time
period and the noncompliance that caused the termination has been
rectified or excused.
§9-9-12. Diversionary assistance allowance in lieu of monthly
cash assistance.
(a) In order to encourage at-risk families not to apply for
ongoing monthly cash assistance from the state, the secretary may
issue one-time emergency diversionary assistance allowances to
families in an amount not to exceed three months of cash
assistance in order to enable such families to become immediately
self-supporting: Provided, That receipt of such allowance,
regardless of amount, shall count as three months of the sixty
months designated under the provisions of section ten of this
article.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this section, all emergency assistance allowances shall be issued with a repayment
schedule determined on a case-by-case basis by the division.
(c) If within one year of receiving such assistance an at-
risk family subsequently applies for monthly cash assistance, the
division shall recoup the amount remaining unpaid on the
allowance from future monthly cash assistance payments at the
monthly rate of ten percent of the monthly cash assistance
payment for a period not to exceed twenty-four months.
(d) One half of the amount of any emergency assistance
allowance may be forgiven after a recipient has been employed in
unsubsidized employment for one year after the date of receipt of
the allowance. The full amount of the allowance may be forgiven
after the recipient has been employed in unsubsidized employment
for two years after the date of the receipt of the allowance.
(e) (b) The secretary shall establish by rule the standards
to be considered in making emergency diversionary assistance
allowances. developing repayment schedules and qualifications
for allowance forgiveness
(f) (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
require that the division or any assistance issued pursuant to
this section be subject to any of the provisions of chapter
thirty-one or chapter forty-six-a of this code.
§9-9-15. Interagency coordination.
The Legislature encourages the development of a system of coordinated services, shared information and stream-lined
application procedures between the program and the other agencies
within the department to implement the provisions of this
article. The secretary shall require the coordination of
activities between the program and the following agencies:
(a) The child support enforcement division for the purpose
of establishing paternity, promoting cooperation in the pursuit
of child support, encouraging noncustodial parents to get job
search assistance and determining eligibility for cash assistance
and support services;
(b) The bureau of public health for the purpose of
determining appropriate immunization schedules, delivery systems
and verification procedures; and
(c) The bureau of medical services for the purpose of
reporting eligibility for medical assistance and transitional
benefits.
The secretary may require the coordination of procedures and
services with any other agency he or she deems necessary to
implement this program: Provided, That all agencies coordinating
services with the division shall, when provided with access to
division records or information, abide by state and federal
confidentiality requirements including the provisions of section
twenty of this article.
The secretary shall propose any rules, including emergency rules, necessary for the coordination of various agency
activities in the implementation of this section.
§9-9-18. Relationship with other law.
If any provision of this article conflicts with any other
provision of this code or rules, the provisions of this article
shall supersede such provisions: Provided, That the provisions
of this article shall not supersede any provisions which are
required or mandated by federal law.
Any reference in this code or rules to "aid to families with
dependent children" means "temporary assistance for needy
families" or any successor state program funded under part A,
Title IV of the Social Security Act.
§9-9-20. Confidentiality, fines and penalties.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this code or rules, all
records and information of the department regarding any
beneficiary or beneficiary's family members shall be confidential
and shall not be released, except under the following
circumstances:
(1) If permissible under state or federal rules or
regulations;
(2) Upon the express written consent of the beneficiary or
his or her legally authorized representative;
(3) Pursuant to an order of any court based upon a finding
that said information is sufficiently relevant to a proceeding before the court to outweigh the importance of maintaining the
confidentiality established by this section: Provided, That all
confidential records and information presented to the court shall
after review be sealed by the clerk and shall not be open to any
person except upon order of the court upon good cause being shown
therefor; or
(4) To a department or division of the state, pursuant to
the terms of an interagency agreement.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully releases or
causes to be released the confidential records and information
described in this section, except under the specific
circumstances enumerated in this section, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than five hundred dollars or confined in the county or regional
jail for not more than six months, or both.
____________
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend the West
Virginia Works Act to comply with federal requirements, to
provide confidentiality for information and to impose fines and
penalties for unauthorized release of that information.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§9-9-20 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.)
____________
FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page ___, section three, line ___, by striking out the
words "and no subsidy to employer" and inserting in lieu thereof
the words "provided by an employer who does not receive a subsidy
from the division for the creation and maintenance of the
employment position";
On page __, section four, line ___, by striking out the word
"act" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "article";
On page ___, section ten, lines ___ through ___, by striking
out the words "legislative rule pursuant to the provisions of
article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code" and inserting
in lieu thereof the words "the secretary";
On page ___, section eleven, line ___, by striking out the
words "contract of responsibility" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "responsibility contract";
On page ___, section eleven, lines ___and ___, by striking
out the words "contract of responsibility" and inserting in lieu
thereof the words "responsibility contract".
And,
On page___, by striking out the title and substituting
therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 430--A Bill to amend and reenact
sections two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
eleven, twelve, fifteen and eighteen, article nine, chapter nine
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding
thereto a new section, designated section twenty, all relating to
conforming the West Virginia works act to federal requirements;
legislative findings; defining terms; removing obsolete language
relating to program implementation, wavier proposals and
emergency rules; removing requirement that rules be promulgated
in accordance with administration procedures act; changing work
exemption for new mothers; requiring personal responsibility
contract be signed before receipt of cash assistance;
diversionary assistance allowances; providing for confidentiality
of information; and fines and criminal penalties for unauthorized
release of confidential information.
Adopted
Rejected