Highlights 77th Texas Legislature - Senate
Highlights 77th Texas Legislature - Senate
Highlights 77th Texas Legislature - Senate
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT<br />
77 th <strong>Texas</strong> <strong>Legislature</strong><br />
Exemptions from Work Activity Requirements Under TANF - H.B. 1006<br />
by Representative Naishtat<br />
<strong>Senate</strong> Sponsor: Senator Zaffirini<br />
In 1995, the 74th <strong>Texas</strong> <strong>Legislature</strong> enacted welfare reform measures. When Congress passed federal<br />
welfare reform regulations the next year, <strong>Texas</strong> was allowed to take advantage of a waiver option<br />
authorizing a delay in implementing some federal provisions. This waiver expires in March 2002, and there<br />
are some conforming changes to state law to be made in anticipation of that expiration.<br />
Requires the <strong>Texas</strong> Department of Human Services (DHS), the <strong>Texas</strong> Workforce Commission (TWC), and<br />
the local workforce development boards to develop plans for providing outreach services to assist persons<br />
exempt from work requirements to become self-supporting.<br />
Requires the plans to include procedures under which DHS provides relevant information regarding the<br />
exempted persons, including contract information, to the commission and the local workforce development<br />
boards.<br />
Requires TWC and local workforce development boards to work diligently with a person excepted for good<br />
cause from work or employment activities to remedy the circumstances that constitute good cause so that<br />
the person can become self-supporting.<br />
Unemployment Insurance Paid Annually for Domestic Service Workers - H.B. 1109<br />
by Representatives Goolsby and Woolley<br />
<strong>Senate</strong> Sponsor: Senator Carona<br />
Currently, employers of domestic service workers, including nannies and live-in help, pay unemployment<br />
insurance taxes quarterly for those employees making more than $1,000 in a quarter. Paying taxes<br />
quarterly for employers who either have few of these employees or owe low amounts is cumbersome.<br />
Authorizes an employer of domestic service workers to pay unemployment tax contributions annually.<br />
Parents as Scholars Pilot Program for Certain Recipients of TANF - H.B. 1187<br />
by Representative Olivo, et al.<br />
<strong>Senate</strong> Sponsor: Senator Zaffirini<br />
The current Parents as Scholars pilot program requires participants to have completed the recommended<br />
or advanced high school curriculum and graduated from high school no earlier than the 1998 - 1999 school<br />
year to qualify for a Toward Excellence, Access, & Success (TEXAS) grant.<br />
Requires the <strong>Texas</strong> Workforce Commission to establish a new Parents as Scholars pilot program with<br />
amended eligibility criteria that allows program participants to fulfill the work or employment activities<br />
required for financial assistance by engaging in educational activities designed to result in receipt of a<br />
postsecondary degree.<br />
<strong>Senate</strong> Research Center 323
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