2020 -- S 2203 | |
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LC004152 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES - THE RHODE ISLAND WORKS PROGRAM | |
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Introduced By: Senators Murray, Felag, Satchell, Goodwin, and Seveney | |
Date Introduced: February 04, 2020 | |
Referred To: Senate Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. |
2 | (a) The general assembly finds and declares that: |
3 | (1) The stress caused by living in poverty can inhibit young children's early brain |
4 | development and negatively impact children's ability to succeed in school and to develop the |
5 | social-emotional skills needed to succeed as an adult; |
6 | (2) One study found that children experiencing poverty between birth and age five (5) |
7 | completed two (2) fewer years of school and were nearly three (3) times more likely to be in poor |
8 | health as adults; |
9 | (3) Rhode Island families of all backgrounds work hard to provide a better life for their |
10 | children. However, poverty rates among children in Rhode Island vary by race and ethnicity as a |
11 | result of policies and practices that have created and maintained inequitable opportunities in areas |
12 | such as housing and employment; |
13 | (4) In 2018, roughly one hundred sixty-five thousand (165,000) children in Rhode Island |
14 | were experiencing extreme poverty in families whose income was fifty percent (50%) below the |
15 | federal poverty level, or about twelve thousand seven hundred thirty-three dollars ($12,733) a |
16 | year for a family of four (4) with two (2) children; |
17 | (5) Basic cash assistance is the most targeted approach Rhode Island can take to reducing |
18 | extreme childhood poverty, which has a lifelong impact on a child's well-being; |
19 | (6) Income supports, such as basic cash assistance, are one important strategy to decrease |
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1 | the number of children experiencing poverty and should be combined with work and other |
2 | supports to lift children and families out of poverty; |
3 | (7) The purchasing power of the basic cash assistance in Rhode Island has not kept up |
4 | with the cost of living because it has not been adjusted for inflation since 1991; |
5 | (8) As housing costs have continued to increase in Rhode Island, basic cash assistance |
6 | has not kept up and is far below the cost of rent for a family. The average rent for a two (2)- |
7 | bedroom apartment is almost three (3) times the amount of the monthly cash assistance benefit |
8 | for a family with one adult and two (2) children. |
9 | (b) Therefore, it is the intent of the general assembly to adjust the amount of basic cash |
10 | assistance to make up for the lack of adjustment for inflation and to lift families out of deep |
11 | poverty (fifty percent (50%) of the federal poverty guideline) over a two (2) year period. It is |
12 | also the intent of the general assembly to implement an annual cost of living adjustment thereafter |
13 | so the value of basic cash assistance does not continue to erode in future years. |
14 | SECTION 2. Section 40-5.2-11 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-5.2 entitled "The |
15 | Rhode Island Works Program" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
16 | 40-5.2-11. Cash assistance. |
17 | (a) A family or assistance unit found by the department to meet the eligibility criteria set |
18 | forth in this chapter shall be eligible to receive cash assistance as of the date a signed written |
19 | application, signed under a penalty of perjury, is received by the department. |
20 | (b) The family members or assistance unit shall be eligible for cash assistance for so long |
21 | as they continue to meet the eligibility criteria outlined in accordance with this chapter. Parents |
22 | and adult non-parent caretaker relatives receiving cash assistance shall be eligible so long as they |
23 | meet the terms and conditions of the work requirements of ยง 40-5.2-12. An adult caretaker |
24 | relative shall be eligible for assistance as a member of the assistance unit so long as he/she meets |
25 | all the eligibility requirements of this chapter. |
26 | (c) The monthly amount of cash assistance shall be equal to the payment standard for the |
27 | family minus the countable income of the family in that month. The department is authorized to |
28 | reduce the amount of assistance in the month of application to reflect the number of the days |
29 | between the first day of the month and the effective date of the application. |
30 | (d) A decision of the application for assistance shall be made or rejected by the |
31 | department no later than thirty (30) days following the date submitted and shall be effective as of |
32 | the date of application. |
33 | (e) The payment standard is equal to the sum of the following: three hundred twenty- |
34 | seven dollars ($327) (two hundred seventy-seven dollars ($277) for a family residing in |
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1 | subsidized housing) for the first person, one hundred twenty-two dollars ($122) for the second |
2 | person, one hundred five dollars ($105) for the third person and eighty dollars ($80) for each |
3 | additional person. |
4 | (e) Effective October 1, 2020, the payment standard for the assistance unit shall be no |
5 | less than forty percent (40%) of the poverty guideline for the comparable assistance unit size as |
6 | determined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for calendar year 2020. |
7 | Effective October 1, 2021, the payment standard for the assistance unit shall be no less than fifty |
8 | percent (50%) of the poverty guideline for the comparable assistance unit size as determined by |
9 | the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for calendar year 2021. Thereafter, the |
10 | payment standard shall be adjusted in October of each year to be no less than fifty percent (50%) |
11 | of the poverty guideline for the comparable assistance unit size as determined by the U.S. |
12 | Department of Health and Human Services for that calendar year. |
13 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES - THE RHODE ISLAND WORKS PROGRAM | |
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1 | This act would adjust the amount of basic cash assistance provided to families living in |
2 | deep poverty over a two-year period, and would implement an annual cost of living adjustment so |
3 | that value of basic cash assistance does not erode in the future. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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