FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3625
May 7, 1998
No. FC 24-A
Congressman Bill Archer (R-TX), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that on Wednesday, May 6, 1998, the Committee ordered favorably reported H.R. 3433, the "Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Act of 1998," as amended, by voice vote, and H.R. 2431, the "Freedom From Religious Persecution Act of 1998," as amended, without recommendation, by voice vote.
DESCRIPTION OF H.R. 3433 AS APPROVED:
The Ticket Program
The bill would establish a Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program which would provide Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disabled beneficiaries with a "ticket" to obtain vocational rehabilitation, employment, or other support services they may choose from a service provider of their choice.
Providers of Services - The Employment Networks
Under current law, the State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies receive referrals of individuals who have been awarded disability benefits and are reimbursed for providing services (once an individual has worked for nine months).
Under the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program, SSDI, and SSI disabled beneficiaries would be able to choose from among private-sector providers known as "employment networks." Employment networks would be private or public entities which provide an array of vocational rehabilitation, employment, and other support services to beneficiaries. An employment network could consist of a single provider of services or several providers organized to combine their resources into one entity.
Beneficiaries with disabilities would work together with the employment network to agree on an employment goal and the specific services needed to achieve that goal. The program would require the Commissioner of Social Security to establish a mechanism for resolving disputes.
Program Managers
The Social Security Administration (SSA) would contract with one or more program managers to help SSA administer the program nationwide. Program managers would recruit employment networks to serve in the program and would ensure that program information would be provided to beneficiaries in an accessible format, that beneficiaries would have access to employment networks, and that payments to employment networks would be warranted.
Responsibilities of the Commissioner of Social Security
The Commissioner would contract with program managers, enter into agreements with employment networks, establish a mechanism for resolving disputes between beneficiaries and employment networks, and provide for quality reviews of employment networks.
State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agency Participation
State VR agencies would have the option of participating in the program as an employment network or remaining in the current law reimbursement system.
Employment Network Payment Systems
The Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program would pay employment networks for results, rather than for the cost of their services. Employment networks would elect one of two payment options: an outcome payment system, or an outcome-milestone payment system.
The outcome payment system would provide a percentage of the average disability benefit for each month that a beneficiary does not receive a benefit payment due to work activity for a period not to exceed 60 months.
The outcome-milestone payment system would combine outcome payments with payments for achieving one or more milestones directed toward assisting the beneficiary in achieving permanent employment. Without the outcome-milestone payment system, provider participation in the program might be limited to only a few large providers who have the necessary cash flow to serve a substantial number of individuals with disabilities.
Continuing Disability Reviews
SSA would not initiate continuing disability reviews for the period in which disabled beneficiaries are participating in the program.
Implementation of the Program
SSA would be required to implement the program one year after enactment. Implementation would occur on a gradual basis at phase-in sites selected by the Commissioner and would be fully implemented as soon as practicable, but no later than six years after the enactment year.
Evaluation of the Program
SSA would conduct a series of evaluations to assess the cost effectiveness of the program as well as to determine whether the program is successful in enabling beneficiaries with disabilities to work. SSA would be required to regularly report to Congress on the progress of the program.
The Ticket to Self-Sufficiency Advisory Panel
An expert advisory panel would be created with representatives including consumers, providers of services, employers, and employees to advise the Commissioner and report to the Congress on program implementation including establishing pilot sites, refining the program, and designing program evaluations.
Work Incentive Specialists
To ensure that disabled beneficiaries receive accurate information about SSA's work incentives, SSA would be required to establish a corps of work incentive specialists to accurately disseminate information on SSDI and SSI work incentives.
Demonstration Project
Currently, once a Social Security disability beneficiary reaches an income level of $500 a month, cash benefits end. This substantial gainful activity level is often referred to as the income cliff. Under the bill, SSA would be required to conduct a demonstration project to study the effects of replacing an income cliff with a $1 reduction in SSDI payments for every $2 in earnings over a determined level.
U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) Studies
The GAO would be required to study the extent to which existing tax credits and other employer incentives under current law encourage employers to hire and retain individuals participating in the program. In addition, GAO would be required to evaluate the coordination of SSDI and SSI programs as they relate to individuals who are eligible for both programs, or whose eligibility changes from one program to the other. The study also would focus on the effectiveness of work incentives and medical coverage for these individuals.
Medicare Extension
The bill would provide an additional two-year extension of Medicare beyond current law for program participants during the program's implementation. Six months prior to the end of the program's implementation, the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services would submit to Congress their recommendations for further legislative action.
Election of Social Security Coverage by Members of the Clergy
The bill includes a provision which would create a two-year window of opportunity to allow members of the clergy who initially revoked Social Security coverage to elect coverage.
Payments to Prisoners
The bill would provide incentive payments to correctional institutions for reporting incarceration of SSDI beneficiaries. Also, the bill would replace the criteria for barring SSDI benefits to prisoners from "an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year" to a "criminal offense."
Technical Amendments
The bill would amend the "Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996" (P.L. 104-121) to clarify a provision affecting SSDI beneficiaries disabled by drug addiction or alcoholism as it applies to court decisions regarding Social Security disability benefits. (A similar SSI provision was included in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 [P.L. 105-33].)
The bill would extend SSA's demonstration project authority until June 10, 2001.
The bill would allow individuals to request voluntary Federal income tax withholding from certain Federal payments, including Social Security benefits.
BACKGROUND ON H.R. 2431:
The bill, as introduced, was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition, to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on the Judiciary for a period ending not later than May 8, 1998. On March 24, 1998, the Committee on International Relations ordered favorably reported H.R. 2431, the "Freedom From Religious Persecution Act of 1998," as amended.
As reported by the Committee on International Relations, H.R. 2431 would establish an Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring in the State Department to name countries that either engage in or tolerate religious persecution. Countries named would be subject to trade sanctions including denial of U.S. foreign assistance, denial of visas, prohibitions on exports, and on U.S. support for multilateral development assistance. Section 12 of the bill would impose additional sanctions against Sudan. The bill as reported, contained the following provisions which are within the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee:
-- Section 12(a)(7), would include section 901(j) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Denial of Foreign Tax Credits) in the list of sanctions which must continue in effect after enactment of the Act until the Secretary of State makes certain determinations regarding religious persecution and government support for terrorism in Sudan.
-- Section 12(b)(2), would statutorily prohibit the importation into the United States of any article which is exported by the Government of Sudan.
-- Section 13 would require that none of the provisions of the Act, or any other provision of law, would restrict the importation of gum arabic from Sudan if, during the preceding calender year, a supply of that commodity in unprocessed form of equal quality to that cultivated in Sudan is not available in sufficient supply.
DESCRIPTION OF H.R. 2431 AS APPROVED:
H.R. 2431, as reported by the Committee on Ways and Means, would exclude the provisions within its jurisdiction as described above.
Under the bill as reported, Executive Order 13067 of November 4, 1997, which imposed a comprehensive trade and investment embargo on Sudan, would not be affected. Major economic sanctions covered by the Executive Order include a ban on: (1) all imports into the United States of any goods or services of Sudanese origin, (2) all financial transactions, and (3) all exports and reexports to Sudan. The President retains the discretion to lift or modify the administrative embargo.