LRB-2521/1
ISR:jld:km
2001 - 2002 LEGISLATURE
March 13, 2001 - Introduced by Senators George, Moore, Plache, Risser and
Robson, cosponsored by Representatives
Staskunas, Young, Berceau, Black,
Boyle, Gronemus, J. Lehman, Miller, Morris-Tatum, Plouff and Pocan.
Referred to Committee on Human Services and Aging.
SB91,1,2
1An Act to create 49.124 (1m) (br) of the statutes;
relating to: federal waivers
2to waive certain work requirements under the food stamp program.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, the department of workforce development (DWD)
administers the food stamp employment and training program. Currently, with
certain exceptions, DWD may require able individuals who are between the ages of
18 and 60 years to participate in the employment and training program as a
condition of receiving food stamps.
Currently, under federal law, an individual between the ages of 18 and 50 years,
with certain exceptions, is ineligible to participate in the food stamp program if, in
the previous 36-month period, the individual received food stamp benefits for at
least three months during which the individual failed to meet minimum work
requirements. Federal law permits a state to request from the secretary of the
federal department of agriculture a waiver from those minimum work requirements
for any group of individuals who reside in an area that has an unemployment rate
of over 10% or that does not have a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment
for the individuals.
This bill requires DWD to request the federal waiver from the secretary of the
federal department of agriculture. Under the bill, if the waiver is granted and in
effect, DWD may not require an individual who resides in an area that has an
unemployment rate of over 10% or that does not have a sufficient number of jobs to
provide employment for the individual to participate in the food stamp employment
and training program.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB91, s. 1
1Section
1. 49.124 (1m) (br) of the statutes is created to read:
SB91,2,42
49.124
(1m) (br) 1. In this paragraph, "area" means a county or combination
3of counties; a city; a village; a town; a smaller geographic region of a county, city,
4village or town; or a federally recognized American Indian reservation.
SB91,2,85
2. The department shall request a waiver from the secretary of the federal
6department of agriculture to permit the department to waive the work requirement
7under par. (a) for any group of individuals, as authorized under
7 USC 2015, who
8meet any of the following requirements:
SB91,2,109
a. The group resides in an area determined by the department to have an
10unemployment rate of over 10%.
SB91,2,1211
b. The group resides in an area that the department determines does not have
12a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for that group of individuals.
SB91,2,1413
3. If the waiver under subd. 2. is granted and in effect, the department shall
14implement the waiver.
