Pay for Performance Act Exposed

The Pay for Performance Act does not include adoption or approval information. ALEC has attempted to distance itself from this piece of legislation after the launch of ALECexposed.org in 2011, but it has done nothing to get it repealed in the states where it previously pushed for it to be made into law.

ALEC Bill Text

Model Legislation

(Title, enacting clause, etc.)

Section 1. (Title)

This Act may be cited as the Pay for Performance Act.

Section 2. (Definitions)

As used in this Act: “The department” means the appropriate state level Department of Social Services

Section 3. (Purpose)

The Pay for Performance program would require Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients to obtain employment in exchange for benefits. The objectives of the program are the following:

A. To increase the number of recipients who leave welfare for work by focusing on employment placement as the ultimate goal of welfare.

B. To improve employment skills of recipients by associating receipt of welfare directly to the performance of a job.

C. To reduce dependency by requiring more recipients to participate in a job-related welfare program.

D. To require recipients to participate in community services

E.To reduce the TANF caseload by at least 60 percent by the fifth year of the program’s effective date.

Section 4. (Employment Requirement])

A. TANF recipients already receiving benefits for twelve months or more, are required to enroll in the Pay for Performance program.

B. Priority for acceptance into the program should be new TANF applicants and mothers with children five years of age or younger.

C. Not less than 32 hours per week of private sector work or community service is required by each enrollee or participant in the Pay for Performance program, and each participant’s benefits will be paid bi-weekly.

Section 5. (Eligibility)

Enrollment in the Pay for Performance program will be conducted on an incremental basis, at a rate at least 10 percent above the Federal requirement. The following percentage of TANF recipients will be enrolled in the Pay for Performance by the effective dates:

• 40 percent of TANF recipients by the first year (insert year), and

• 45 percent of TANF recipients by the second year (insert year), and

• 50 percent of TANF recipients by the third year (insert year), and

• 55 percent of TANF recipients by the fourth year (insert year), and

• 60 percent of TANF recipients by the fifth year (insert year),

Section 6. (Participation)

A. Participation in the Pay for Performance program will precede the distribution of any welfare benefits.

B. Failure to participate in the program will result in a pro-rated reduction of the benefits by a computerized calculation of the percentage of hours of non-participation. Any participant whose hours of employment fall below the assigned percentage of hours as indicated in Section 4 (C) will receive zero benefits in the next possible month.

Section 7. (Food Stamp Sanction)

A. Failure to participate in the work requirement (as indicated in Section 6 (B)]of the Pay for Performance program will result in a pro-rated reduction in food stamp benefits consistent to Federal law, when and if a monetary sanction for non-participation exceeds the amount of TANF benefits, in which case any remaining monetary sanction will be imposed against the food stamp benefit.

B. The reduction in food stamp benefits will first be applied to the cash benefits, The food stamp portion will only be affected when the cash benefits have reached zero.

Section 8. (Severability clause)

Section 9. (Repealer clause)

Section 10. (Effective Date)