Congress 115 - HR 1469 - Welfare Benefit Reform and Alignment Commission (BRAC) Act

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Adoption and foster care Adult day care Advisory bodies Aging Child care and development Child health Congressional operations and organization Economic development Economics and Public Finance Education of the disadvantaged Education programs funding Elementary and secondary education Employment and training programs Energy assistance for the poor and aged Family planning and birth control Food assistance and relief Government studies and investigations Health care costs and insurance Health care coverage and access Health programs administration and funding Higher education Homelessness and emergency shelter Housing and community development funding Housing finance and home ownership Housing for the elderly and disabled Immigrant health and welfare Income tax credits Indian social and development programs Lawyers and legal services Legislative rules and procedure Low- and moderate-income housing Medicaid Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor Minority health National and community service Nutrition and diet Poverty and welfare assistance Public housing Refugees, asylum, displaced persons Rural conditions and development Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations Student aid and college costs Telecommunication rates and fees Wages and earnings Women's health Youth employment and child labor

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Summary

Welfare Benefit Reform and Alignment Commission (BRAC) Act

This bill establishes within the legislative branch the Benefit Reform and Alignment Commission to review certain means-tested welfare programs.

A "means-tested welfare program" is any federal program that is designed to specifically provide assistance or benefits exclusively to low-income Americans. The bill specifies several programs that are either considered or not considered means-tested welfare programs for the purpose of this bill.

The commission must identify changes in law to structure the programs so that:

the receipt of aid by a beneficiary is temporary, that over time there is a reduction in the number of the programs in which an individual beneficiary or household is participating, and that over time the total number of recipients receiving such aid is reduced; and
the programs increase employment, encourage healthy marriages, and further educational attainment so that households maintain an income above the poverty level without services and benefits from the federal government.

The commission must also: (1) review the programs to evaluate whether certain programs should be consolidated, eliminated, or made subject to the annual appropriations process; and (2) recommend ways to reduce the cost or increase the efficiency of the programs by contracting with private entities or delegating authority to states.

The commission may also review the offsetting receipts and discretionary appropriations of the federal government.

The commission must submit to Congress a report including recommendations and proposed legislation. Congress must consider the proposal using specified expedited legislative procedures.

Actions

Mar 23, 2017

Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition.
Mar 20, 2017

Referred to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
Mar 20, 2017

Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources.
Mar 10, 2017

Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
Mar 10, 2017

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Mar 9, 2017

Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Mar 9, 2017

Introduced in House

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