Present law requires each state agency responsible for making or recommending decisions on block grants and related topics to issue a written report by February 1 each year to the finance, ways and means committee of the senate; the finance, ways and means committee of the house of representatives; the health and welfare committee of the senate; the health committee of the house of representatives; the energy, agriculture and natural resources committee of the senate; the agriculture and natural resources committee of the house of representatives; the legislative office of budget analysis; and the governor. Such a report must detail block grant and federal devolution decisions made or recommended by the agency and how those decisions made or recommended implement or fail to implement the following principles:
(1) Minimizing harmful impacts on current programs, current and potential recipients of assistance, local governments, nonprofit agencies and the state economy;
(2) Ensuring formal and informal participation of concerned citizens, regulated industry or other entities, environmental groups, religious organizations, nonprofit agencies and service providers and their clients/customers and board members and local government officials in proposed reorganizations and new priority decisions, so that their experience may be used creatively by state decision makers; and
(3) Providing the above-referenced groups and categories of citizens with full and prompt access to information on new policy and funding and program organization related to block grants and federal devolution of authority.
Present law requires each agency that submits such a report to include in the report an executive summary of the major priority decisions and reorganizations related to receipt of the federal block grants or federal devolution decisions.
FEDERAL TANF FUNDS
Present law requires the commissioner of human services to include in the annual block grant report submitted as described above, information detailing the department's access to the use of federal TANF funds during the previous federal fiscal year, subtotaled by the four purposes of the TANF program, as described in federal law, for which the funds were expended, including overall spending and the number of contracts through which services or assistance were provided in furtherance of each respective purpose.
This bill adds to the present law by requiring the commissioner of human services to also include the following in the annual block grant report:
(1) Examples of expenditures in furtherance of each respective purpose, including expenditures for (i) programs to encourage two-parent family formation and two-parent family preservation; and (ii) parenting education, mediation, marriage education, marital counseling, visitation facilitators, and initiatives to facilitate fatherhood support and inclusion; and
(2) A review of all program expenditures to ensure inclusion of both parents.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 71-1-125