Cash assistance time limits

AN ACT Relating to expanding time limit exemptions applicable to 1
cash assistance programs; and amending RCW 74.08A.010.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 74.08A.010 and 2024 c 181 s 1 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) A family that includes an adult who has received temporary 6
assistance for needy families for 60 months after July 27, 1997, 7
shall be ineligible for further temporary assistance for needy 8
families assistance. 9
(2) For the purposes of applying the rules of this section, the 10
department shall count any month in which an adult family member 11
received a temporary assistance for needy families cash assistance 12
grant unless the assistance was provided when the adult family member 13
was a minor child and not the head of the household or married to the 14
head of the household. 15
(3) The department shall refer recipients who require specialized 16
assistance to appropriate department programs, crime victims' 17
programs through the department of commerce, or the crime victims' 18
compensation program of the department of labor and industries.19
(4) The department shall add to adopted rules related to 20
temporary assistance for needy families time limit extensions, the 21
H-0525.1
HOUSE BILL 1463
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Cortes, Bernbaum, Berry, Wylie, Doglio, Ryu,
Alvarado, Reed, Goodman, Peterson, Ortiz-Self, Macri, Fosse,
Parshley, Kloba, Scott, Hill, and Simmons
Read first time 01/21/25. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
Human Services.
p. 1 HB 1463
following criteria by which the department shall exempt a recipient 1
and the recipient's family from the application of subsection (1) of 2
this section: 3
(a) By reason of hardship, including when: 4
(i) The recipient's family includes a child or youth who is 5
without a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence as 6
described in the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act 7
(Title 42 U.S.C., chapter 119, subchapter VI, part B) as it existed 8
on January 1, 2020; 9
(ii) The recipient received temporary assistance for needy 10
families during a month on or after March 1, 2020, when Washington 11
state's unemployment rate as published by the Washington employment 12
security department was equal to or greater than seven percent, and 13
the recipient is otherwise eligible for temporary assistance for 14
needy families except that they have exceeded 60 months. The 15
extension provided for under this subsection (4)(a)(ii) is equal to 16
the number of months that the recipient received temporary assistance 17
for needy families during a month on or after March 1, 2020, when the 18
unemployment rate was equal to or greater than seven percent, and is 19
applied sequentially to any other hardship extensions that may apply 20
under this subsection (4) or in rule; ((or))21
(iii) Beginning July 1, 2022, the Washington state unemployment 22
rate most recently published by the Washington employment security 23
department is equal to or greater than seven percent; or24
(iv) Termination or denial of cash assistance would result in 25
financial distress for the recipient's family;26
(b) If the family includes an individual who meets the family 27
violence options of section 402 (A)(7) of Title IVA of the federal 28
social security act as amended by P.L. 104-193; or29
(c) If the recipient or applicant is a parent or legal guardian 30
to a child under the age of two who lives in the same household and 31
qualifies for an infant, toddler, or postpartum exemption from 32
WorkFirst activities. 33
(5) The department shall not exempt a recipient and his or her 34
family from the application of subsection (1) of this section until 35
after the recipient has received 52 months of assistance under this 36
chapter. 37
(6) The department shall provide transitional food assistance for 38
a period of five months to a household that ceases to receive 39
temporary assistance for needy families assistance and is not in 40
p. 2 HB 1463
full-family sanction status. If a member of a household has been 1
sanctioned but the household is still receiving benefits, the 2
remaining eligible household members may receive transitional food 3
assistance. If necessary, the department shall extend the household's 4
basic food certification until the end of the transition period.5
(7) The department may adopt rules specifying which published 6
employment security department unemployment rates to use for the 7
purposes of subsection (4)(a)(ii) and (iii) of this section.8
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p. 3 HB 1463