INTRODUCTION STUDY RATIONALE This Nation will pay out $142 billion in fiscal year 1975 under an extensive group of public income transfer programs.1 The bulk of these expenditures is for programs aimed at providing some measure of economic security for workers and dependents whose income from employment could be reduced by unemployment, old age, sickness, or death. Additionally, there are many programs to provide basic income support for persons who are nominally unemployable, and supplements in the form of cash or in-kind benefits for persons with low incomes. While the basic structure of many of these programs dates back to the 1930's, the programs are continually modified and stretched, and new ones added. Sometimes the new programs are for the benefit of specific groups, such as disabled coal miners, while others are for identifiable "needs" such as food, health, housing, or services such as higher education and day care. In general an incremental approach has been followed, but it is no longer possible-if, indeed, it ever was to provide a convincing rationale for the programs as they exist in terms of who is covered and who is excluded, benefit amounts, and eligibility conditions. No coherent rationale binds them together as a system. Additionally, the programs are extraordinarily complex, and the eligibility conditions and entitlement provisions lack uniformity even among programs with similar objectives and structures. Public retirement programs, for example, differ widely in their generosity to covered workers. And, a number of the income-tested programs reach the same part of the population but have been developed separately without apparent consistency of objectives, operating features, and principles of equity. This proliferation of programs leads to administrative complexity, client confusion, and, sometimes, to results not intended by the Congress when persons receive benefits under several programs with dissimilar operating policies and procedures. This volume is a revised edition of a handbook first published in 1972. It systematically describes the operational features of a wide variety of programs. Quite adequate descriptions can be found somewhere for any individual program. The intended contribution of this handbook, however, is threefold: it presents in one place material descriptive of many programs; this material is presented for most programs in a common framework so that comparisons across programs can easily be drawn; and it focuses on those aspects of programs which are most salient for analyses of how programs interact and impact upon those millions of persons who receive benefits under more than one program. 1 The term "public income transfer programs" is used in this report to refer to public programs which have as their aim the maintenance or supplementation of current personal living standards through assistance in cash or in goods and services such as food, health care, and housing. The term "public assistance" is used to refer to one type of such programs, and it will include the programs of aid to families with dependent children, and the supplemental security income program. This volume is intended primarily as a reference tool, not a complete description of all aspects of individual program operation. It presents information on selected features such as the following: financing provisions; major eligibility criteria; definition of eligible family or household; definition of income for program eligibility and benefit computation purposes; adjustment of benefits according to income. and resources ("benefit reduction or tax rates'); income and eligibility accounting periods; work, residence, and citizenship requirements; and amount and nature of benefits. Where programs vary from State to State or where there are detailed benefit structures or eligibility criteria, supplementary information is included.2 Programs which are authorized in Federal legislation and are wholly or partially federally financed are described in some detail. Summaries are also included of State-operated and financed programs dealing with comparable risks to income security, including State and local government employee retirement plans, workmen's compensation, and general assistance. One major type of income transfer-income tax provisions-has not been incorporated into this report in order to keep the topic of manageable scope and to maintain a clear focus on those programs of most direct relevance to basic income support. These transfers are indirect in the sense that beneficiaries receive Government checks only if taxes have been overwithheld. Nonetheless, for those millions of persons who would otherwise pay higher income taxes, the benefits result in higher disposable personal incomes for those benefited and produce a direct loss to the Treasury. Many of these tax reductions result from conditions comparable to those recognized in direct cash and in-kind transfer programs (old age, disability, dependents, unemployment, and personal expenditures on housing and interest subsidies, health care, and child care). 3 Additionally, there is a growing trend for States to offer tax relief to specific groups or for specific expenditures. These provisions also parallel income transfer programs in terms of groups and expenditures included. Also excluded are service programs such as education, vocational rehabilitation, manpower training, family counseling, protective services and child care. The income effects of services are not always determinable and may be derived in the future through increased earning capacity rather than in current effect on spendable income. Some service programs such as educational, scholarship, and manpower training programs may include income maintenance provisions which supplement other income, but any maintenance provisions exist only as long as the services are received and these programs are not intended or used primarily for income maintenance purposes. 2 Much of the supplementary material is taken directly from published agency sources. In such cases. specific sources are not given. The primary sources for program and statistical information are listed under data sources at the end of this report. 3 The programs offering aid in the form of food, medical care, housing, and other services rather than cash are referred to in this report as "aid-in-kind" programs. Private industry plans for retirement, medical care costs, and the like are not included since the focus of this report is on publicly supported programs. However, there is public participation in the form of tax subsidies to these private programs. Program descriptions reflect currently available information as to program operations up to January 1975 and are subject to change as more recently enacted legislation or administrative changes are put into effect. A significant number of programs underwent major legislative or regulatory changes during the relatively short preparation period for this document. The extensive revisions of the handbook which were necessitated by such changes afforded considerable perspective on the concomitant administrative burdens which were required. This volume should not be utilized solely as an arcane technical reference, for these technical details have considerable policy impact. Criteria which define eligibility also imply exclusion and bear on the question of equity. The definition and treatment of income determines who will be eligible, how much they will receive, and how the gain or loss of income from earnings, assets, or other programs will affect benefits under the program being considered. Such details are critical to understanding how programs operate now-both singly and in combinations and what the implications of changes might be, and are especially relevant in view of the numerous congressional committees, Federal agencies, and State and local authorities with legislative and regulatory powers over this broad range of programs. While this handbook does not draw conclusions or make the interprogram comparisons that are possible, it does facilitate such analyses. PROGRAMS INCLUDED Public income transfer programs, as described in this report, are publicly supported, Government administered, or legislatively authorized programs which have as their objective the maintenance or supplementation of current personal income through payment of cash benefits or provision of in-kind services or commodities. Such programs, as they have developed in this country, are primarily risk related; that is, they are designed to provide income maintenance protection through partial income replacement when risks to engaging in employment occur, such as retirement due to age or disability and involuntary unemployment. A number of programs also provide income protection to dependents of beneficiaries and to survivors of wage earners. In-kind transfers are designed to protect against unpredictable expenditures such as medical care costs, or to provide essentials not readily available to all segments of the population, such as adequate housing and food. TABLE 1.-INCOME SECURITY: SUMMARY OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES, FISCAL Source: Joint Economic Committee, Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy, Income Security for Americans: Recommendations of the Public Welfare Study, 93d Cong., 2d sess., issued Dec. 5, 1974, p. 20. See table 3 in the same volume for a more detailed breakdown of 1973 programs. DEFINITION OF TERMS Where practical, a uniform outline is used in describing comparable program features. Listed below are the major items of information included, following the general order in which the material is presented in each program outline. BASIC PROGRAM INFORMATION Legislative objective. This is a brief statement of program coverage and purpose. Date enacted and major changes since enactment.-Only selected legislative changes which have affected program coverage, amounts or benefits, or financing are noted. Administering agencies. The Federal department and agency with responsibility for administration of programs or grants to States is given. State and local responsibility for administration is noted when appropriate. Exact titles of State or local agencies are not given, as these vary among States for agencies with similar functions. Where programs are State administered with variations in program elements among the States, such variations are summarized rather than attempting to describe the complete set of conditions applicable in each State or administrative jurisdiction. Appended tables provide some available data for each State on expenditures, benefit levels, and other selected program aspects. Financing. Sources of funding are identified, such as Federal, State, or local revenues, and employer and/or employee payroll taxes. Costs. Total expenditures for benefits and number of beneficiaries |