reasonably anticipated to be received by the household in the cert fication period for which eligibility is being determined and the in come which has been received by the household during the thirty day preceding the filing of its application for food stamps so that th State agency may reasonably ascertain the income that is and will b actually available to the household for the certification period, excep that for (1) those households which by contract for other than a hourly or piecework basis, or self-employment, derive their annua income in a period of time shorter than one year, income shall be cal culated by being averaged over a twelve-month period and (2) thos households which receive nonexcluded income of the type specified in subsection (d)(3) of this section, income shall be calculated by being averaged over the period for which it is provided.

(g) The Secretary shall prescribe the types and allowable amount of financial resources (liquid and nonliquid assets) an eligible house hold may own, and shall, in so doing, assure that a household other wise eligible to participate in the food stamp program will not be eligible to participate if its resources exceed $1,750, or, in the case of a household consisting of two or more persons, one of whom is age 60 or over, if its resources exceed $3,000. The Secretary shall, in pre scribing inclusions in, and exclusions from, financial resources, follow the regulations in force as of June 1, 1977, and shall, in addition, (1) include in financial resources any boats, snowmobiles, and airplanes used for recreational purposes, any vacation homes, any mobile homes used primarily for vacation purposes, and any licensed vehicle (other than one used to produce earned income) used for household transportation or used to obtain or continue employment or to transport disabled household members to the extent that the fair market value of any such vehicle exceeds $4,500, and (2) study and develop means of improving the effectiveness of these resource requirements in limiting participation to households in need of food assistance, and implement and report the results of such study and the Secretary's plans to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate no later than June 1, 1978.

(h) (1) The Secretary shall, after consultation with the official empowered to exercise the authority provided for by section 302(a) of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, establish temporary emergency standards of eligibility for the duration of the emergency for households who are victims of a disaster which disrupts commercial channels of food distribution, if such households are in need of temporary food assistance and if commercial channels of food distribution have again become available to meet the temporary food needs of such households. Such standards as are prescribed for individual emergencies may be promulgated without regard to section 4(c) of this Act or the procedures set forth in section 553 of title 5 of the United States Code.

(2) The Secretary shall establish a Food Stamp Disaster Task Force, to assist States in implementing and operating the disaster program, which shall be available to go into a disaster area and provide direct assistance to State and local officials. (7 U.S.C. 2014.)

ELIGIBILITY DISQUALIFICATIONS

SEC. 6. (a) In addition to meeting the standards of eligibility prescribed in section 5 of this Act, households and individuals who are members of eligible households must also meet and comply with the specific requirements of this section to be eligible for participation in the food stamp program.

(b) No individual who is a member of a household otherwise eligible to participate in the food stamp program shall be eligible to participate for (1) three months after such individual has been found by a State agency after notice and hearing at the State level, or after failure to appeal a local hearing to the State level, to have fraudulently used, presented, transferred, acquired, received, possessed, or altered coupons or authorization cards, or (2) a period of not less than six and not more than twenty-four months, as determined by the court, after such individual has been found by a court of appropriate jurisdiction, with a State or a political subdivision thereof or the United States as prosecutor or plaintiff, to have been criminally or civilly fraudulent in the use, presentation, transfer, acquisition, receipt, possession, or alteration of coupons or authorization cards, or (3) both of the periods specified in clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection. Each such period of ineligibility is to take effect immediately upon the relevant administrative or judicial finding and to remain in effect, without possibility of administrative stay, unless and until the finding of fraud is subsequently reversed by a court of appropriate jurisdiction, but in no event shall the period of disqualification be subject to judicial review.

(c) No household shall be eligible to participate in the food stamp program if it refuses to cooperate in providing information to the State agency that is necessary for making a determination of its eligibility or for completing any subsequent review of its eligibility. Every household that is participating in the food stamp program shall report or cause to be reported to the State agency, on a form designed or approved by the Secretary (that shall contain a description in understandable terms in prominent and boldface lettering of the appropriate civil and criminal provisions dealing with violations of this Act, including the penalties therefor, by members of an eligible household) changes in income or household circumstances which the Secretary deems necessary in order to assure accurate eligibility and benefit determinations. The reporting requirement prescribed by this subsection shall be the sole such requirement for reporting changes in income or in household circumstances for participating households.

(d) (1) Unless otherwise exempted by the provisions of paragraph (d) (2) of this subsection, no household shall be eligible for assistance under this Act if it includes a physically and mentally fit person between the ages of eighteen and sixty who (i) refuses at the time of application and once every six months thereafter to register for employment in a manner determined by the Secretary; (ii) refuses to fulfill whatever reasonable reporting and inquiry about employment requirements as are prescribed by the Secretary; (iii) is head of the

household and voluntarily quits any job without good cause, unle the household was certified for benefits under this Act immediatel prior to such unemployment: Provided, That the period of ineligibi ity shall be sixty days from the time of the voluntary quit; or (iv) refuses without good cause to accept an offer of employment at wage not less than the higher of either the applicable State or Feder minimum wage, or 80 per centum of the wage that would have gov erned had the minmimum hourly rate under the Fair Labor Stand ards Act of 1938, as amended (29 U.S.C. 206 (a) (1)), been applicabl to the offer of employment, and at a site or plant not then subject t a strike or lockout.

(2) A person who otherwise would be required to comply with th requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be exemp from such requirements if he or she is (A) currently subje to and complying with a work registration requirement under tit IV of the Social Security Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 602), or th Federal-State unemployment compensation system; (B) a parer or other member of a household with responsibility for the care of dependent child under age twelve or of an incapacitated person; (C) a parent or other caretaker of a child in a household where there another able-bodied parent who is subject to the requirements of th subsection; (D) a bona fide student enrolled at least half time i any recognized school, training program, or institution of higher edu cation (except that any such person shall be subject to the require ments of paragraph (1) of this subsection during any period of mor than thirty days when such school or program is in vacation or reces and any such person enrolled in an institution of higher educatio shall be subject to the requirements of subsection (e)(3)(B) of th section as well); (E) a regular participant in a drug addiction o alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation program; or (F) employed minimum of thirty hours per week or receiving weekly earning which equal the minimum hourly rate under the Fair Labor Stand ards Act of 1938, as amended (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)), multiplied b thirty hours.

(3) To the extent that a State employment service is assigne responsibility for administering the provisions of subsection (d) o this section, it shall comply with regulations issued jointly by th Secretary and the Secretary of Labor, which regulations shall b patterned to the maximum extent practicable on the work incentiv program requirements set forth in title IV of the Social Security Ad (42 U.S.C. 630 et. seq.) and shall take into account the diversity the needs of the food stamp work registration population.

(e) No individual who is a member of a household otherwise elig ible to participate in the food stamp program under this section sha be eligible to participate in the food stamp program as a member o that or any other houehold if he or she (1) has reached his or he eighteenth birthday, (2) is enrolled at least half time in an inst tution of higher education, and (3) (A) is properly claimed or coul properly be claimed as a dependent child for Federal income ta purposes by a taxpayer who is not a member of an eligible hous

hold or (B) during the regular school year (i) is not employed a minimum of twenty hours per week or is not participating in a federally financed work study program, (ii) does not have weekly earnings which at least equal the minimum hourly rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)), multiplied by twenty hours, (iii) is not registered for work amounting to at least twenty hours per week, (iv) is not the head of a household containing one or more other persons who are dependents of that individual because he or she supplies more than half of their support, or (v) is not covered by an exemption from the work registration requirement contained in subsection (d) of this section other than clause (D) of paragraph (2) of that subsection.

(f) No individual who is a member of a household otherwise eligible to participate in the food stamp program under this section shall be eligible to participate in the food stamp program as a member of that or any other household unless he or she is (1) a resident of the United States and (2) either (A) a citizen or (B) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence as an immigrant as defined by sections 101(a) (15) and 101 (a) (20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 (a) (15) and 8 U.S.C. 1101 (a) (20)), excluding, among others, alien visitors, tourists, diplomats, and students who enter the United States temporarily with no intention of abandoning their residence in a foreign country; or (C) an alien who entered the United States prior to June 30, 1948, or such subsequent date as is enacted by law, has continuously maintained his or her residence in the United States since then, and is not ineligible for citizenship, but who is deemed to be lawfully admitted for permanent residence as a result of an exercise of discretion by the Attorney General pursuant to section 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1259); or (D) an alien who has qualified for conditional entry pursuant to section 203 (a) (7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153 (a) (7)) because of persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion or because of being uprooted by catastrophic natural calamity; or (E) an alien who is lawfully present in the United States as a result of an exercise of discretion by the Attorney General for emergent reasons or reasons deemed strictly in the public interest pursuant to section 212 (d) (5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182 (d) (5)); or (F) an alien within the United States as to whom the Attorney General has withheld deportation pursuant to section 243 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253 (h)) because of the judgment of the Attorney General that the alien would otherwise be subject to persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion. No aliens other than the ones specifically described in clauses (B) through (F) of this subsection shall be eligible to participate in the food stamp program as a member of any household.

(g) No individual who receives supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act, State supplementary payments described in section 1616 of such Act, or payments of the type referred to in section 212 (a) of Public Law 93-66, as

amended, shall be considered to be a member of a household for any month, if, for such month, such individual resides in a State which provides State supplementary payments (1) of the type described in section 1616(a) of the Social Security Act and section 212 (a) of Pub lic Law 93-66, and (2) the level of which has been found by the Sec retary of Health, Education, and Welfare to have been specifically increased so as to include the bonus value of food stamps.3

(h) No household that knowingly transfers assets for the purpose of qualifying or attempting to qualify for the food stamp program shall be eligible to participate in the program for a period of up to one year from the date of discovery of the transfer. (7 U.S.C. 2015.)

ISSUANCE AND USE OF COUPONS

SEC. 7. (a) Coupons shall be printed under such arrangements and in such denominations as may be determined by the Secretary to be necessary, and shall be issued only to households which have been duly certified as eligible to participate in the food stamp program.

(b) Coupons issued to eligible households shall be used by them only to purchase food in retail food stores which have been approved for participation in the food stamp program at prices prevailing in such stores: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the Secretary to specify the prices at which food may be sold by wholesale food concerns or retail food stores: Provided further, That eligible households using coupons to purchase food may receive cash in change there for so long as the cash received does not equal or exceed the value of the lowest coupon denomination issued.

(c) Coupons issued to eligible households shall be simple in design and shall include only such words or illustrations as are required to explain their purpose and define their denomination. The name of any public official shall not appear on such coupons.

(d) The Secretary shall develop an appropriate procedure for determining and monitoring the level of coupon inventories in the hands of coupon issuers for the purpose of providing that such inventories are at proper levels (taking into consideration the historical and projected volume of coupon distribution by such issuers). Such procedures shall provide that coupon inventories in the hands of such issuers are not in excess of the reasonable needs of such issuers taking into consideration the ease with which such coupon inventories may be resupplied. The Secretary shall require each coupon issuer at intervals prescribed by the Secretary, but not less often than monthly, to send to the Secretary or the Secretary's designee, which may include the State agency, a written report of the issuer's operations during such period. In addition to other information deemed by the Secretary to be appropriate, the Secretary shall require that the report contain an oath, or affirmation, signed by the coupon issuer, or in the case of a corporation or other entity not a natural person, by an appropriate official of the coupon issuer, certifying that the informa

The method by which this determination is to be made for Food Stamp Program purposes by the Secretary of HEW is specified by section 8(c) of P.L. 93-233, 87 Stat. 957, Dec. 31, 1973 (42 U.S.C. 1382e note), as amended by section 1302 (a) (3), P.L 95-113, 91 Stat. 979, Sept. 29, 1977.