Sec. 3. Energy Refund Program

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The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Social Security, and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall formulate and administer the program provided for in this section, which shall be known as the Energy Refund Program , and under which eligible households are provided an energy refund. Each eligible household shall be entitled to receive monthly cash payments under this section in an amount equal to the monthly energy refund amount determined under subsection (d).

A household shall be considered to be an eligible household for purposes of this section if— the aggregate gross income of all taxpayers in the household does not exceed 150 percent of the poverty line; the State agency for the State in which the household is located determines that the household is participating in— the supplemental nutrition assistance program; the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations authorized by section 4(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2013(b) ); or the program for nutrition assistance in Puerto Rico or American Samoa under section 19 of such Act ( 7 U.S.C. 2028 ); the household consists of a single individual or a married couple, and— receives the subsidy described in section 1860D–14 of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395w–114 ); or participates in the program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act; and meets the income requirements described in section 1860D–14(a)(1) or (a)(2) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395w–114(a)(1) or (a)(2)); or the household consists of a single individual or a married couple, and receives benefits under the Supplemental Security Income Program under title XVI of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1381–1383f ).

The Secretary of the Treasury may only provide energy refunds in accordance with this section to United States citizens, United States nationals, and individuals lawfully residing in the United States. The Secretary shall establish procedures to ensure that other individuals do not receive such refunds and are not taken into account in determining the amount of such refunds. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall establish uniform national standards of eligibility ensuring that States may co-administer the Energy Refund Program with the supplemental nutrition assistance program in accordance with the provisions of this section.

No State agency shall impose any other standard or requirement as a condition of eligibility or refund receipt under the program. Assistance in the Energy Refund Program shall be furnished promptly to all eligible households who make application for such participation or are already enrolled in any program referred to in paragraph (1). Not later than August 31 of each relevant fiscal year, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Energy Information Administration, shall estimate, pursuant to a method that is appropriate for such purposes, the annual total loss in purchasing power that will result from the America Wins Act in the next fiscal year for households of each size with gross income equal to 150 percent of the poverty line, based on the tax imposed under section 4691 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, excluding the amount of the increase in households’ energy consumption that is financed by higher cost of living adjustments to Federal benefits that result from increased carbon costs by reason of such tax.

Subject to paragraph

(3)and subsection (c)(2), the amount of the monthly energy refund for an eligible household under this section shall be— if the household has 1, 2, 3, or 4 members, 1⁄12 of the amount estimated under paragraph

(1)for such fiscal year for a household of the same size, rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount; or if the household has 5 or more members, 1⁄12 of the arithmetic mean value of the amounts estimated under paragraph

(1)for such fiscal year for households with 5 or more members, rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount. For any fiscal year after calendar year 2019 in which the amounts that are available under section 9512(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 are not sufficient for purposes of funding the monthly energy refund described in paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Treasury shall direct State agencies to reduce, on a pro rata basis, the amount of such refunds that are provided to eligible households. Subject to standards and an implementation schedule set by the Secretary of the Treasury, the energy refund shall be provided in monthly installments via— direct deposit into the eligible household’s designated bank account; the State’s electronic benefit transfer system; or another Federal or State mechanism, if such a mechanism is approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. The standards described under paragraph

(1)shall— protect the privacy of energy refund applicants and recipients; provide energy refund recipients with choices, as appropriate, for delivery and receipt of refunds; ensure ease of use and access to refunds, including a prohibition on any fees charged for withdrawals or other related services; protect, in a cost-effective manner, against improper access to energy refunds; ensure interoperability of the Energy Refund Program between States and permit monitoring and investigations by authorized law enforcement agencies; and include such standards, as determined appropriate by the Secretary of the Treasury, to protect applicant and recipient households from fraud and abuse and promote effective and efficient administration of Energy Refund Program. The State agency of each participating State shall assume responsibility for the certification of applicant households and for the issuance of refunds and the control and accountability thereof. Subject to such standards as determined appropriate by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary shall reimburse each State agency for 100 percent of administrative costs. Under standards established by the Secretary of the Treasury, the State agency shall establish procedures governing the administration of the Energy Refund Program that the State agency determines best serve households in the State, including households with special needs, such as households with elderly or disabled members, households in rural areas, homeless individuals, and households residing on reservations (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 ( 25 U.S.C. 1903 ) and section 3 of the Indian Financing Act of 1974 ( 25 U.S.C. 1452 )). In carrying out this paragraph, a State agency shall— provide timely, accurate, and fair service to applicants for, and participants in, the Energy Refund Program; permit an applicant household to apply to participate in the program at the time that the household first contacts the State agency and consider an application that contains the name, address, and signature of the applicant to be sufficient to constitute an application for participation; screen any applicant household for the supplemental nutrition assistance program, the State’s medical assistance program under section XIX of the Social Security Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program under section XXI of such Act, and a State program that provides basic assistance under a State program funded under title IV of such Act or with qualified State expenditures as defined in section 409(a)(7) of such Act for eligibility for the Energy Refund Program and, if eligible, enroll such applicant household in the Energy Refund Program; complete certification of and provide a refund to any eligible household not later than 30 days following its filing of an application; use appropriate bilingual personnel and materials in the administration of the program in those portions of the State in which a substantial number of members of low-income households speak a language other than English; and utilize State agency personnel who are employed in accordance with the current standards for a merit system of personnel administration or any standards later prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management pursuant to section 208 of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970 ( 42 U.S.C. 4728 ) modifying or superseding such standards relating to the establishment and maintenance of personnel standards on a merit basis to make all tentative and final determinations of eligibility and ineligibility. The Secretary of the Treasury, the Commissioner of Social Security, the Railroad Retirement Board, or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as appropriate, shall develop procedures to directly provide energy refunds to individuals that are beneficiaries under the benefit programs administered by such entities and are eligible to receive such refunds under the Energy Refund Program, if the Secretary of the Treasury determines, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Security, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, that— one or more of such entities are able to determine the gross income of such beneficiaries for purposes of determining eligibility for the energy refund; such entities are able to coordinate to ensure that such beneficiaries do not receive multiple energy refunds; and Federal provision of energy refunds would be more efficient and result in receipt of energy refunds by a greater number of eligible beneficiaries than delivery of such refunds by the States. Any low-income beneficiary who receives an energy refund pursuant to the procedures developed under this paragraph shall not be eligible for an energy refund otherwise provided by a State agency under this section. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue such regulations consistent with this section as the Secretary deems necessary or appropriate for the effective and efficient administration of the Energy Refund Program, and shall promulgate all such regulations in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 553 of title 5, United States Code. Without regard to section 553 of title 5 of such Code, the Secretary of the Treasury may by rule promulgate as final, to be effective until not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the America Wins Act , any procedures that are substantially the same as the procedures governing the supplemental nutrition assistance program in section 273.2, 273.12, or 273.15 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations. Notwithstanding paragraphs

(2)and

(3)of subsection (i), the Secretary of the Treasury shall promulgate regulations requiring streamlined eligibility determinations for some or all households which include individuals receiving medical assistance under a State plan approved under title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act or individuals receiving premium credits for the purchase of qualified health insurance coverage pursuant to section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The regulations shall institute procedures whereby the gross income and family size information used for determining eligibility under such provisions serve as the basis for determining eligibility for the Energy Refund Program. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury may authorize States to provide benefits under this section on a quarterly basis if the Secretary determines that the amount of the benefits that would be provided on a monthly basis to households is insufficient to be efficiently paid on a monthly basis in light of the administrative expenses of the Energy Refund Program. The value of the refund provided under this section shall not be considered income or resources for any purpose under any Federal, State, or local laws, including, but not limited to, laws relating to an income tax, or public assistance programs (including, but not limited to, health care, cash aid, child care, nutrition programs, and housing assistance) and no participating State or political subdivision thereof shall decrease any assistance otherwise provided an individual or individuals because of the receipt of a refund under this section. For purposes of ensuring program integrity and complying with the requirements of the Improper Payment Information Act of 2002, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, to the maximum extent possible, rely on and coordinate with the quality control sample and review procedures of paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and

(5)of section 16(c) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2025(c) ). The term electronic benefit transfer system means a system by which household benefits or refunds defined under subsection

(e)are issued from and stored in a central databank via electronic benefit transfer cards. The term gross income means the gross income of a household that is determined in accordance with standards and procedures established under section 5 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2014 ) and its implementing regulations. The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish rules for providing the energy refund in an equitable and administratively simple manner to households where the group of individuals who live together includes members not all of whom are described in a single subparagraph of subsection (c)(1), or includes additional members not described in any such subparagraph. The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish rules regarding the eligibility and delivery of the energy refund to groups of individuals described in section 3(m)

(4)or

(5)of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2012(n)

(4)or (5)). The term poverty line has the meaning given the term in section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act ( 42 U.S.C. 9902(2) ), including any revision required by that section. The term State means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The term State agency means an agency of State government, including the local offices thereof, that has responsibility for administration of the one or more federally aided public assistance programs within the State, and in those States where such assistance programs are operated on a decentralized basis, the term shall include the counterpart local agencies administering such programs. The term supplemental nutrition assistance program means the supplemental nutrition assistance program as defined in section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2012 ). Other terms not defined in this section shall have the same meaning as such terms have in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program unless the Secretary of the Treasury finds for good cause that application of a particular definition would be detrimental to the purposes of the Energy Refund Program.

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