Hot Topic: Nursing Homes for Sex Offenders & Violent Offenders

Final Vitter Amendment is in the Senate Farm Bill and has passed the Senate: What is next?

6-12-2013 Washington DC:

The US Senate has PASSED its' version of the Farm Bill "Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S-954)" by a vote of 66-22-7 on 6-11-2013.

On the Thomas website select S-954, then click on "Text of Legislation" you will see TWO versions, the second one is the final Senate version, sent to the US House. Within that version you will find the following:
   SEC. 4020. ELIGIBILITY DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR CERTAIN CONVICTED FELONS.
    Section 6 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) (as amended by section 4004 [pertains to lottery winnings]) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s) Disqualification for Certain Convicted Felons.--

    ``(1) IN GENERAL.- -An individual shall not be eligible for benefits under this Act if the individual is convicted of--
    ``(A) aggravated sexual abuse under section 2241 of title 18, United States Code
;
    ``(B) murder under section 1111 of title 18, United States Code;
    ``(C) an offense under chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code;
    ``(D) a Federal or State offense involving sexual assault, as defined in 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)); or
    ``(E) an offense under State law determined by the Attorney General to be substantially similar to an offense described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).

    ``(2) EFFECTS ON ASSISTANCE AND BENEFITS FOR OTHERS.--The amount of benefits otherwise required to be provided to an eligible household under this Act shall be determined by considering the individual to whom paragraph (1) applies not to be a member of such household, except that the income and resources of the individual shall be considered to be income and resources of the household.

    ``(3) ENFORCEMENT.--Each State shall require each individual applying for benefits under this Act, during the application process, to state, in writing, whether the individual, or any member of the household of the individual, has been convicted of a crime described in paragraph (1).''.

The US House has their own version of a Farm Bill, totally different than the Senate version, and the House version DOES NOT include the NASTY Sec 4020 above. However, that said, it does not mean the House is better than the Senate versions for our Country.

The next step is a Joint Conference Committee to iron out the differences in both versions. At this point we do not know who will be on that Joint Committee, so we wait. When that is know I will update this posting, so check back often.

For now have a great day and a better tomorrow.
eAdvocate


NOTE:
For those who want to see what the Louisiana State Auditor found see his report HERE. Sen. Vitter used that report as the basis for his Sec 4020 above, and there is NOTHING in the Louisiana Auditor's report with respect to Sex Offenses. A misuse of that report? Most definitely!

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