Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 2.djvu/669

 PUBLIC LAW 100-435—SEPT. 19, 1988

102 STAT. 1673

(3) the nutritional impact of the additional meal or supplement. (d) REPORT.—Not later than August 1, 1989, the Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare and submit, to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, a preliminary report that describes the results of the project conducted under this section. As expeditiously as possible after the conclusion of such project, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to such Committees a final report concerning the project. (e) TERMINATION.—The demonstration project required by this section shall terminate not later than 12 months after the date on which the project was fully initiated. SEC. 504. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF INTELLIGENT COMPUTER BENEFIT CARDS TO PAY FOOD STAMP BENEFITS.

Section 17 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2026) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(fKD In order to encourage States to plan, design, develop, and implement a system for making food stamp benefits available through the use of intelligent benefit cards or other automated or electronic benefit delivery systems, the Secretary may conduct one or more pilot or experimental projects, subject to the restrictions imposed by subsection flXl) and section 7(g)(2), designed to test whether the use of such cards or systems can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of program operations while ensuring that individuals receive correct benefit amounts on a timely basis. Intelligent benefit cards developed under such a demonstration project shall contain information, encoded on a computer chip embedded in a credit card medium, including the eligibility of the individual and the amount of benefits to which such individual is entitled. Any other automated or electronic benefit delivery system developed under such a demonstration project shall be able to use a plastic card to access such information from a data file.". SEC. 505. STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FOOD STAMP EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROGRAM. Section 17 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2026) (as amended by section 504), is further amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(g) In order to assess the effectiveness of the employment and training programs established under section 6(d) in placing individuals into the work force and withdrawing such individuals from the food stamp program, the Secretary is authorized to carry out studies comparing the pre- and post-program labor force participation, wage rates, family income, level of receipt of food stamp and other transfer payments, and other relevant information, for samples of participants in such employment and training programs as compared to the appropriate control or comparison groups that did not participate in such programs. Such studies shall, to the maximum Records, extent possible— "(1) collect such data for up to 3 years after the individual has completed the employment and training program; and "(2) yield results that can be generalized to the national program as a whole.

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