Locke Wins Concession On Welfare Reform

Democratic Gov. Gary Locke on Wednesday won the breakthrough he wanted on overhauling the state’s welfare system, enabling him to back off a threat to veto the whole bill.

Acting just 26 hours before Locke had scheduled action on their welfare bill, the Senate unanimously approved a compromise it had struck with the governor on welfare benefits for immigrants. Later Wednesday evening, the House followed suit, also by unanimous vote.

The concession in hand, the governor said he will not veto the entire bill, as he had been contemplating. The House sponsor, Suzette Cooke, R-Kent, called the 11th-hour negotiations with Locke “the roller-coaster ride,” but said it cleared the way for a “momentous” bill that changes the face of welfare in the state.

The agreement, handled as a separate bill, SB6098, says legal immigrants must be in the country one year to be eligible for benefits, and that the income from the person’s sponsor must be counted. Benefits could continue if the sponsor dies or becomes incapacitated.

Originally, Republicans wanted to provide services only for immigrants who arrived before Congress passed federal welfare legislation last August.