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August 13, 2010 in City
State budget woes strike welfare program
Gregoire restricts help to families, cuts $51 million from WorkFirst
OLYMPIA – Fewer people will qualify for a state welfare program that provides child care subsidies and help finding a job under cuts announced by Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday.
She said that at least $51 million is being cut from WorkFirst, the state’s welfare-to-work program, because while enrollment continues to rise, matching funds from the federal government have remained flat since the 1990s.
The program, started in August 1997, helps low-income families with support and training in getting and keeping jobs, offering things like monthly stipends and child care subsidies.
Most of the cuts will come from granting fewer extensions to families who reach the five-year time limit and lowering the income eligibility for the child care subsidy. Other cuts will be made to employment, education and training services.
Starting in February, about 5,500 families will be kicked out of WorkFirst and will lose a monthly stipend ranging from $453 for a family of two to $762 for a family of five, in addition to a host of other benefits, including the child care stipends.
Starting Oct. 1, the eligibility rules for child care stipends will be increased, meaning that about 2,500 families will lose that assistance.
Department of Social and Health Services spokesman Thomas Shapley said that at a minimum, people will be notified by mail in advance of any changes in their status, eligibility or benefits. He noted that they will not lose other services, such as food stamps or medical coverage, that they otherwise qualify for.
Advocacy groups decried the cuts and said that removing poor families from the program will cause them to seek out social services through different state programs.
“This seems like a really tough time to put families on the street,” said Robin Zukoski, a staff attorney for Columbia Legal Services, which provides civil legal aid to low-income people. “These families are not going to just disappear. They’re going to go into the homeless shelters.”
DSHS director Susan Dreyfus said that the agency would immediately start working with the families that will be affected to ensure they have a plan come February.
“This becomes a shared responsibility between government, communities and families,” she said. “It’s going to take all of us to pull together and help these families out.”
Gregoire also said that across-the-board cuts to other state programs are all but certain in October.
Gregoire said she has told state agencies to prepare for cuts of 4 percent to 7 percent effective Oct. 1, but said she’ll know firmer numbers after the state’s updated revenue forecast in September. Based on recent bleak tax collections that show less money going into the state’s coffers, she’s preparing for the worst.
Heading into January’s 105-day legislative session, Gregoire said lawmakers will need to quickly pass a supplemental budget cutting $500 million from the last six months of this year.
The 2011-’13 budget will need to cut 10 percent in order to prepare for an expected $3 billion shortfall.
“State government, out of necessity, will need to be smaller,” Gregoire said.
Gregoire said even with the influx of more than $540 million in federal dollars coming to the state, the state’s reserves have dwindled to $72 million.
On Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed a $26 billion bill that sends money to cash-strapped states, including Washington.
Washington will received $338 million in Medicaid match money and an additional $205 million for education jobs. State officials are still working out how they are allowed to use the education money, but the health care money prevented the state from going into an immediate deficit, Gregoire said.
“We were able to dodge a bullet,” Gregoire said. “But our budget remains under considerable stress.”
Gregoire said she’s not implementing across-the-board cuts sooner because she needs to give large agencies time to come up with plans on how they will make the cuts. She could offer no estimates on the number of layoffs that could be a result of the cuts.
While Gregoire is limited by the Legislature to across-the-board cuts for state agencies, she has the authority to make more specific cuts in welfare programs, like WorkFirst.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Ninch on August 13 at 7:35 a.m.
Seems wrong to cut Workfirst (welfare-to-work) that has greater demand while fully employed teachers get bought off by Obama and Dems who reduced food stamp subsidy by $12 billion to fund this union buyoff. Note: Our state already spends more than 50% of our budget on education, and now it will be proportionally more.
Note: “State officials are still working out how they are allowed to use the education money..” That dilemma raises many more questions because this money apparently is not needed to prevent layoff of teachers. All Washington State school districts already balanced their budgets because they were required to do so and send budgets to OSPI for review. Appears that this money may instead be used for NEW unsustainable programs.
misjustice on August 13 at 9:17 a.m.
Yeah, those damn greedy teachers are taking food from the mouths of babes! How dare they?
D Statler on August 13 at 7:18 p.m.
EXCUSE ME! KNOCK KNOCK MAN, All the teachers I work with have not seen a raise in two years. I am not a teacher, but I do know that the initiative to fund teachers raises was put on hold till the economy picks back up. I am a fan of helping people get back to work too. HOWEVER, somebody has to pay for this program. Cutting the fraudulent claims will help some.There really is no easy answer. I suppose we could cut the school lunch programs or sports to save the $51 Million. Then we would be taking the food from the babies mouths. LOL A tight state budget is going to hurt worse before it gets better. Raising taxes to cover these cuts will slow recovery even more. Please step up and try to help your family,friends and neighbors during these rough times of cutting.You may be the difference!
gotcha on August 14 at 6:25 a.m.
This is just Patty Murray throwing money to her Union friends again…She was put in politics by the Unions, and she has worked for the Unions, it is that simple.
Unions do not work out real good in the private sector, but they florish in the public sector. Why?? Because there is not as much accountability.
Union workers and expecially mid-management need to be making some hefty consessions, because our economy can no longer carry the burden. Our goverment and state are broke, and our kids will be paying the debt forever.
No more annual pay increases, added benifit packages, and just plain greed. Enough. Make consessions or be forced to find new work.
Dazzeetrader11 on August 14 at 11:28 a.m.
NOBODY should be getting raises during this period of hardship. Everyone should sacrifice…..”but us” say the teachers. How self centered.
hawken on September 23 at 4:53 p.m.
Regan proved it…. Clinton proved it (only because a Republican Congress forced him to do so)…. When the welfare roles are cut people actually get off welfare! They go to work, are more happy, have a better self-esteem and the nation as a whole is all the better. How about all those jobs we Americans refuse to take which is used to justify amnesty for ILLEGAL ALIENS! Yes, I agree that we are now in a depression. But increasing taxes on those who are working and running small businesses will do nothing but make it worse. We did not get out of the Great Depression because of Roosevelt’s Progressive, Socialist policies. In fact, they prolonged the Great Depression. We got out of the Great Depression because of WWII. Socialism has never worked, increased taxes in a recession/depression has never worked! As a nation, We’re BROKE! Let’s not put our debt upon our children, grand children and great grand children. At the rate we are going they will never know the quality of life the average American has known in the last 50 years.
friendlyone on November 01 at 6:59 p.m.
It is cuts in family programs that help children like this one that cause me to think more people ought to be for abortion. They should be pro-choice because they do not care what happens to children after they are born. The suffering that babies and children go through after birth to families that are sent to homeless shelters can be avoided with family planning that keeps them from being born.
I do not understand how people can be anti abortion and then be against welfare for the children that are the product of such unwanted pregnancies. They say they are pro-life. But apparently not after its born.
DemoDriver on March 22 at 4:21 p.m.
Wonder what would happen if we privatized welfare?
Specific groups giving aid based on their own, privately developed criteria, with other groups invariably picking up the slack.
It could blow a lot of social workers off the state payrolls, and maybe get the few welfare receipients who happen to fit the negative stereotypes off of the roles and at least hopefully into work.
Put it this way: give an employer a certain tax break for donating to welfare cases, let him choose whom and how to implement that, then maybe let him use it as a training program for his/her manufacturing facility—which would necessitate that getting clean would be a precursor to future employment.
Ideally, it wouldn’t necessarily be such a bad thing.