House Approves Welfare Reforms

Tue., Feb. 13, 1996

Associated Press

The state House voted Monday night to impose strict limits on welfare recipients, saying they’ll never take responsibility for themselves if the government gives them a permanent crutch.

The House voted 61-36 to send its welfare overhaul bill to the Senate, which has approved a tamer version.

Negotiators have until March 7 - the end of the 1996 session - to work out a compromise, and even that doesn’t guarantee passage. Gov. Mike Lowry opposes any cuts in benefits.

The House’s welfare bill was one of dozens that passed Monday as the Legislature approached a crucial deadline. Most non-budget measures must clear their house of origin by 5 p.m. Tuesday or they will be considered dead for the session.

Other measures approved Monday would cut property taxes, give property owners more rights and guarantee a longer hospital stay for new mothers, among other things.

Both of the welfare bills passed by the House or Senate would require welfare recipients to work or get an education. But they also contain several major differences.

The House plan would cut benefits off after 3-1/2 years, while the Senate would give recipients 5-1/2 years. The House bill also eliminates extra assistance for welfare mothers who have more children and it cuts benefits by 9 percent in order to pay for more job training; the Senate plan does neither.

Earlier in the evening, the House approved an election-year proposal to cut the state’s share of property taxes by 5 percent and to put a new lid on annual increases. The proposal would tie overall increases to the annual rate of inflation under certain circumstances.

The legislation would cost the state treasury $57 million between now and July 1, 1997, and $317 million in the following two-year budget cycle. It would mean a tax reduction of about $20 to $30 a year for the average homeowner.

The proposal passed in the form of two bills, HB2951 and HB2841. The two differed only in that the latter contains a referendum clause sending the issue to voters in November. The House wanted to give the Senate a choice of whether to send the legislation to Gov. Mike Lowry for a promised veto or straight to the ballot.

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