Welfare Bill Faces Rival House Plan
Welfare recipients who want to keep receiving assistance would have to look for work or take part in job-training programs under a bill approved Monday by the state Senate.
But the Legislature has been here before.
The Democratic-led Senate passed a similar bill last year, but it ran afoul with the House’s Republican leadership, which supports much tougher changes to the welfare system.
Once again, the House plans to reject the Senate bill and offer its own proposal that will include shorter limits on how long someone can stay on welfare as well as a cap on assistance to welfare mothers who have more children.
If lawmakers can reach a compromise - a big if at this stage - they still have to get it past Gov. Mike Lowry, who opposes limits on time and money.
“This bill recognizes that the existing system is broken,” Sen. Kevin Quigley, the bill’s sponsor, said before Monday’s 28-21 vote.
Quigley’s bill would:
Require able-bodied recipients to work, participate in jobtraining programs or perform community service, with some exceptions. Their benefits would be gradually reduced if they refused.
Limit benefits to a lifetime maximum of five years, except for people under 18 years of age.
Help the working poor pay for child care.
Suspend the drivers and professional licenses of parents who fail to pay child support.
Require teenage parents on welfare to pursue a high-school education and live in an adult-supervised setting.
Supporters said the Quigley plan would break the cycle of dependency on welfare by using a system of carrots and sticks to push people into work.
But there aren’t enough sticks in the plan for many Republicans.
They want to limit benefits to about two years and include a “family cap,” which would eliminate extra assistance to welfare mothers who have more children.
They also support a provision stating that welfare no longer will be considered an entitlement. Rather, it would be viewed as a “charitable gesture” that could be discontinued at any time.