| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

07-28-2006a

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 6 months ago

Romney Files Amendments to Welfare Bill

Looks to lift people out of poverty through work

Date: 07/28/2006

 

Seeking to help impoverished families move up the economic ladder, Governor Mitt Romney today decried the welfare bill passed by the Legislature with minimal debate last week and filed amendments to strengthen it.

 

“Exempting thousands of welfare recipients from a work requirement and loosely defining what constitutes work for others moves Massachusetts backwards from our commitment to help people attain self-sufficiency,” said Romney.

 

Fewer than 13,000 of the state’s 45,600 welfare recipients are currently required to work. The Governor’s plan would raise that to approximately 25,600 individuals while the bill passed by the Legislature imposes a work requirement on only about 16,100. Also, the Legislature’s definition of work reverts to 1996 federal standards and ignores stricter federal guidelines that take effect in October.

 

“My amendments will help families in need of assistance and will move Massachusetts closer to federal standards,” said Romney.

 

Among the populations exempted from work in the Legislature’s bill are 5,000 “disabled” welfare recipients who aren’t recognized as disabled by the federal government, but meet looser state definitions.

 

“Massachusetts needs to continue the progress that has been made in getting more people off welfare and into the workforce,” said Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. “The Legislature is not doing them any favors by establishing blanket exemptions.”

 

Helping families enter the workforce is an essential element to ending their poverty. A family of three receiving welfare and food stamp benefits receives about $12,336 per year, only 74 percent of the federal poverty level, from the government. That same family with an adult working 20 hours per week at only minimum wage and taking advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit would see annual earnings boosted to $18,958, or 114 percent of the federal poverty level.

 

Romney is also proposing to continue the current Massachusetts law of progressive discipline against welfare recipients who refuse to work, a gradual process that takes more than three months and can ultimately result in elimination of all cash benefits. The Legislature’s bill eliminates current law and only allows a minimal sanction of $100 per month.

 

“Over a decade ago the Commonwealth and federal government embarked on a path to end ‘welfare-as-we-know-it,’ ” said Romney. “We must be careful not to revert back to ‘welfare-as-we-used-to-know-it,’ a failed social policy that perpetuates poverty.”

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.