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Bailey calls on governor to veto bill that
cripples welfare reform
Measure would remove work requirements from
welfare recipients
Calling it one of the most
damaging pieces of legislation against the Welfare Reform Act of 1997,
Rep.
Barbara Bailey is asking Gov. Christine Gregoire to veto
Senate Bill 6016. The measure, which would remove work requirements
from welfare recipients, passed the Legislature despite strong
Republican opposition, and was sent to the governor Friday.
"How quickly people forget
what our welfare system was like before the Legislature adopted reforms
in 1997. The system was not only broken, it was destructive. It hindered
the poor rather than helping them gain independence. Our welfare program
undermined families and, worse, it removed people's dignity and
self-reliance, penalizing them for every step they took to break
themselves free of the system," said Bailey, R-Oak Harbor.
"The majority party has
now adopted legislation that will strip away the advances made in the
WorkFirst program," added Bailey. "Rather than breaking the cycle of
dependency as intended in the previous welfare reforms, this measure will
allow able-bodied recipients to stay home and collect checks at the
expense of other working families with little or no incentive to advance
out of the system. Unless we want to go back to the old broken system, it
is imperative the governor vetoes this bill."
The Welfare Reform Act of
1997 requires welfare recipients to engage in certain job search and
work activities as an ongoing condition of eligibility. Recipients who
became parents can apply for a one-time exemption -- for only one
child -- until the child became three months old. Parents are required to begin or resume activities such as parenting skills
instruction or job readiness training.
SB 6016 would strip the
list of work activities from state law, replacing them with
participation in non-work activities, such as alcohol or drug treatment,
or parenting education. The bill would also remove
the one-time, one-child limit, and provide a one-year exemption from
work activities.
Bailey noted that the
WorkFirst program has cost-effectively increased participant employment
rates by 56 percent and reduced welfare use by 21 percent. Now, she
says, the legislation heading to the governor's desk would effectively
erase the progress made over the last 10 years toward empowering
able-bodied recipients to become independent.
"Welfare was always meant
to be only a temporary financial relief program, not a way of life. This
legislation sends the message to able-bodied recipients that no longer
should they seek self-reliance and a way out of the system. Now they can
stay home for up to a year and collect welfare checks without personal
responsibility or responsibility to the working, tax-paying families of
Washington," said Bailey. "I encourage people to call the governor today
and join with me in asking her to veto this welfare reform-gutting
measure, Senate Bill 6016."
The phone number to the
governor's office is (360) 902-4111.
# # #
For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
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