Democrat Lawmakers Dragging Feet on Welfare

Democratic Lawmakers Dragging Feet Over Welfare Overhaul
       Governor Mitt Romney issued a stern warning to legislators on Wednesday that the state could lose as much as $56 million of federal monies next fiscal year if stricter work requirements for welfare recipients aren’t in place when new federal requirements take effect on Oct. 1.
       In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Romney said that roughly 15 percent of welfare recipients currently meet the federal work requirements, but new federal rules require a 50 percent participation rate and include stricter standards.   Democratic lawmakers have yet to present their plan to move at least 35% of recipients to some type of productive work, or training for work.
       “We have the potential of losing a substantial amount of federal dollars unless we conform with federal rules, and the federal government has changed those rules with recent legislation demanding a higher level of participation in the work requirement for those on welfare,” Romney told reporters Wednesday.
       Welfare work requirement bills have been hung up in conference committee since last fall, with lawmakers saying negotiators are near agreement on all issues, but Conference committee members won’t say exactly what’s holding up the bill’s progress.   It is suspected that many liberals on Beacon Hill are balking at the tougher standards to remain on welfare.   The new Federal standards emphasize work and job training, and are designed to keep welfare from becoming a long-term lifestyle for an individual.
       Because of the original Welfare Reform Bill of 1996 (perhaps the most enduring legacy of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America”) welfare rolls have been slashed all over the country. Even in Massachusetts, the caseload is down to 47,000 families; less than half of the 103,000 that were on welfare in the state in 1995.