• Welfare drug testing bill whips up debate in state legislature, By Mike Sluss, January 25, 2012, Roanoke Times: “A House of Delegates committee has advanced legislation that would require drug testing of Virginia welfare recipients, despite objections from Democrats who argued that the proposal amounts to a targeted attack on poor people. The legislation - House Bill 73 - would require local social services agencies to screen recipients in the state welfare program to determine whether they use illegal drugs. Those who refuse to comply or fail a drug test would lose Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits for one year unless they enter a drug treatment program. A recipient would have one opportunity to be reinstated to the program by complying with screening, assessment and treatment requirements…”
• Welfare drug-testing bill passes on to vote from full House, By Maureen Hayden, January 25, 2012, News and Tribune: “Indiana lawmakers are pushing forward on legislation that would cut off cash assistance to welfare recipients who fail drug tests. In a 15-5 vote that crossed party lines, the House Committee on Ways and Means approved a bill that would require the state’s Family and Social Services Agency to test out a drug-screening program on a small scale before it was launched statewide. It now goes to the full House for a vote. The focus is narrow: The FSSA would implement the drug-screening program in three test counties for a two-year period, then report back to the legislature. The drug-screening would only apply to adults who are receiving cash payments through a program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF…”

Welfare issue makes political comeback, By Dawn Turner Trice, January 22, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich recently offered to attend an NAACP convention to explain why African-Americans ’should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.’ And he has described President Barack Obama as ‘the most successful food stamp president in American history.’ While the Republican presidential race has brought the welfare issue to the forefront, critics say it has also resurrected stereotypical images of the black ‘welfare mother’ having out-of-wedlock babies so she can stay home and live large off the taxpayers. When it comes to welfare, perceptions have often trumped reality…”

• Food stamp recipients to critics: Walk in our shoes, By Jesse Washington (AP), January 20, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “Some have advanced degrees and remember middle-class lives. Some work selling lingerie or building websites. They are white, black and Hispanic; young and old; homeowners and homeless. What they have in common: They’re all on food stamps. As the food stamp program has become an issue in the Republican presidential primary, with candidates seeking to tie President Barack Obama to the program’s record numbers, The Associated Press interviewed recipients across the country and found many who wished critics would spend some time in their shoes. Most said they never expected to need food stamps, but the Great Recession, which wiped out millions of jobs, left them no choice. Some struggled with the idea of taking a handout; others saw it as their due, earned through years of working steady jobs. They yearn to get back to receiving a paycheck that will make food stamps unnecessary…”
• The Americans no one wants to talk about, By Michael Gerson, January 19, 2012, Washington Post: “It is an achievement of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements to have raised large issues of economic freedom and economic inequality. It is a paradox that their arguments have generally been vague, ideological and unhelpful. Elements on the right reject the whole ideal of distributive justice - opposing most taxation as theft and embracing a utopian project involving the abolition of the modern state. Elements on the left seek a substitute for capitalism - a utopian project that has been tried and found frightening. The political debates on free markets or the privileges of the 1 percent seldom touch on the actual struggles of citizens - say, living in the shadow of foreclosure, or attending a failing school, or surviving in a gang-occupied neighborhood. Ideology is abstract. Hardship is lived concretely. I like a good political philosophic debate as much as the next columnist. Give me a soy latte and a libertarian, and I’m set for the night. Ideas do have consequences. But many Americans are being overlooked in this bipartisan conspiracy of economic abstraction. A significant and growing portion of the population lives in poverty…”
• GOP presidential candidates wade into politically tricky territory of food stamp spending, By Associated Press, January 9, 2012, Washington Post: “Politicians normally shy away from saying they want to cut food stamps, but this year’s Republican presidential candidates are using domestic food aid as an example of a welfare state gone awry. Supporters of the program say it is one of the most reliable safety nets for families who suddenly find themselves unable to pay for food, and politically the program has proved almost untouchable over many decades. More than 45 million people received the benefit last year at a $75 billion cost to the government, a record number as the economy has flailed. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and fellow contender Rick Santorum, both heavily involved in congressional welfare reform efforts in the mid-1990s, say the government should stop promoting a welfare-like state and convert food stamp spending to block grants to states, a move that could freeze spending and cut the benefit to many who now receive it. A spokesperson for Republican Mitt Romney says the former Massachusetts governor also supports turning the nation’s food stamp program into state block grants, though he rarely mentions it…”

• State stops seeking refunds for overpaid welfare, By Marisa Lagos, January 10, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “The state will no longer allow counties to seek refunds from former welfare recipients who were minors when their caregivers were overpaid, officials announced in a partial win for advocates who had sued on behalf of the recipients last year. The announcement was welcome news for one of the plaintiffs in that suit, a 19-year-old Riverside County woman whose was being asked to repay $766 mistakenly given to her mother four years ago. But the other family named in the lawsuit, headed by Fresno County resident Clarence Ayers - who receives $334 a month to help raise his 14-year-old great-granddaughter, Irene - will still be on the hook, said attorney Patti Prunhuber. That’s because the state decided only to halt collections from former recipients, she said. In cases where the recipient is a minor who is still receiving welfare, county welfare agencies will be allowed to continue pursuing the debt, said Prunhuber. The Public Interest Law Project in Oakland, where she works, filed the suit in November…”
• State will stop trying to recoup past erroneous food stamp overpayments to poor, By Catherine Candisky, December 21, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “The state will no longer try to recoup food stamp overpayments made in error to poor families prior to Jan. 1, 2000. The announcement comes a month after Gov. John Kasich dumped efforts initiated by his predecessor to collect more than 10-year-old overpayments of cash assistance to former welfare recipients. State officials said the rationale for both policy changes is the same - they don’t want to create further hardship for vulnerable families by trying to collect non-fraudulent debts more than a decade old…”

Nation’s largest welfare state makes deep cuts, By Sheila V Kumar (AP), December 28, 2011, Sacramento Bee: “Advocates of welfare reform in California often cite one, eye-popping statistic as they have pressed for cuts and changes to the program in recent years: The state has one-eighth of the nation’s population but one-third of all welfare recipients.Yet steps taken in recent years to cut costs and get more recipients back in the workforce have run head-on into the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. Recipients have been left with fewer training programs, shrinking welfare checks and a shorter period during which they are eligible to receive assistance at a time when employment prospects for even highly qualified job-seekers are dim.That has led to fear and uncertainty among welfare recipients, many of whom have spent a year or more in job-preparation programs without success…”

Welfare roundup reaches way back to collect overpayments, By Catherine Candisky, November 16, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “The state is reaching back more than a quarter of a century to collect millions in nonfraudulent overpayments to former welfare recipients, most the result of administrative errors by government workers. The state Department of Job and Family Services said an estimated 14,000 notices have been sent in an effort to collect about $18 million in welfare overpayments from before 2001. An estimated 8,000 Ohioans owe an additional $8.4 million in food-stamp overpayments that are more than 10 years old…”

Families to lose welfare benefits after appeals court overturns Genesee County judge’s ruling, By Kristin Longley, November 4, 2011, Flint Journal: “More than 1,200 families in Genesee County will lose their cash assistance benefits this weekend after the Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned a local judge’s ruling. Genesee County Circuit Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut had issued a temporary injunction as part of a lawsuit that argues the state can’t use a five-year time limit based on federal regulations to end benefits for some welfare recipients. But the appeals court reversed that order Thursday, ruling that Neithercut’s ‘issuance of the temporary injunction was inappropriate.’ The cash assistance cutoff will start Saturday, the Department of Human Services said in a statement…”

Genesee County judge halts cash assistance cutoff; State attorney general files appeal, By Kristin Longley, November 1, 2011, Flint Journal: “A Genesee County judge Monday halted the state from cutting some cash assistance benefits, a move that could affect an estimated 1,500 families here and 11,000 families statewide. Circuit Court Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut granted a temporary injunction that would prevent the Michigan Department of Human Services from using a five-year time limit based on federal regulations to end benefits for some welfare recipients. Benefits would have ended this month for those who received termination notices. The Michigan League for Human Services has said that Genesee County would feel the effects of the assistance cutoff more than almost any other part of the state, since an estimated 13 percent of all families that lost benefits live in the area…”

Florida’s welfare drug testing halted by federal judge, By Rebecca Catalanello, October 25, 2011, Miami Herald: “A federal judge in Orlando on Monday temporarily blocked Florida’s controversial law requiring welfare applicants be drug tested in order to receive benefits. Judge Mary Scriven issued a temporary injunction against the state, writing in a 37-page order that the law could violate the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment ban on illegal search and seizure. ‘The constitutional rights of a class of citizen are at stake,’ Scriven wrote. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state last month on behalf of Luis Lebron, a 35-year-old Navy veteran and single father from Orlando who is finishing his college degree. Lebron met all the criteria for receiving welfare, but refused to submit to a drug test on the grounds that requiring him to pay for and submit to one is unreasonable when there is no reason to believe he uses drugs…”

Drug tests for welfare recipients raise debate, By Jennifer Brooks, October 21, 2011, The Tennessean: “As the economy drives more and more people to seek public assistance, an increasing number of states are debating whether that aid should go only to applicants who can pass a drug test. This year, 36 states have introduced bills to require drug testing for welfare recipients. Tennessee is one of them…”

States adding drug test as hurdle for welfare, By A.G. Sulzberger, October 10, 2011, New York Times: “As more Americans turn to government programs for refuge from a merciless economy, a growing number are encountering a new price of admission to the social safety net: a urine sample. Policy makers in three dozen states this year proposed drug testing for people receiving benefits like welfare, unemployment assistance, job training, food stamps and public housing. Such laws, which proponents say ensure that tax dollars are not being misused and critics say reinforce stereotypes about the poor, have passed in states including Arizona, Indiana and Missouri. In Florida, people receiving cash assistance through welfare have had to pay for their own drug tests since July, and enrollment has shrunk to its lowest levels since the start of the recession…”

• Delay in welfare cuts could cost Michigan $2.5 million, By Karen Bouffard, October 6, 2011, Detroit News: “The delay in ending welfare to nearly 41,000 Michiganians could cost the state at least $2.5 million. The Department of Human Services must rewrite and resend letters to everyone who was scheduled to lose their cash assistance on Saturday after U.S. District Judge Paul Borman on Tuesday blocked the cutoff of benefits. After the letters are sent, clients have 10 days to appeal the move. ‘We are working diligently to comply with Judge Borman’s order,’ DHS spokeswoman Colleen Rosso said Wednesday. ‘I anticipate that the notices will be mailed in the coming days, but will have a more definitive time frame (today).’ Republicans, who have control of the Legislature and the Governor’s Office, figured savings from the cuts into the budget for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1…”
• Judge delays welfare cuts, says state didn’t follow the rules, By Kathleen Gray, October 4, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “A federal judge ordered the state Tuesday to temporarily stop enforcing a new law ending cash assistance to 11,162 poor Michigan families who have collected welfare for at least 48.months. The state did a poor job of notifying the recipients, giving them less than three weeks to plan for the end of assistance, Borman wrote in his opinion, granting a temporary restraining order against the cuts. The state passed a law in July that capped cash assistance at 48 months during a recipient’s lifetime. It was supposed to take affect Oct. 1, but U.S. District Judge Paul Borman in Detroit delayed the implementation until he ruled. The 11,162 families represent about 40,000 people, two-thirds of whom are children or teenagers…”

Judge halts welfare cuts for 41,000 Michigan residents, By Doug Guthrie, October 4, 2011, Detroit News: “A federal judge today accused the state of ’slight of hand,’ and halted plans to end welfare benefits to nearly 41,000 Michigan residents. U.S. District Judge Paul Borman determined after a hearing today that the state failed to give proper notice to those it planned to cut off, and although the issue was brought to the federal court in a lawsuit filed by just three plaintiffs, the judge also granted class status to include everyone affected by the state’s decision…”

• House OKs tighter rules on food aid for criminals, By Karen Bouffard, September 8, 2011, Detroit News: “The state House tightened rules for Bridge Card users Wednesday, giving Michigan State Police powers to help root criminals from the welfare system. The legislation passed Wednesday would set up an automated program to compare lists of public assistance recipients with lists of people with outstanding warrants and bar anyone with a warrant from getting public assistance. It also prohibits people who are jailed from receiving food stamps or other assistance, bans dispensing cash from Bridge Cards at ATMs in casinos and bars the cards from being used to buy alcohol, tobacco or lottery tickets…”
• State House passes new restrictions on Bridge Cards; bills go to Senate, By Kathleen Gray, September 8, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “New restrictions on the use of Michigan’s Bridge Cards, which operate like a debit card for food and cash assistance to low-income residents, were passed without debate Wednesday in the House. Jail inmates would no longer be able to use the cards, nor could they be used to get cash from ATM machines in casinos or to buy alcohol, lottery tickets or tobacco products. Approximately 1.3 million bridge cards are in circulation in the state. The amounts the state loads onto the cards are determined by the level of income and family size of recipients…”

Gov. Rick Snyder says Michigan welfare system returned ‘to its original intent’ after signing law putting tighter 48-month limit on benefits, By Peter Luke, September 6, 2011, Kalamazoo Gazette: “Legislation that puts in place a more strict 48-month time limit on cash assistance benefits was signed into law today by Gov. Rick Snyder. ‘We are returning cash assistance to its original intent as a transitional program to help families while they work toward self-sufficiency and also preserving our state’s integral safety net for families most in need,’ Snyder said in a statement. ‘Affected recipients are able-bodied and have had at least four - some as long as 14 or more - years to transition to independence.’ Tighter enforcement of the four-year limit begins on Oct. 1 and some 11,000 households will lose their $500-a-month benefit. The Department of Human Resources is scheduling appointments with affected families to extend housing and job placement assistance for three months to those actively seeking employment…”

48-month cap on welfare benefits heads to Snyder, By Karen Bouffard, August 24, 2011, Detroit News: “About 12,600 families will be thrown off cash assistance starting Oct. 1 if Gov. Rick Snyder signs a 48-month cap on welfare passed in the House and Senate today. The legislation passed 73-34 in the House, mostly along party lines, after it was granted immediate effect earlier today in the Senate. It now heads to the governor to be signed into law. The cap is opposed by Democrats and child advocates who say Michigan’s high unemployment rate means parents removed from the rolls won’t be able to find jobs. About 25,000 to 30,000 children would be affected, according to estimates…”

Welfare drug-testing yields 2 percent positive results, By Catherine Whittenburg, August 24, 2011, Tampa Tribune: “Since the state began testing welfare applicants for drugs in July, about 2 percent have tested positive, preliminary data shows. Ninety-six percent proved to be drug free — leaving the state on the hook to reimburse the cost of their tests. The initiative may save the state a few dollars anyway, bearing out one of Gov. Rick Scott’s arguments for implementing it. But the low test fail-rate undercuts another of his arguments: that people on welfare are more likely to use drugs. At Scott’s urging, the Legislature implemented the new requirement earlier this year that applicants for temporary cash assistance pass a drug test before collecting any benefits. The law, which took effect July 1, requires applicants to pay for their own drug tests. Those who test drug-free are reimbursed by the state, and those who fail cannot receive benefits for a year…”

• Health care providers, advocates feel budget sting, By Madeleine Baran, July 21, 2011, Minnesota Public Radio: “Advocates, nonprofits and health care providers continue to scrutinize a state Health and Human Services budget that could restructure social services and public healthcare in Minnesota for years to come. Gov. Mark Dayton signed the department’s $11.4 billion budget into law Wednesday along with other bills that ended the state government shutdown. The budget bill that emerged Wednesday preserved health insurance coverage for the state’s poorest residents. It made slight cuts in welfare spending and services for people with disabilities. And it cut payments for health care providers and created incentives for hospitals to reduce emergency room visits and readmissions…”
• Budget deal means big changes for schools, health, By Baird Helgeson, Mike Kaszuba and Eric Roper, July 21, 2011, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Minnesotans awoke Wednesday to a new state budget that clamps down on spending, makes big changes in education and health care, and borrows heavily to make ends meet. The $35.7 billion budget ends a nearly three-week state government shutdown and sends 22,000 laid-off workers back to their jobs, where today they will begin reopening state offices and digging through the backlog of work. They will return to an operation transformed by changes forced largely by sagging revenues, as the state finds itself still trying to emerge from the worst economy in decades…”

Michigan Senate passes 48-month limit on welfare, raises wage cap, By Karen Bouffard, July 13, 2011, Detroit News: “Welfare benefits are limited to 48-months under a bill passed today in a special summer session of the state Senate. Democrats voted as a bloc against the legislation, which passed 24-12. The two-bill package would extend to all recipients a 48-month limit that now applies only to those eligible to participate in the state’s Work First program and who live in an area where the Jobs, Education and Training (JET) program is available. The 48-month limit for those enrolled in JET is due to expire Sept. 30. Eliminating that sunset will throw 12,600 families, with an average monthly benefit of $515, off the welfare rolls Oct. 1. Savings to the state would total $77.4 million, including $65 million in the general fund. The bill includes some exemptions to the cap, and the Department of Human Services would be allowed to exempt up to 6,100 cases during the 2012 fiscal year. The House already approved the bill, but it was changed slightly by the Senate, which gave more discretion to the state Department of Human Services to grant exemptions to the time limit. The package now returns to the House for concurrence and must also be signed by Gov. Rick Snyder to become law…”

Brazil’s new plan to beat poverty, By Taylor Barnes and Sara Llana Miller, July 7, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “With a monthly stipend that she receives from the Brazilian government, Clemilda dos Santos can now keep the refrigerator stocked for her 10 kids, but life for the family is still precarious. At the top of a red clay hill in Japeri, the town with the lowest human development index in the state of Rio, the one-bedroom home she shares with her whole family still floods with rainwater. Her kids need winter coats. In the past decade, Brazil has been touted for lifting 25 million people out of poverty, thanks to macroeconomic stability, high commodities prices, and a much hailed social program called Bolsa Familia that gives families monthly cash for families that adhere to conditions such as keeping kids in classrooms. But as the nation continues to rise - it became majority middle class in 2008, according to the Rio-based Getúlio Vargas Foundation - leaders say they are determined to do more, arguing that packed homes and uncloaked children have no place in today’s economic landscape…”

• Criticism for cuts to programs that help people get off welfare, By Alfred Lubrano, July 4, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “In a GED classroom emptied by state budget cuts last Thursday, instructor Marylou Fusco began removing paper cutouts that her students - single mothers working to get off welfare - had made of their own hands that were tacked to a bulletin board. On the palms of the hands, the women had written their life goals: ‘Get off welfare.’ ‘Go to college.’ ‘Get my own place for me and my kids.’ After 15 years, the GED classes were quickly ended to reflect the new reality dictated by state budget line No. 5297.55: Cut the welfare-to-work program by $17 million - nearly 48 percent. The new reality postpones or ends the hopes and wishes scrawled across the women’s palms. Still more cuts were made in other programs meant to help the poor in a budget process that saw the Corbett administration push through a controversial last-minute Senate measure that shifts control of welfare funding from the legislature to his administration…”
• NJ reverses order to cut $15 from welfare checks, By Erik Larsen, July 6, 2011, Asbury Park Press: “The state of New Jersey has reversed an order to its 21 counties to make a $15 per person reduction in monthly welfare checks issued to single adults and childless couples. Mary Fran McFadden, director of the Ocean County Board of Social Services, said Tuesday that anyone affected by the change before the order was rescinded will be reimbursed. The benefits change was to begin last Friday, the start of the state’s new fiscal year. There are more than 3,100 county residents on General Assistance who stood to be impacted by the change…”

State orders $15 reduction per person in monthly welfare checks, By Erik Larsen, June 30, 2011, Asbury Park Press: “Changes in the state budget for the new fiscal year that begins Friday will result in funding reductions to welfare programs that are administered by New Jersey’s 21 county governments. The reductions had been discussed as a possibility but are now official, according to Mary Fran McFadden, director of the Ocean County Board of Social Services. Letters have been sent to recipients to notify them of the changes. The state Division of Family Development has ordered the counties to make a $15 per person reduction in monthly welfare checks issued to single adults and childless couples…”

What welfare cutbacks say about the wisdom of block grants, By Pamela M. Prah, June 24, 2011, Stateline.org: “Welfare advocates in Oregon were confounded this spring when they discovered that Governor John Kitzhaber wanted to limit to 18 the number of months welfare families could get cash benefits over their lifetimes - a stricter limit than existed anywhere in the country. Part of their disappointment stemmed from the fact that the idea came from Kitzhaber, a Democrat and one-time emergency room physician who had been viewed over two earlier terms as a supporter of generous help for the needy. ‘We were surprised that the governor had such an extreme proposal,’ says Charles Sheketoff, executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. Kitzhaber, in Sheketoff’s view, ‘went after welfare programs with amputation in mind. We are pleased the legislature did more precise surgery and saved limbs.’ As lawmakers in Salem wrap up their session for the year, Oregon is on track to keep its five-year lifetime limit on cash benefits, the maximum allowed under federal law. But the same cannot be said for other states…”

Poor targeted in Pa. budget, By Alfred Lubrano, June 21, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “When Gov. Corbett proposed to balance the budget by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from universities and public schools, squawks of protest erupted throughout Pennsylvania. Neither deaf nor politically unsavvy, House Republicans listened to the noise, then came up with a new plan to restore nearly $600 million in aid to education. So if schools are, to some extent spared, who will bear the brunt of budget cuts? The House’s Republican majority, elected on pledges of new ideas - smaller government, ethics reform - settled on a not-so-fresh notion: Cut funding for the poor…”

Families in Action pays mothers to improve health, By Chris Kraul, June 8, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “An innovative social program taking hold in Latin America may have left Luz Dary Lopez a single mother, but it has helped her and hundreds of other poor women in this central Colombian city gain a measure of financial independence, self-respect and better living standards for their families. Partly funded by the World Bank, the program, called Families in Action, pays Lopez and 4,200 other poor mothers in Tunja about $100 a month as long as they attend diet and hygiene classes, get their children to school and have them undergo medical exams. The cash is a significant bonus for Lopez and other families who make less than $250 a month. In addition to the money, and health and education benefits, the program gave Lopez the courage to leave her abusive husband. She learned in ‘empowerment’ classes that she didn’t have to tolerate his violent attacks and that she had a right to a look for a job, something her machista spouse had prohibited…”

Federal push may restrict welfare checks, By Jonathan Ellis, June 4, 2011, Argus Leader: “South Dakota is one of a handful of states that sends a check each month directly to welfare recipients, meaning the state has no control over how recipients spend those dollars. That’s a departure from how many states administer their programs, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Most states issue TANF benefits through Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, a system that allows the government to directly transfer benefits onto a card that can be used for food stamps, TANF, child support and other benefits. The electronic cards work like debit cards, allowing recipients to use them at ATMs. They also enable state governments to restrict where the cards may be used. Many states choose not to enact restrictions, but others do. Now it’s possible the federal government will require all states, including South Dakota, to restrict where TANF benefits can be spent. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, have introduced a bill that would require states to ensure that benefits aren’t accessed in casinos, liquor stores or strip clubs. The legislation comes after a host of media investigations throughout the nation found that benefits were withdrawn at ATMs in those locations as well as at tattoo parlors and other questionable locations…”

Scott signs welfare drug testing bill, By Michael C. Bender, May 31, 2011, Miami Herald: “Floridians must submit urine, blood or hair samples for drug testing before receiving cash benefits from the state under a bill Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday. ‘The goal of this is to make sure we don’t waste taxpayers’ money,’ Scott said. ‘And hopefully more people will focus on not using illegal drugs.’ The new law fulfills a campaign pledge from Scott, but has raised legal questions. The ACLU of Florida has signaled it might sue over the law…”

Welfare program for poor eliminated in proposed budget plan, By Madeleine Baran, May 13, 2011, Minnesota Public Radio: “A welfare program for disabled adults was eliminated in the Health and Human Services conference committee late Thursday night, according to advocates tracking the measure. The latest version of the bill was not immediately available, but the spreadsheet from Thursday’s committee included the elimination of the General Assistance program, which provides up to $203 a month for 20,000 disabled adults without children. Many of the recipients are homeless and awaiting approval for Social Security benefits. The program is their only source of income other than food support. Recipients depend on the program to pay for medication co-payments, bus fare, and basic items like toothpaste and soap…”

California’s limits on welfare debit cards inspire U.S. response, By Jack Dolan, May 11, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Welfare recipients nationwide would be barred from using their government-issued debit cards at casinos, strip clubs and liquor stores under a bill to be introduced Wednesday by leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. A co-sponsor of the measure says he was inspired by the fact that nearly $5 million in cash benefits issued in California and meant to help struggling families feed and clothe their children, was spent or withdrawn from ATMs at casinos and poker rooms between January 2007 and May 2010. Tens of thousands of dollars in Temporary Aid for Needy Families assistance was accessed or spent with the debit cards at Los Angeles-area strip clubs in the same period. The Times last year detailed all of those transactions, prompting immediate changes in the state’s network of ATMs that accept Electronic Benefit Transfer cards…”

• Curb on use of welfare cash OK’d, By Michael Levenson, April 27, 2011, Boston Globe: “House lawmakers voted unanimously last night to ban welfare recipients from spending their cash benefits on alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets, reigniting an issue that flared during Governor Deval Patrick’s reelection campaign last year. The House approved the ban, as part of a larger amendment to the state budget, on a 155-0 vote. The measure not only targets welfare recipients, it also bans store owners from accepting welfare debit cards for purchases of alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets. Store owners who violate the ban could be fined $500 for the first offense, and more than $1,000 for subsequent offenses…”
• Bill would restrict where state welfare funds can be used, By John Stang, April 27, 2011, Kitsap Sun: “The Washington Senate on Wednesday approved an overhaul of the state’s WorkFirst program that tightens controls over how welfare payments may be spent. The 44-0 vote sends the bill to the House. The state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program includes a WorkFirst component that requires recipients to seek jobs. A state study unveiled in February said the WorkFirst program cannot adequately function in its current financial set up. The study recommended a review of eligibility requirements and of the amounts of financial assistance given to families. The bill suspends the WorkFirst requirements for some families until July 1, 2012, when the state Department of Health and Human Services is supposed to begin phasing in a revamped WorkFirst program…”

Budget cuts could give Oregon the shortest time line in the nation for cash assistance program, By Michelle Cole, April 27, 2011, The Oregonian: “Oregon lawmakers are considering budget cuts that would kick families off welfare cash assistance after 18 months. If approved, the proposal, which is also included in the governor’s budget, would leave Oregon with the shortest time limit in the nation. Currently, families may receive government cash assistance for as long as five years. Shortening to an 18-month, lifetime limit would save Oregon $11.6 million over two years. State officials estimate the change could affect 7,500 families. Neither Democrats nor Republicans like the idea but they say there’s no way to protect Oregon’s social safety net completely in light of the state’s $3.5 billion budget hole and the end to federal stimulus dollars…”

States seek to link public assistance, drug testing, By Ron Barnett, April 17, 2011, USA Today: “South Carolina state Sen. Harvey Peeler was at a Chamber of Commerce meeting in January when the human resources director of one of the area’s major employers, textile manufacturer Hamrick Mills, told him the company was having trouble hiring some people from the unemployment rolls. ‘They said they had potential employees that would come and apply and couldn’t pass the drug test,’ Peeler says. Peeler, a Republican who says he heard similar stories from other employers, introduced a bill Feb. 9 that would suspend unemployment checks to people who fail a drug test they must take to get a job. South Carolina is among 27 states, including Florida, Massachusetts and Arizona, to consider legislation this year that would require recipients of various kinds of public assistance to pass drug tests, according to Meagan Dorsch of the National Conference of State Legislatures…”

In southwest Va., as more need help, aid organization has less to give, By Eli Saslow, April 16, 2011, Washington Post: “The destitute people who line up outside her office are asking for more help than ever. The organization where she works has less than ever to give. It falls on Denise Hancock to navigate the chasm in between, so she rubs her forehead, opens her office door and calls out into the waiting room. ‘Come on in,’ she says. The first client this morning at the Pulaski Community Action office is a young woman with tangled hair and smudged eyeliner, a single mother of two who lost her job at Shoney’s restaurant. ‘You’re my last resort,’ she says, handing over a piece of paper stamped, ‘Urgent: Termination Notice.’ It is an electric bill for $510.15 with full payment due immediately. ‘Can you help me?’ she asks. Hancock purses her lips, already knowing what will come next. She punches numbers into a calculator and then begins the same conversation she will have 14 more times on this day alone. ‘I’m really sorry,’ she says. ‘All we can afford to give right now is $35…’”

Misuse of welfare money is minimal, data show, By Madeleine Baran, March 15, 2011, Minnesota Public Radio: “Republican state lawmakers have proposed new restrictions to prevent poor people from spending welfare money on alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets. However, the available data suggests misuse of welfare money is minimal. Instead, people who receive welfare said the legislation would make it impossible to use the money for basic needs, like paying rent and doing laundry. ‘It’s degrading enough, and now they want to degrade me even more, and that’s wrong,’ said Gigi Wright, a welfare recipient who would be affected by the changes. Republican lawmakers have authored several bills this session that would impose restrictions on the transaction card that welfare recipients use to access their monthly benefits. At a press conference in late January, lawmakers introduced the bills while standing next to a display of beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets — items that aren’t supposed to be purchased using welfare money…”

Sacramento County’s neediest must wait weeks for aid, By Brad Branan, February 25, 2011, Sacramento Bee: “Sacramento County’s poorest residents are waiting longer to receive cash assistance because of a double whammy common to social service programs these days. The county has fewer caseworkers even as the need for services has increased. The county tries to finish applications for its General Assistance program within six weeks, or two weeks longer than it did a year ago, said Paul Lake, director of the Human Assistance Department. Applications are taking as long as two months to approve, he said. Advocates for the poor, however, say claims are taking two months to three months to complete. The county is hurting these people because they have no other money to survive, advocates say…”

• Demand for general assistance at critical point in Bangor, By Eric Russell, January 26, 2011, Bangor Daily News: “In the six years that Shawn Yardley has overseen the city’s health and community services department, he has never seen things this dire. On most mornings when he arrives at his office before 8 a.m., Yardley unlocks the door for residents who are waiting to fill out an application for general assistance. Most applicants are encouraged to make appointments, but walk-ins are becoming more common. Yardley always lets them wait in the lobby. Some have to wait for hours but they are always seen. General assistance, an emergency safety net program administered by municipalities but funded in part by the state, is becoming an increasingly used entitlement for people struggling with finances or waiting to receive federal subsidies…”
• TANF study to contribute to welfare debate, By Eric Russell, January 26, 2011, Bangor Daily News: “Advocacy groups are calling on lawmakers to focus on facts, not anecdotes and stereotypes, as Gov. Paul LePage and the Republican-controlled Legislature gear up to tackle welfare reform. Maine Equal Justice Partners and the Maine Women’s Lobby released a study Wednesday of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - or TANF - cases in Maine. TANF is a federal entitlement program, administered by states, that provides a cash benefit to families with dependent children and includes an education and retraining program called ASPIRE. Last year, Maine distributed roughly $32 million in TANF benefits. The yearlong study, conducted by Thomas Chalmers McLaughlin at the University of New England and Sandy Butler at the University of Maine, concluded that recent discussions of welfare reform make unfair generalizations about TANF families…”

Residency requirement could be part of LePage welfare overhaul, By Steve Mistler, January 7, 2011, Lewiston Sun Journal: “Gov. Paul LePage’s decision Thursday to allow state agencies to ask people about their immigration status likely will be the first step in his plan to overhaul Maine’s welfare system. A spokesman for LePage said the governor’s executive order was meant to send a message that Maine would no longer be a ’sanctuary state’ for people seeking a driver’s license or social services. But advocate groups for low-income individuals expect the move is a precursor to Republican efforts to impose residency duration requirements on certain welfare programs, particularly General Assistance, which disburses vouchers to qualifying families for critical living expenses, such as utilities and food. General Assistance recipients are already required to prove they’re living in Maine. However, widespread concerns that needy people are coming to Maine to take advantage of its welfare programs have prompted Republican lawmakers to introduce legislation that would require people to live here for a determined period before receiving assistance…”

• Welfare rules forcing people into destitution, report finds, By Laurie Monsebraaten, December 13, 2010, Toronto Star: “It is tougher to get welfare in Canada today than during the economic downturn of the early 1990s, the National Council of Welfare says in its latest report. That’s because Ontario and most other provinces force people to drain their bank accounts and spend all of their savings before they qualify for help, says the report, released in Ottawa Monday. As a result, it is almost impossible for those living on welfare to get back on their feet, says the council, created by Ottawa in 1969 to advise the minister of human resources on poverty in Canada. Other problems include rates that fall far below any definition of poverty and welfare claw-backs that leave those who find some work no further ahead, the report notes…”
• Welfare rules forcing people into destitution: Report, By Norma Greenaway, December 13, 2010, Vancouver Sun: “Too many Canadians are being forced to deplete bank accounts, retirement savings and get rid of other assets to qualify for welfare, a new national report says. The rules imposed on welfare recipients in most provinces are overly restrictive and counterproductive, says the report released Monday by the National Welfare Council. The combination of low social assistance rates and low earning and asset limits produces a ‘perfect’ poverty trap with no escape hatch, especially for single people, council chairman John Rook told a news conference…”

Democrats try to revive child care subsidies, By Marisa Lagos, December 6, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle: “Democratic lawmakers, still fuming over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to eliminate child care subsidies for poor families, will hit back today with a bill that would restore funding to the program and guarantee day care for about 55,000 children.Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, authored the measure, which relies on a number of sources to pay for the program through June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Lawmakers will take up the bill next month, when Democrat Jerry Brown takes office as governor - with Pérez hoping Brown will be more sympathetic than Schwarzenegger, a Republican. Supporters of the day care subsidy cheered the decision, saying that restoring the subsidies would allow working parents to keep their jobs and eventually transition off state assistance entirely. Supporters had warned that cutting the program could ultimately cost taxpayers more than keeping it, because many parents, unable to afford child care, would quit their jobs and apply for welfare in order to stay home with their children…”

To end poverty, guarantee everyone in Canada $20,000 a year. But are you willing to trust the poor?, By Erin Anderssen, November 19, 2010, Globe and Mail: “Nicole Gray, a 24-year-old single mother living in Victoria, feels like a ‘beggar’ every time she has to go into a government office and ask for help to pay her bills. She has finished her diploma to be an office medical assistant despite having gotten pregnant as a teenager. But job losses and the difficulty of raising her son, now 7, on her own have made her income unpredictable. Meanwhile, she says, the system is suspicious of every request and doubts every word. There are hundreds of rules. She has been sent away because she was missing one document. She has had to justify a no-contact order against her son’s father and had a caseworker scrutinize every detail of her bank account. Every interrogation ‘makes you feel very low to the ground,’ she says. And the worst, she says, is that you learn quickly ‘that you can’t count on anything.’ But what if we gave Ms. Gray and other poor Canadians something to count on: cash directly in their pockets, with no conditions, trusting people to do what’s right for them? It’s a bold idea, and it runs counter to the paternal approach to poverty that polices what is done with ‘our’ money and tries to strong-arm the poor into better lives…”

Welfare’s safety net hard to measure among states, By Amy Goldstein, October 2, 2010, Washington Post: “The nation’s welfare system of cash assistance, for decades the core of help for mothers and children in financial distress, has become a shrunken piece of the U.S. social safety net. The welfare rolls have absorbed relatively few of the Americans who have tumbled lately into poverty or unemployment. The number of families getting welfare checks, federal figures show, increased by about 185,000 between the start of the recession in late 2007 and this spring. During roughly the same period, the number of families living in poverty rose by more than 400,000 to record levels, according to the Census Bureau, which reported this week that, in Washington, three out of 10 children were poor last year. State by state, welfare programs are a patchwork, with little connection between the condition of a state’s economy and the number of people who have gone onto welfare…”

$69 million in California welfare money drawn out of state, By Jack Dolan, October 4, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing from Miami. State-issued aid cards have been used at hotels, shops, restaurants, ATMs and other places in 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, according to data obtained by The Times from the California Department of Social Services. Las Vegas drew $11.8 million of the cash benefits, far more than any other destination. The money was accessed from January 2007 through May 2010. Welfare recipients must prove they can’t afford life’s necessities without government aid: A single parent with two children generally must earn less than $14,436 a year to qualify for the cash assistance and becomes ineligible once his or her income exceeds about $20,000, said Lizelda Lopez, spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services…”

Phone troubles hang up Texas welfare requests, By Robert T. Garrett, August 31, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “Even as Texas spends hundreds of millions to hire more workers to process welfare applications, it has skimped on replacing obsolete phone systems at more than 300 offices. At some, phones are more than two decades old and prone to ‘port failures’ in which callers hear a ring, but no line actually rings in the office, officials said. Also, many newly hired workers do not have voicemail. Experienced workers and supervisors do, but they complain of occasional malfunctions, which can make entire offices unreachable. The situation has added frustration and complications for Texans applying for benefits as the economy sags…”

Proposed cuts would slash services for poor, mentally ill, other Texans in dire need, By Robert T. Garrett, August 26, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “Some of Texas’ most vulnerable residents - the very poor, the mentally ill, those suffering from birth defects, and children from troubled families - would lose state support and services under several new budget-cutting proposals. In one of the deepest proposed cuts, made public Tuesday by the Health and Human Services Commission, monthly welfare payments to extremely poor households with children would be cut about 20 percent, to an average of about $57 per person a month. In two-parent families, payments per person would be slashed by half, to about $33…”

Elderly and disabled immigrants may lose financial aid, By Alexandra Zavis, August 22, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Some of the poorest elderly and disabled people admitted to this country on humanitarian grounds will lose their cash assistance in October unless they have naturalization applications pending, federal officials say. Letters have been sent to 3,800 recipients of Supplemental Security Income, including some in California, warning them that their eligibility for the federal program could end Sept. 30, said Lowell Kepke, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration. The deadline has caused concern among refugee advocates, who point out that some of these legal immigrants aren’t able to pass the citizenship exam or can’t yet apply because of delays processing their green cards. The refugees, asylees and other humanitarian immigrants are admitted to the U.S. because they have been victims of war, persecution or other disasters in their home countries…”

Nebraska has yet to sign up for stimulus funds to help low-income residents, By Nancy Hicks, August 13, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Nebraska is one of two states that have not signed up to get federal stimulus money intended to help low-income residents with things such as paying back rent and buying school clothes. The state could get from $6.34 million to as much as $28.7 million, but it must apply before the end of the month. The money can be put in the hands of low-income families to help keep them off cash assistance, to keep them from being evicted or to help with job training, said state Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha. ‘It is a great way to stimulate the economy and help those families out in tough times,’ he said. State leaders, who for several weeks had been saying they were reviewing the issue, said Thursday they will apply for money…”

• Labor toughens welfare rules, By Patricia Karvelas, August 12, 2010, The Australian: “Julia Gillard has promised much tougher welfare conditions for those on the dole. She has warned the unemployed that they will lose their benefits if they miss an interview or scheduled training opportunities. Welfare groups slammed the move as draconian, while the Coalition accused the Prime Minister of copying its as-yet-unannounced policy. Ms Gillard yesterday revealed she would offer long-term unemployed people up to $6000 to relocate to take up a job, under a welfare-to-work initiative first flagged by the opposition. Employers will be offered $2500 to take on long-term unemployed who have relocated, as the government sets out to encourage people to shift to areas with worker shortages. The program will begin with a trial relocation assistance package, starting in January with 2000 long-term unemployed people…”
• Welfare payments linked to child health checks, By Patricia Karvelas, August 10, 2010, The Australian: “Julia Gillard has announced new rules requiring parents of four-year-olds to take the children for health checks before getting benefits. At stake for the parents is the $726.35 family tax benefit. The new rules for the payment of Family Tax Benefit Part A are part of a radical new plan to link welfare with behavioural change. The Prime Minister announced in Melbourne today a major extension of the government’s welfare reform plan that began with the dole and payments to single mothers. Working parents who receive family payments will be obliged to fulfil responsibilities imposed by the authorities before they receive taxpayer money. Payment of the family tax benefit end-of-year supplement for families on income support for four-year-olds will be conditional on certification that a Healthy Kids Check has been undertaken. The Healthy Kids Checks for four-year-olds were introduced by the government in 2008 to ensure children were healthy before they started school…”

USDA urges California to reverse food stamp policy, even though some could lose benefits, By Alexandra Zavis, August 10, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging California to consider reversing a policy that prevents some of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable residents from applying for food stamps, even though it could cost some current recipients their benefits. The suggestion, contained in a letter to the California Department of Social Services, has raised concern among some advocates for the poor who were hoping federal authorities would allow the state to open the food stamp program only to those recipients of cash assistance for impoverished elderly and disabled people who would not be adversely affected. ‘We really do want to make sure that we protect those households with disabled children and low-income seniors that benefit from the current policy,’ said George Manalo-LeClair, senior director of legislation for California Food Policy Advocates. The letter received Friday from the Department of Agriculture said federal law prohibits California from changing the rules for some and not all recipients of Supplemental Security Income…”

Many indigent refugees to lose federal assistance, By Robert Pear, July 31, 2010, New York Times: “The Social Security Administration is about to terminate cash assistance for thousands of indigent refugees who are severely disabled or over the age of 64. ‘You will lose your Supplemental Security Income on Oct. 1,’ the agency says in letters being mailed to more than 3,800 refugees. All fled persecution or torture. Many are too old or infirm to work and are not yet eligible to become United States citizens. Federal law sets a seven-year limit on payments to refugees. The maximum federal payment is $674 a month for an individual and $1,011 a month for a couple. In 2008, Congress provided a two-year extension of benefits for elderly and disabled refugees, asylum seekers and certain other humanitarian immigrants, including victims of sex trafficking. The extra eligibility period is now ending, and Congress has not taken action to extend it…”

Germans contemplate cuts to social welfare system, By Borzou Daragahi, July 18, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Unemployed mom Fee Linker lives on welfare benefits in a centrally located five-room flat that costs about $1,500 a month. The garden terrace looks out onto a lush wooded area where birds chirp in the trees. ‘I wouldn’t get along without this government money, not with this apartment,’ says Linker, who sends her 6-year-old daughter and two sons, 7 and 10, to a private school. ‘It’s my opinion that as a mother of three, I deserve a comfortable life.’ These days, fewer politicians and economist agree, and if proposed laws are enacted, Linker’s benefits could be gone with the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen. The German government is contemplating spending cuts and tax increases totaling $100 billion by 2014. The Cabinet approved the measures July 7, though many details have not been disclosed. But proposals so far include slashing $40 billion in welfare benefits, in part by allowing caseworkers to decide how much, if anything, people like Linker get instead of doling out automatic payments…”