MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - Republicans unanimously voted against the House version of welfare reform when it was passed out of committee Wednesday night.
The bill, which was approved by a vote of 8-6, would overhaul the state's welfare system and implement federal welfare reform.
The senior Republican on the House Social Services Committee, Rep. Rich Chrismer, R-St. Peters, said the bill increases welfare programs in the state.
"The federal bill only mandated that we do certain things," he said. "Some people are using it as a license to increase welfare programs in the state."
Chrismer and his fellow Republicans offered several amendments to delete sections of the bill creating statewide task forces that would oversee different aspects of welfare reform. All were defeated on party-line votes.
Chairman of the committee, Rep. Russ Gunn, D-St. Louis, said he expected the party-line vote and said there is pressure to get the bill to the full House.
"We know not everything is perfect," he said. "We wanted to try to get good language to the floor."
The Senate approved its version of welfare reform on March 27 with bipartisan support.
The House bill has several difference from the Senate-approved version, including a provision that would allow legal immigrants to continue receiving benefits eliminated by the federal law.
Under the federal welfare law, legal immigrants are no longer eligible for Supplementary Security Income (SSI). The House bill allows the Social Services Department to continue SSI benefits for those who are dropped solely because of their citizenship status.
While Missouri does not have a large legal immigrant population, anyone moving into the state could also apply for benefits.
Gunn said he did not believe anyone would move to Missouri just to receive benefits.
"We talked about that and we don't think the benefits we offer here are significant enough for anyone to move here," he said.
Rep. Vicky Ribach Wilson, D-Columbia, said the goal is to help people who were previously given federal benefits.
"You have people who have been here for years and for whatever reason never naturalized," she said. "They have been good citizens and have paid federal and state taxes. To suddenly turn on people is inappropriate."
The House welfare bill contains no provision for random drug-testing, while the Senate bill would allow the Social Services Department to conduct random drug tests and sanction anyone who fails the test.
Author of the Senate welfare bill, Sen. Joe Maxwell, D-Mexico, said he does not think the two version are too far apart.
"It looks like they kept with the same principles the Senate agreed to," he said. "I think we can work with it and come up with something.
The bill now moves to the full House.