Saturday, June 1, 2013
My Statement on a Senate Welfare Reform Bill
Yesterday I released the following
statement regarding a welfare reform bill that Senate President Therese
Murray (D-Plymouth) plans to file in the coming months:
“Last year the senate put important welfare reforms into the
state budget, and this year we failed to build on those reforms in last week’s
budget debate. Fortunately many of the important reforms remain alive in the
House version of the Fiscal Year 2014 state budget. Senate President Murray has
identified even more areas of the system that need reform and we welcome her to
our ongoing efforts to bringing integrity to these public assistance
programs.
While we await a promised reform bill and the opportunity to
engage in its development there are things that are on the table now that should
be acted upon by the joint conference committee. Those measures would provide
some of the necessary reforms needed to protect the precious public dollars the
Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) is charged to administer, and while
DTA has taken significant strides to protect those public dollars, the
legislature must act decisively to ensure there is accountability and
transparency.
Action must be taken as soon as possible to infuse integrity
in a deeply flawed welfare system. The legislature can make significant
progress with that goal in mind immediately by passing these safeguards that
would ensure only those most deserving with the public assistance they need.
There is absolutely no reason to prolong these commonsense measures any
further.”
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Labels:
Welfare Reform