Welfare Reform Passes State Senate With Joyce’s Support

The following is from the office of State Senator Brian A. Joyce:

Senator Brian A. Joyce joined his colleagues in the Senate to pass comprehensive welfare reform that will increase accountability and transparency within the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and support programs designed to get individuals valuable job training to reenter the workforce.

“These reforms will provide the accountability when it comes to the proper use of tax dollars,” said Joyce. “Eliminating waste and fraud within DTA’s system will result in a greater amount of funding for individuals and families who desperately need it to get back on their feet, into a job and further contributing to our economy.”

The bill will:

• ·         Provide for the hiring of additional fraud investigators within the DTA;
• ·         Place a photograph of any recipient over the age of 18 on all EBT cards;
• ·         Require applicants to prove they have conducted a job search before receiving public assistance by providing the contact information of the potential employers;
• ·         Create a full-employment program which would match recipients to jobs in the private sector or with community colleges and workforce training programs granting recipients child care assistance and employers tax credits;
• ·         Create penalties for store owners who fail to check the photograph or documentation showing the person as the authorized user;
• ·         Terminate benefits for any person who does not provide a valid social security number within three months;
• ·         Increase the amount of caseworkers and set caseload limits; and
• ·         Require constant reporting to the Legislature on the number of recipients and the success of workforce programs.

Numerous amendments that Joyce supported also ended up in the final version of the bill including using the RMV database of pictures for EBT cards to cut down on the cost of implementation, requiring the DTA to maintain a database of their EBT cards to prevent theft, forbidding EBT funds to any individual with a felony warrant, and doubling the possible jail time for the trafficking EBT cards, among others.

The bill now heads to the House for consideration.