Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
``A lot of what we've heard here tonight is a sham,'' said Sen. L. Louise Lucas, D-Norfolk, in an emotional speech after a 90-minute hearing that was split almost evenly between opponents and proponents of change.
Almost shouting, Lucas - who is a former community action agency head - said that ``the jobs aren't there'' to put most welfare recipients to work. ``These folks have been hoodwinked big time,'' she said of those supporting the Allen administration plan.
Lucas' comments were just a warm-up for a grilling of Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake, who is carrying the Allen bill, by the three Democrats on a five-member Senate welfare-reform subcommittee.
The group split 3-2 along party lines to support an alternative bill that would provide far greater assistance in job training and other support while welfare recipients make the transition to the workplace.
Sen. Joseph Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax County, sponsor of the alternative bill, said the proposal would cost more than $160 million over two years - a figure that he acknowledged would be almost impossible to fund. But, he said, that figure reflects the true cost of ending welfare, rather than the $20 million or so allotted by the governor.
Earley said he believes there will be majority support for an amended version of the governor's plan when it's reviewed today by members of the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee. Wednesday night "was just an exercise,'' he said, maintaining that the subcommittee was stocked with vocal opponents of the concept.
The public hearing pitted those claiming that the welfare system stymies individual initiative against those who said reform plans will wreck havoc on the poor and on social services agencies.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB