Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502270061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"This is not compromise; it's capitulation," said Steve Meyers, an attorney for the Poverty Law Center, referring to a welfare-to-work agreement that lawmakers must act on today, many as they see it for the first time.
"I'd rather have our original bill, but it's very close to our original bill on the essential major questions," Allen said at a hastily arranged late-afternoon news conference.
Key Democratic negotiators, including Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, had a different view of the plan, which would put most able-bodied recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children to work over the next four years and limit most benefits to 24 months in a four-year period.
Beyer described the proposal as genuine compromise, and noted that additional changes might be made today. "It's not a deal that's made and put to bed," he said.
Debate over the plan is likely to provide the final drama for a session, ending today, that has been remarkable for its partisan discord.
Asked if he would support the plan, Beyer declined to say yes or no, but quoted Benjamin Franklin: ```When a carpenter goes to build a house ... you have to cut a little off each board to make them fit perfectly.' We've done our best and we hope it's good enough."
Asked if all the half-dozen or so Democrats who joined in the negotiations had signed on, he replied: "Exactly the opposite." A number of them still are looking for changes, he said.
Sources said several members of the Legislative Black Caucus were upset with the deal and were to meet with Beyer about it Friday night.
Here's how the "compromise" addresses some of the key points of contention.
The Democrats' bill prescribed a 1-to-45 ratio of case workers to welfare recipients during the two-year transition to work. Democrats said this was essential; Republicans said it would break the bank.
The compromise says the "goal" will be to have a case management ratio no higher than that in a current jobs program. That ratio is currently either 1-to-90 or 1-to-120, depending on whether state or federal figures are used, state officials said.
The Democrats' plan said recipients "shall" receive child care and transportation services while they are in transition to work. The Republicans said they intend to provide the services, but that the law should read "may."
The compromise says local departments of social services "are authorized" to provide the support services.
The Democrats' plan listed a series of specific hardship exemptions to the two-year benefits cutoff, including failure to find "suitable employment" after an active search. The Republicans said exemptions should be considered in localities where the unemployment rate exceeded the state average by 2 percent or more and welfare officials determined that a hardship exemption was deserved.
The compromise turns the task of deciding hardship exemptions over to the state Board of Social Services. It instructs the board to "address circumstances" in which there is "unfavorable ... job availability" or an individual has been unable to find employment.
The Democrats' plan prescribed one year of training, followed by one year of work. Their training portion could have been extended if that would give the client a better chance of self-sufficiency. The Republican plan said work should begin after 30 days. After six months, it would have allowed individuals to spend a portion of the work day in training, but at no point would work stop altogether.
The compromise calls for work to begin within 90 days. For six months, eight hours of the 32-hour work week could be devoted to training. After that, "the number of hours worked may be reduced by the local department."
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB