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Legislative Action
Welfare reform on agenda,
but battle looms over 'correct' approach
By JENNIFER HALPERIN
State lawmakers here have been considering a range of proposals affecting the beleaguered welfare system in Illinois. As detailed in a two-part series (see Illinois Issues, February and April 1994), the problems in Illinois are extensive.
Among them:
•People are abruptly cut off from benefits like food stamps and medical care when they find jobs, leading some to return to the welfare rolls so they can continue receiving those services.
•Welfare checks often don't provide adequate living expenses, leaving families to choose between paying their rent or buying nutritious foods.
•Job training provided to welfare recipients often leads to minimum-wage work that cannot support a family. And these jobs often lack health benefits, which people on welfare are accustomed to receiving.
Despite a need for reform, most proposals for change will fall victim to partisan differences in philosophies of how people on welfare should be treated. Those with the best chances of approval urge welfare clients to stay in or return to school. These are the only measures that seem to be generating a meeting of minds between Republicans and Democrats.
Some proposals, such as House Bills 2747 and 2852, are simply reruns of failed efforts from previous years. Both would prohibit families from receiving extra Aid to Families with Dependent Children when an additional child is born. HB 2747, sponsored by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-110, Troy), would try to funnel any savings into job training programs.
Supporters say the measures would force people on welfare to plan families based on how many children they can afford to support. Opponents say children would end up suffering under the proposals. The House is unlikely to support these measures. But a similar Senate bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Frank Watson of Greenville was approved by the Senate, 37-21, in April.
The way each chamber treats bills like these illustrates the different philosophies regarding the welfare issue, and suggests how difficult it will be to reach a consensus on welfare-related bills.
Efforts being painted as having good chances for passage into law involve requiring young welfare recipients to further their education.
Gov. Edgar called for such changes in his State of the State message in January, in which he proposed that teenage mothers be required to attend school to remain eligible for AFDC benefits. SB 1524, which passed the Senate 56-2, provides that a parent under age 18 who has not received a high school diploma or general equivalency certificate would not be eligible for AFDC unless he or she is currently enrolled in school or another program expected to yield the educational requirement.
Another such measure calls for welfare recipients who are 19 or older to earn a high school or GED degree in order to receive AFDC or other benefits. The bill, which has garnered bipartisan support, states that exemptions may be authorized for people who have disabilities that prohibit them from meeting the education requirement.
Senate Bill 1407, cosponsored by Republican Sen. Patrick O'Malley of Palos Park and Democratic Sen. George Shadid of Pekin, is designed to give people on welfare at least one tool in moving toward self-sufficiency.
"Changes like this will provide an incentive for many people who gave up on school without realizing the importance of an education in finding a decent job," said O'Malley.
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In other welfare-related measures, some lawmakers have introduced bills in hopes of reforming the state's welfare-to-work Earnfare program. All are designed to counter aspects of Earnfare that critics say push people back into welfare instead of into jobs.
One, HB 3309 sponsored by Rep. Lou Jones (D-5, Chicago), would remove the requirement that Earnfare participants work off their food stamp allotment, a maximum of $112 monthly. Supporters say such a measure would leave participants with more income. HB 3049, sponsored by Rep. Coy Pugh (D-10, Chicago), would provide Earnfare participants with medical benefits. Supporters say participants would be more inclined to stick with job assignments and attempt to find future work if they were not cut off from medical benefits so quickly. And HB 3220, sponsored by Monique Davis (D-27, Chicago), calls for the Illinois Department of Public Aid to provide up to one month of workplace orientation for Earnfare participants if it would better equip them for their work assignment. The topics of such orientations could include hygiene, time management and general ideas about what is expected from employers. Support for all of these proposals is mixed, and may not garner the attention and debate they deserve in this full legislative session preceding the November elections. But if bipartisan support is beginning to gel on some of the measures, such as requiring young people to continue their education, it may be a sign that middle ground can be reached on even this most controversial topic. |
Spring session calendar House session days schedule May 3-6, 10-13,16-27 (May 16 is listed as a "tentative" session day.)
House deadlines
Senate session days scheduled
Senate deadlines |
May 1994/Illinois Issues/27
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