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Eliminating welfare car rule may save state money
Monday, May 7, 2001
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Gary Locke wants to eliminate the rule that keeps a welfare recipient from owning a car worth more than $5,000.
In a year when the state is strapped for cash, the Locke administration says cutting the regulation would save the state $1 million, while extending a helping hand at the same time.
"We have a very different welfare system than we did four or five years ago. People need some assistance in the short term, and I think it's best for us to be able to get it to them quickly so we can get them out looking for a job," said Ken Miller, the governor's welfare policy adviser.
Getting assistance to them quickly and efficiently means reducing paperwork and forms -- and that's what eliminating the so-called asset test would do, Miller said.
At least 26 other states have already done so.
But the idea has its opponents. Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, said some lawmakers fear it could open the system to more fraud.
"If we're going to provide cash to the needy, we need to provide it to the people who really need it," Campbell said. "I don't think the taxpayers want to authorize a Mercedes in the garage of a welfare recipient."
The measure, Senate Bill 5576, passed the Senate 46-0 earlier this year. But it never received a hearing in the House before the regular legislative session ended April 22.
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