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Arkansas Lawmakers Advance New Limits on Welfare Benefits

3 min read

LITTLE ROCK – Lawmakers advanced a plan Tuesday to put new limits on how welfare benefits are spent in Arkansas, potentially setting up a funding fight with Democrats who have criticized the move as unnecessary and inhumane.

Voting mostly along party lines, the Joint Budget Committee and the House endorsed the proposal requiring the state to seek permission from the federal government to add the restrictions to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits. The proposal was added to the budget for the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, which is expected to go before the House Wednesday.

Republican Rep. Jim Dotson, who proposed the measure, said the limits are needed to better track how TANF funds are being spent in the state.

“This adds an additional layer of transparency and accountability on taxpayer funds,” Dotson said.

Dotson’s proposal requires the state to seek a waiver restricting TANF benefits to being used for food, clothing, housing utilities, child care and incidentals. The state would also be required to seek a waiver restricting the use of TANF benefit cards for withdrawing cash. The proposal doesn’t call for an outright prohibition of cash withdrawals or spell out how the restrictions would be imposed.

The proposal had previously stalled before the panel and has been roundly criticized by Democrats and advocates who have questioned the need for such restrictions. They’ve also noted that the DWS budget doesn’t include funding to implement the restrictions and to track the spending if the federal government approves the waiver.

Opponents have said those restrictions would prevent beneficiaries from using the funds for other family needs such as a child’s costs for a field trips. Democrats have also criticized the proposal being tucked into a budget bill, rather than considered separately.

“It was regarded by many of us as inhumane and took dignity away from people. It served no useful purpose,” Democratic Rep. John Walker said.

The restrictions face an uphill fight in the House, where the budget bill will need at 75 votes to pass. The House approved adding the welfare restrictions to the DWS budget measure on a 64-28 vote, hours after the budget panel voted 34-13 in favor of the bill.

“There is definitely a lot of heartburn among the caucus,” said House Minority Leader Michael John Gray, a Democrat from Augusta. “Whether that translates to actually blocking the whole budget, there’s still some discussion to be had.”

The proposed welfare limits are among the last pieces of business lawmakers have left as they try to wrap up this year’s session by Thursday. Initial votes are expected Wednesday on the state’s proposed $5.3 billion budget for the coming year.

The House on Tuesday also approved setting aside $750,000 to upgrade the system for filing and searching campaign finance reports. The measure , which passed on an 86-4 vote, now heads to the Senate.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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