Community Service Requirement for Welfare Recipients Passes in the Senate

The State Senate passed a bill Wednesday that proposes to require welfare recipients under the Partnership Accountability Training Hope (PATH) welfare program to complete community service in order to receive benefits. PATH participants were already required, if possible, to complete community service. This legislation places this requirement into law.

Senate Bill 276 will only affect those that receive benefits as part of the PATH program. Certain recipients will be exempt from the community service requirement based on medical conditions or age.

Two amendments were offered to the measure by Senator Vincent Gregory (D-Southfield). The first amendment proposed stated that any recipient participating in community service would have child care expenses, if needed, paid for by the Department of Human Services (DHS) while the recipient was completing their community service requirement. The second amendment proposed would have required the work done by recipients to meet the hourly standards mandated by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Republican support for the first amendment was given to Democrats by Senator Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township) and Senator Bruce Caswell (R-Hillsdale), however, both proposed amendments failed.

With a 27-9 vote in the Senate, the bill moved over to the House and was referred to the Families, Children, and Seniors Committee.

posted by PAA Online , Thursday, September 19, 2013 4:17 PM
LINK DIRECTLY TO THIS ARTICLE

This Week's Newsletter

Past Newsletters