04/29/16   Proposal To Restrict Spending For Those On Government Assistance Fails

According to an Arkansas News Bureau report, a proposal to restrict what low-income Arkansans can buy with government assistance failed to clear the joint Budget Committee yesterday. The sponsor says he may seek another vote.

Republican Representative Jim Dotson of Bentonville presented the proposal in the form of a proposed amendment to a Department of Work Force Services appropriation bill. The amendment failed in a 24-14 vote, falling short of the 29 votes needed for adoption.

The amendment, which the joint Budget Committee's Special Language Subcommittee endorsed Wednesday would direct the Department of Work Force Services to seek a federal waiver allowing restrictions on Arkansans' use of benefits received through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. If approved by the Legislature and the federal government, the restrictions would prohibit recipients from using TANF benefits for anything but food, clothing, housing, utilities, child care and incidentals such as transportation and medicine not covered by health insurance or Medicaid. Also, the use of TANF benefit cards to withdraw cash would be restricted.

Dotson says his intent is for DWS to ban undocumented cash withdrawals but said he wouldn't mind if the agency allowed cash withdrawals with documentation showing that the money was used for appropriate purposes.

Several Democratic members questioned the need for the restrictions and questioned whether it was appropriate to consider the proposal in a fiscal session, which is supposed to be limited to budget issues.

The amendment failed in a party-line vote, with all the votes for it coming from Republicans and all the votes against it coming from Democrats.