Senate Minority Leader
Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) recently released the following statement regarding a
welfare reform bill that Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) plans to
file in the coming months:
“Last year the Senate
put important welfare reforms into the state budget, and this year we failed to
build on those reforms in last week’s budget debate. Fortunately many of
the important reforms remain alive in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2014
state budget. Senate President Murray has identified even more areas of the
system that need reform and we welcome her to our ongoing efforts to bringing
integrity to these public assistance programs.
While we await a
promised reform bill and the opportunity to engage in its development there are
things that are on the table now that should be acted upon by the joint
conference committee. Those measures would provide some of the necessary
reforms needed to protect the precious public dollars the Department of
Transitional Assistance (DTA) is charged to administer, and while DTA has taken
significant strides to protect those public dollars, the legislature must act
decisively to ensure there is accountability and transparency.
Action must be taken as
soon as possible to infuse integrity in a deeply flawed welfare system.
The legislature can make significant progress with that goal in mind
immediately by passing these safeguards that would ensure only those most
deserving with the public assistance they need. There is absolutely no
reason to prolong these commonsense measures any further.”
