THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

102

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE revision of public ASSISTANCE FORMULAs.

 

WHEREAS, during the Great Depression in the 1930s, the federal government established a policy of public assistance based on the philosophy that it was government's responsibility to help citizens in need, and pursuant thereto enacted the Social Security Act of 1935 to provide, among other things, a federally supported safety net for the poor and vulnerable populations, known as Aid to Dependent Children; and

WHEREAS, Aid to Dependent Children was renamed in 1962 to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), with the goal of strengthening family life and self-support; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii also enacted similar legislation: (1) in 1978, to provide public assistance grants at a set amount of $100 per month as increased by a percentage formula; (2) in 1988, to base the grants on a standard of need equal to sixty per cent of the Federal Poverty Level; and (3) in 1993, to base the assistance allowance at no higher than sixty-two and one-half per cent of the standard of need based on the 1993 federal poverty level computation; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, President Clinton dismantled the welfare system and set in its place Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), as part of the Welfare Reform Act (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act), which essentially shifted the financial burden to the states through the use of block grants and limited the time period for assistance eligibility; and

WHEREAS, also in 1996, Hawaii obtained a waiver from TANF requirements to establish the Pursuit of New Opportunities (PONO) program to provide job training and education for recipients; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, there were 19,500 families on public assistance in Hawaii, underscoring the continued vulnerability and financial need of those families; and

WHEREAS, in 2003, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, in conjunction with Wider Opportunities for Women and the University of Washington Center for Women's Welfare, found that the federal poverty guidelines are woefully inadequate in documenting family standards of self-sufficiency; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii continues to base welfare payments on the formula of sixty-two and one-half per cent of the 1993 federal poverty level, in spite of the rise in the cost of living over the last decade, which, for a family of four, equates today to $859 per month for the first three months and $687 per month thereafter up to five years; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that the Department of Human Services is requested to prepare a report of findings, cost implications, and recommendations for appropriate public policies for the State to use in determining public assistance allowance formulas for financial assistance programs for needy individuals and families; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to work with its Financial Assistance Advisory Committee and the Departments of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and Labor and Industrial Relations in preparing this report; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to review the "Family Economic Self Sufficiency Standard" study (publicly available April 9, 2003) produced by the Commission on the Status of Women, for purposes of preparing the report; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to submit its report, including recommendations and proposed legislation, if any, to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Directors of Human Services,

Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and Labor and Industrial Relations; the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; and the Financial Assistance Advisory Committee under the Department of Human Services.

Report Title:

Public Assistance Allowance Formula Revision; Report