Trending
CHARLESTON -- The governor Wednesday signed a bill eliminating the cabinet level Department of the Arts and Education.
Meanwhile, a bill imposing the federal 20-hour weekly work requirement for many food stamp recipients in West Virginia is going to hurt people, a state research group said on Wednesday.
House Bill 4001 signed into law on Tuesday by Gov. Jim Justice "only hurts our communities," said Seth DiStefano, director of public policy for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
The bill makes it more difficult for thousands of West Virginians to receive food assistance and will move $18 million in federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from the West Virginia's economy, DiStefano said.
"In signing HB 4001, Gov. Jim Justice has clearly gone back on his promise of not wanting to hurt people," he said. "Taking away food from our neighbors who struggle to find work doesn't accomplish anything positive; it only hurts our communities."
The bill applies to residents 18- to 49 years old who aren't pregnant, disabled or veterans, have no dependents and receive S.N.A.P. Program benefits. Forty-six of the 55 counties have the work requirement waivers.
The maximum possible benefit is $192 a month, or about $6.40 a day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The purpose of the legislation was to help eliminate fraud and get people back to work, supporters said.
Among the groups supporting the bill is the Opportunity Solutions Project. It will move "able-bodied adults from welfare to work," the group said.
"With his signature, Gov. Justice has joined the Legislature in making clear that the power of work and the integrity of public assistance programs are top priorities in West Virginia," said Christie Herrera of the Opportunity Solutions Project.
HB 4001 establishes a four-year timeline for the state Department of Health and Human Resources to implement the federal work requirement and enables the state agency to aggressively pursue fraud, waste and abuse of public assistance program resources, she said.
"The passage of HB 4001 will position West Virginia as a national leader in addressing waste, fraud, and abuse," Herrera said.
On Oct. 1, waivers from the requirement would be sought only in counties with 12-month average unemployment rate above 10 percent. January data showed only Calhoun County with a monthly rate that high. All counties would become ineligible three years later.
Justice on Wednesday signed into law House Bill 4006, which abolishes the Department of Education and the Arts. Programs would be melded into other departments and agencies.
Justice said no programs will experience a reduction in federal funding, arts programs will continue to grow and putting education operations under the Department of Education would save money and be more efficient.
"We've checked and double checked and there will be no lapses in federal funding and no harm caused to any of these programs," Justice said. "There are going to be real cost savings here and at the same time we are going to create the Department of the Arts and Culture and History that will answer directly to me.
"We want to preserve and aggressively grow our arts in West Virginia while at the same time making our education department, and government, more efficient and responsive," he said.