Okla. Legislators Take Aim At Needy Oklahomans

By SEAN MURPHY

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ⿿ As Republican legislators look for ways to tighten the state's budget belt, and score points with an increasingly conservative electorate, they are targeting federal assistance programs popular among low-income and needy Oklahomans.

Last year, the GOP-led Legislature passed a measure subjecting welfare recipients to drug tests, and so far this year close to a dozen measures have been introduced targeting assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also called food stamps, and Temporary Aid to Needy Families, or unemployment benefits.

Some of the bills create new requirements for those who receive assistance, like requiring recipients to work more hours, or prohibit certain people, like those convicted of drug crimes or with $5,000 or more in assets, from receiving benefits.

"We should define compassion by the number of people we're helping get off these programs, not keep on them," said new House Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, who has a bill that would require able-bodied, childless adults under age 50 who receive food stamps to spend a minimum of 35 hours per week engaged in "work activities."

"I think we also have to recognize that often times government subsidy programs often can lead to dependence, and we need to make sure we're not perpetuating dependence, that we're encouraging personal responsibility."

A fiscal analysis of Shannon's bill suggests it would cost the Department of Human Services an estimated $18.7 million for the agency to add staff, develop work components and training, and change its system to comply with the requirements. The analysis projects nearly 5,200 recipients could be dropped from the program, for an estimated savings of $1 million.

The bill could pose additional problems, since the federal agency that administers the program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has said states cannot change or raise the work limits, according to DHS.

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