Senate Bill No. 454
(By Senators Manchin, Whitlow, Helmick and Wiedebusch)
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[Introduced February 21, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter nine of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections six
and seven; to further amend said chapter by adding thereto
a new article, designated article three-a; and to amend
article eight of said chapter by adding thereto a new
section, designated section nine-a, all relating to
application for and granting of public or welfare
assistance; providing incentives to persons receiving such
assistance to become gainfully employed; authorizing the
commissioner of the bureau of income assistance to apply for
a waiver of federal restrictions against the incentives
provided herein, providing civil penalties for recipients of
such assistance who fail to avail themselves of the
incentives provided herein for certain specified reasons;
providing limitations on receiving state assistance with
penalties attached; requiring department of health and human
resources to issue forms; requiring work to equal benefits
in order to receive benefits; providing for rules; and
providing that persons not able to work will continue to
receive benefits.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter nine of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections
six and seven; that said chapter be further amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article three-a; and that
article eight of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a new
section, designated section nine-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. APPLICATION FOR AND GRANTING OF ASSISTANCE.
§9-3-6. Incentives to become gainfully employed.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter to the
contrary, any person who has received any form of welfare
assistance as defined by section two, article one, chapter nine
of this code for at least one year may continue to receive such
assistance after becoming continuously and gainfully employed in
a job or position for thirty or more hours per week at a salary
of less than fifteen thousand dollars, according to the following
schedule:
Percentage of
Period of EmploymentAssistance Retained
First 6 months 100%
Next 6 months 75%
Next 12 months 50%
After 24 months 0%
(a) The foregoing schedule notwithstanding, the medical
benefits of such person shall not be reduced during the first
twenty-four months of employment, but after the expiration of
twenty-four months of employment the department will then pay
either fifty percent of or the employers share, whichever is
less, of the premiums for any health care plan or program which
the person becomes a participant in as a result of such
employment with such person paying the balance of such medical
care premiums:
Provided, That the participant earns an income of
less than fifteen thousand dollars.
(b) The commissioner of the bureau of income assistance is
hereby authorized to apply for a waiver of the federal
restrictions against the incentives provided by this section and
to promulgate other rules, forms and policies to effectuate the
purposes provided by this section.
(c) Any person who avails himself or herself of the benefits
and incentives provided by this chapter and section, and who
subsequently quits the employment without good reason or just
cause; or who is fired from such employment for reasons related
to neglect of work; excessive absence not related to a serious
illness or serious illness of a child, spouse, mother or father
living within the person's household; habitual tardiness;
defrauding an employer; reprehensible insubordination; repeated
acts of general misconduct or misbehavior during work hours; or
other similarly related offenses, shall be penalized by havingthe welfare assistance received by such person during the period
of employment withheld from future assistance entitlements for
the period of time such person was employed, but not for more
than a period of twenty-four months.
§9-3-7. Limitations on granting of state assistance and
penalties attached.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, any
indigent person domiciled in this state, shall only be eligible
for a grant of state assistance in such form and amount, to such
extent, and for such period, as authorized by applicable state
laws, rules and regulations and within limits of available funds,
for one child born out of wedlock, living with the applicant, and
the applicant may not be granted assistance for future children
born out of wedlock. In order to continue receiving benefits
under this section, the applicant must attend parenting classes
to be regulated by the division of health and human resources.
The commissioner may not authorize or pass any rule or
regulation in conflict with this section. A commissioner who
violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand
dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than six
months, or both fined and imprisoned.
Any other person who attempts to obtain, or aids or abets an
applicant or recipient in obtaining or attempting to obtain, by
means of a willfully false statement or misrepresentation or any
other fraudulent device assistance prohibited by this sectionshall be subject to the penalties described in section four,
article five of this chapter.
ARTICLE 3A. WORKFARE.
§9-3A-1. Workfare program established.
There is hereby established the West Virginia workfare
program.
§9-3A-2. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature, in enacting this program, recognizes that
while unemployment is increasing in West Virginia it is necessary
for the general well-being of the state that persons who are
receiving public assistance maintain active job skills until the
economy improves and they are able to return to work.
§9-3A-3. Certification of ability to work; forms to be provided
by department of health and human resources and
returned to department.
Any person who is receiving any form of welfare assistance
as defined by section two, article one of this chapter, shall
within sixty days from the effective date of this article obtain
a certificate from a physician or other licensed health care
practitioner stating whether or not that person is physically
able to engage in work requiring physical exertion, or if not,
whether able to engage in work requiring a lesser degree of
physical exertion and to what extent. Certifications shall be
made on forms to be provided by the department of health and
human resources and returned to the department within ten days
after the physician or other practitioner has made thedetermination required.
§9-3A-4. County commissions to place persons able to work on
public works projects.
The department of health and human resources shall forward
to each county commission a list of those persons who have been
certified under this article as able to work with a statement of
the type of job they have been certified to do.
Each person certified as able to work shall be placed by the
county commissions on any public works project within the county
according to the type of work the person has been certified to
do. Nothing in this article shall mandate that such person be
required to remain working on any public works project in excess
of one year; however, such person may remain working on any
public works project in excess of one year upon a written request
to the county commission.
§9-3A-5. Work must equal welfare benefits; absences.
In order to receive welfare assistance benefits under this
chapter, each person placed in a job under the workfare program
must work the number of hours per week it would take to equal
that person's welfare assistance benefits as if the person were
being paid at a rate of four dollars and twenty-five cents an
hour or other wage rate as determined by the secretary of health
and human resources using the federal and state minimum wage
rates as guidelines.
Any person who has three unexcused absences in any one
workweek shall receive welfare assistance benefits equal to thenumber of hours worked in that week at the applicable rate.
§9-3A-6. Rules.
The department of health and human resources is empowered,
in accordance with law, to issue any rules necessary for the
implementation of this program.
§9-3A-7. Persons not certified as able to work.
Any person who has been found, by a physician or other
licensed health care practitioner, to be unable to work and who
is receiving welfare assistance benefits shall continue to
receive the benefits to which that person is entitled
notwithstanding the provisions of this article.
ARTICLE 8. CHARITY FOOD BANKS.
§9-8-9a. Wellness programs for food stamp recipients.
Any person who receives benefits subject to the provisions
of section nine of this article shall be required to attend
wellness and general nutrition classes to be regulated by the
division of health and human resources, which may contract with
the members of higher education to employ or give academic credit
to graduate students to instruct the classes where possible.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit persons
receiving welfare assistance to be gradually weaned away from the
assistance after becoming gainfully employed; to provide for only
one child born out of wedlock to receive state assistance with no
afterborn children of the same applicant born out of wedlock to
receive state assistance; to establish the West Virginia Workfare
Program in which welfare assistance recipients would be required
to be certified as able to work and placed by counties on public
projects in order to receive benefits; and to require that
recipients of food stamps be required to attend wellness and
nutrition classes so that they may become better educated andself-sufficient.
§§9-3-6 and 7, §9-3A and §9-8-9a are new; therefore, strike-
throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
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