Legislative Update April 12, 2013
Success!!! WPC Opposition Helps Kill TANF Bill!
SB132/HB261, which penalized the TANF (Tennessee Aid to Needy Families) grants of needy families, is dead for this year. Thanks to a storm of publicity and opposition from many groups, Senate sponsor Stacey Campfield, of Knoxville, yesterday sent the bill from the full Senate calendar back to the Health Committee until 2014. Similar action is expected in the House next week. The bills will remain active and in the same posture at the beginning of the 2014 legislative session.
Both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate called on Campfield to reconsider during extensive debate. Sen. Rusty Crowe, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, agreed that the panel could continue to examine the issue of how best to engage parents in helping their children to do well in school. Campfield had explained that was his primary goal, not penalizing families needlessly. If you want to watch the debate, go to: http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/videowrapper/default.aspx?CommID=250 (Then link to the April 11 Senate video, and scroll down the accompanying agenda to SB132.)
TANF is the federally funded welfare benefits program, and the average monthly grant in Tennessee is $164.39. The caretaker adults receiving TANF are already required to complete Personal Responsibility Plans with requirements such as keeping under-age children in school and providing necessary health care. Adults are also required to be actively seeking employment or training unless they meet specific conditions that exempt them from this provision.
Continuing Consideration of Funding for Human Trafficking Bills
The House and Senate Finance Committees continue to debate the fate of about 250 distinct budget amendments, including those affecting human trafficking bills supported by the WPC. It appears that most of the legislation will be funded, although it is unclear whether funding needed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to provide additional training for law enforcement and child welfare agencies will be approved.
Additional contact with members of both committees would be helpful. The message now is simply, “Please fund everything related to deterring human trafficking in Tennessee, including any funding needed by the TBI. This is really important to me.”
Make email or telephone contact with members (or their staff) of the House Finance Subcommittee at http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/committees/sub-finance.html and the Senate Finance Committee at http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/committees/finance.html
Congratulations to Jamie Woodson, Spring Revue Honoree
It was such a pleasure to be see former Senator Jamie Woodson, now CEO of SCORE, honored last week at the annual WPC Spring Revue. Be sure to check the WPC website for photos! House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senator Becky Massey, who both helped introduce Woodson, did a wonderful job.
The 2013 legislative session is expected to end next week. Watch for our session summary soon thereafter!
