Kentucky bill tightening public benefits rules wins passage

Legislation to tighten rules for public assistance has won final passage in the Kentucky legislature

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A bill tightening rules for public assistance won final passage Wednesday night in the Kentucky legislature, but opponents who were unable to stop the measure expressed relief with changes they said eased some of their concerns about the restrictions.

The bill adding new rules and restrictions to Kentucky’s public benefits system cleared the Senate and House as lawmakers worked late into the night to finish work on stacks of bills before an extended break.

Supporters of the public-benefits bill said the goal is to steer more people into self-sufficiency while preserving assistance for Kentuckians in need of help. The sweeping proposal’s lead sponsors are House Speaker David Osborne and House Speaker Pro Tem David Meade.

Opponents warned that the changes would hurt low-income Kentuckians.

By passing the bill before the “veto period” begins, supporters retained their override power if Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear vetoes the measure. The Republican-led legislature will return to the statehouse in mid-April to finish its work for the 60-day session.

Supporters of the public-benefits bill offered assurances it wouldn't hurt people in need of help.

“The only way you can lose benefits is if you’re doing something illegal or (you're) able-bodied with no dependents at home,” said Republican Sen. Ralph Alvarado.

Sen. Morgan McGarvey pointed to statistics showing extremely low rates of fraud detected in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. And Kentucky has a high rate of investigating and charging people for abusing the program, he said.

A state agency recently told lawmakers that the bill's reporting and verification rules would dramatically drive up its administrative expenses.

“We are going to spend more money than we are going to save by taking food off of people’s plates,” said McGarvey, the Senate's top-ranking Democrat.

Meade said later in the House that the changes to the bill had scaled back the requirements for additional verification checks by the agency.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem David Givens presented an amendment to revise some language in the bill that he said might have “inadvertently” made it ”a little more difficult to get the benefits when you do actually need them." The Senate added the amendment to the measure and the House later accepted the changes, sealing its final passage.

McGarvey praised the changes, saying the amendment would potentially enable thousands of Kentuckians to keep receiving benefits.

During the House debate, Democratic Rep. Angie Hatton also said the changes alleviated concerns among opponents, but she continued raising doubts about the need for the new rules.

“I just think it’s a matter of what keeps you up at night," she said. "For me, it doesn’t keep me up at night worrying that there’s a tiny percentage of people who might get benefits who didn’t deserve them. What keeps me up at night is worrying that there might be people hungry who couldn’t jump through hoops and get their benefits.”

Despite the changes, Democrats still opposed the measure.

In promoting the bill, Meade cited studies that he said showed “it is not simply just a small percentage of folks who have been improperly enrolled” for Medicaid.

The bill represents a long-running priority among many Republican lawmakers to tighten rules for public assistance. The goal, they said, is to wean more Kentuckians off such programs as Medicaid and food stamps and into jobs that make them self-sufficient.

The bill would add new rules for such benefits as food stamps and Medicaid. In some cases, it will require “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients without dependents to participate in “community engagement” activities, such as jobs or volunteering.

In other action Wednesday, lawmakers gave final passage to a measure requiring Kentucky’s local school boards to set aside time for public comments during regular meetings. Under the bill, public comment periods would last at least 15 minutes or until comments end, whichever occurs first. The comment period could be passed over if no one requests to participate.