By Truan                                        S.C.R. No. 20

      75R5010 EFD-D                           

                                CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 1-1           WHEREAS, Congressional legislation in 1996 made marked

 1-2     changes in several areas of federal welfare programs and set new

 1-3     guidelines for states to use in administering block grant funds;

 1-4     one notable new feature of this welfare reform is mandatory work

 1-5     requirements; and

 1-6           WHEREAS, Work provisions in the new federal welfare law

 1-7     require adults between the ages of 18 and 50 who are receiving food

 1-8     stamp benefits, with some exceptions, to work or to participate in

 1-9     an approved work program for a minimum of 20 hours per week, or

1-10     face a limitation on eligibility that would provide benefits for a

1-11     total of 90 days over a three-year period; and

1-12           WHEREAS, While the intent of the federal legislation is to

1-13     move individuals and families from welfare to work, sufficient

1-14     allowance is not made for the special situation of food stamp

1-15     recipients who are residing in areas ravaged by widespread

1-16     unemployment; in these communities, the issue is not the will to

1-17     work, but rather the availability of jobs; and

1-18           WHEREAS, In Texas, 22 counties located mainly in the Rio

1-19     Grande Valley qualify as labor surplus areas, regions where the

1-20     local unemployment rate has exceeded the national unemployment rate

1-21     by more than 20 percent in each of the two previous years; 22,164

1-22     food stamp recipients live in these areas and currently receive

1-23     $30.2 million a year in benefits; and

1-24           WHEREAS, The immediate negative impacts of mandatory work

 2-1     requirements will be most severe for individuals and families

 2-2     living in such areas of high unemployment, and secondary impacts

 2-3     will be felt in their communities, where the economic loss due to

 2-4     the multiplier effect of food stamp spending is expected to be

 2-5     approximately $91 million; and

 2-6           WHEREAS, To avoid situations immediately detrimental to

 2-7     individuals, families, and children who depend on food stamps, and

 2-8     to protect the economic vitality of these regions, Texas must have

 2-9     time to expand economic growth and job training in these

2-10     communities before current recipients are entirely cut off from

2-11     assistance; now, therefore, be it

2-12           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

2-13     hereby request the United States Congress to waive the work

2-14     requirement for food stamp recipients living in labor surplus

2-15     areas; and, be it further

2-16           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official

2-17     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to

2-18     the speaker of the house of representatives and president of the

2-19     senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the

2-20     Texas delegation to the congress with the request that it be

2-21     entered officially into the Congressional Record as a memorial to

2-22     the Congress of the United States of America.