House Looks At Dependency on Feds
State lawmakers target federal aid programs
BY SEAN MURPHY Associated Press
Monday, March 04, 2013
OKLAHOMA CITY – 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.