Under new regulations issued by the Department of Public Welfare, an entire family's cash assistance will be cut off if a bus breakdown or a snowstorm makes Mom late to a welfare-to-work program, even once. If a mother does not comply with welfare-to-work rules because of transportation-related reasons, the whole family will be ineligible for benefits, even if the mother did everything she was supposed to do.

"This rule is shockingly harsh," said Louise Hayes, a supervising attorney with Ccommunity Legal Services. "We are all late for work from time to time because of transportation problems, and we don't lose all our income when that happens. Pennsylvanians don't want to punish kids when a bus is late, or a car gets a flat tire. If these regulations were to go through the normal review process, such an appalling rule would never become law."

Late Friday, February 24, the Department of Public Welfare released the text of regulations authorized as part of this year's budget. Act 22 of 2011 allowed DPW to bypass the normal public comment and review process, in order to cut spending this fiscal year and issue Expedited Regulatory Changes.

The rule is just the latest draconian cutback in benefits eligibility proposed by the Corbett administration. The Governor's proposed budget would entirely eliminate the last-resort General Assistance program for women fleeing domestic violence and for disabled people with no income. The Governor has also proposed eliminating the HEMAP program that helps low-income homeowners avoid foreclosure, and reimposing an asset test on food stamp benefits, which are federally-funded.

"These cuts will be devastating to the homeless and battered women we serve," said Kelly Davis, Interim Executive Dirctor of Lutheran Settlement House. "I cannot believe that the public wants women to have to stay with abusers, or families to lose everything because of a traffic tie-up. We are not heartless people, but these policies being made in our name are cruel."

The new regulation penalizing families for transportation problems that are not their fault says, "A nonexempt applicant's or recipient's non-willful failure to comply with RESET [welfare-to-work] requirements due to transportation-related reasons shall result in ineligibility for the family." The rule is listed under "Revisions to the Special Allowances for Supportive Services Requirement," and will ultimately be published at 55 Pa. Code 165.31 with the penalty ultimately appearing at 55 Pa. Code 165.61(g).

You can provide public comment to this new regulaton in one of two ways: by email or mail.

• To provide public comment electronically please email RA-oimcomments@pa.gov.
   
• To send your comments through the mail send them to:

Department of Public Welfare
Office of Income Maintenance
DGS Annex Complex
Willow Oak Building,,Building 42, Room 230
1006 Hemlock Drive
P.O. Box 2675
Harrisburg, PA 17110- 3595

You can get instructions on providing comments to other new regulations by visiting the Expidited Regulatory Changes page on the DPW website.

For more information, contact Louise Hayes at (215) 227-4734, LHayes@clsphila.org, or Kelly Davis at (215) 266-9436 or KDavis@lutheransettlement.org.