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| Rep. Shaunna O'Connell |
A hat tip to Mass. Rep Shaunna O'Connell (R, Taunton), et.al. for refusing to accept the passive attitude of the Beacon Hill bureaucrats, as they file legislation designed to, at least, begin the clean up of this financial embarrassment. Known for her tireless work at digging out the truth about the out-of-control costs and abuses of this program, these proposed amendments lay out a plan for bringing the program under control. Thanks are due, not only from taxpayers, but from the truly needy that depend on this program. Find out more at her WebSite
Nicole Thibault
Legislative Aide
Office of Representative Shaunna O'Connell
Third Bristol District
State House, Room 237
Boston, MA 02133-1054
Contact: Nicole Thibault
November 5, 2013
Immediate Release
O’Connell Files Amendment to Strengthen Welfare Reform
End the Loopholes
Taunton, MA. . . Today at the State House Representative Shaunna O’Connell along with Representatives Geoff Diehl, Jim Lyons, Ryan Fattman, and Leah Cole announced that they are filing multiple amendments to strengthen the welfare reform package and end the loopholes.
“The problems plaguing the Department of Transitional Assistance have been occurring for far too long. It is time to end the loopholes,” said O’Connell. “We need to plug the holes so we can ensure the integrity of the program. Allowing people to defraud the system doesn’t help anyone on assistance,” said O’Connell.
“Strengthening the integrity of public assistance programs insures that critical resources go to those in need of assistance and not to those who would game the system and abuse the trust of Massachusetts citizens who understand and want to lend a helping hand to their neighbors. I’m proud of the amendments that my colleagues and I have filed to insure that the safety net we’re able to provide is not compromised and I urge all members of the House and Senate to adopt these common-sense measures,” said Diehl.
“I grew up on public housing assistance. I understand how people can fall down in their luck and need some help from time to time. However, we need to strengthen the work requirements so we can end the cycle of dependency and teach personal responsibility,” added O’Connell.
The O’Connell amendment package includes:
· Requiring the sponsor of a lawful permanent resident be financially responsible if a new immigrant collects benefits within the first 5 years of living in the United States.
· Requiring the Department of Transitional Assistance to contact recipients if accounts lay dormant for 3 months rather than the one year period in the bill.
· Requiring asset verification. O’Connell has repeatedly filed legislation requiring a 14 point check system to ensure people are truly needy.
· Adding to the reporting requirement how many sponsored green card residents are using benefits
· Requiring a recipient to report in person to DTA if their mail is undeliverable
· Ending self-declarations
· Requiring case workers to verify information contained in work verification forms and landlord verification forms.
· Require applicants to immediately supply a Social Security number to get benefits unless a person has certain protected status, such as a victim of domestic violence.
· Prohibiting the use of cash assistance in other states that don’t border Massachusetts
For the past two and a half years, O’Connell has led the charge for reforming welfare and the Department of Transitional Assistance. Due to her efforts a considerable amount of fraud has been exposed. Most recently DTA had to disclose how EBT card balances were run up without any oversight. One balance had grown to $12,000. There are over 1800 cards with a balance of $1500 or more. O’Connell paid an $800 fee for the data to obtain the information.
O’Connell passed the legislation to stop the purchasing with EBT cards of alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets.
To prevent further fraud, O’Connell and her colleagues strongly believe that there must be greater oversight of the application process to ensure only the truly needy are obtaining assistance.
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