Two interesting stories, that make me think, why are we not doing more of this?
Cash-poor MTA may put recipients of unemployment benefits to work again cleaning subways
State Lawmaker Wants Drug Tests For Welfare Recipients CBS Chicago
What do you guys think about requiring more out of welfare recipients?
The cash-strapped MTA may soon put welfare recipients to work scrubbing and cleaning the subways.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants to revive its participation in the city's Work Experience Program - which makes the unemployed toil for their benefit checks.
"This is a program that has a proven track record of doing three things: providing low-cost cleaning help for the subway; providing job training to people who need it, and leading directly to full-time employment for many of the people who participate in the program," MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.
The MTA eliminated 173 cleaner positions last year in a series of budget cuts that slashed a total of about 3,500 jobs.
Subway riders told about the plan Monday largely gave it a thumbs up.
"I think it's a fair way to get the subways clean," Joanna Kielbiowski, 32, of New Hyde Park, L.I., said at a midtown subway station. "Sometimes when I take the subway, it's disgusting."
Adam Salah, 21, of the Bronx said the program would be "a good way to get people on their feet ... and get the subway cleaner."
Michael Pollack, 29, of Long Beach, L.I., was on the fence.
"I feel like saying yes and no," Pollack said. "On some level, it's exploitation of people in a bad position. On the other hand, a lot of people wait around looking for a handout, and this is a way for them to earn it."
WEP participants were assigned to subway cleaning tasks for about nine years ending in 2008, when the previous MTA administration nixed the free labor.
In budget documents, the prior MTA administration claimed operations would be cheaper without the workers.
About 150 union-represented cleaners who trained and helped supervise WEP workers received an additional $1.70 an hour under a 1996 pact between Transport Workers Union Local100 and the MTA.
Cash-poor MTA may put recipients of unemployment benefits to work again cleaning subways
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM) – A state lawmaker wants welfare recipients to submit to drug tests in order to receive aid, but he admits the proposal isn’t ready for a full debate – and probably won’t make it into law this year.
This isn’t the first time State Rep. Jim Sacia (R-Pecatonica) has introduced such a measure. He first introduced it three years ago when a constituent asked him why welfare applicants don’t submit to drug tests, but many job applicants do.
This year’s bill would create a pilot program to administer the drug tests in three counties for three years.
Sacia cautions his bill will not fix all welfare problems. But he says lawmakers must create a way to foster a change in recipients’ attitudes, and this is a good start.
“We have to come up with a way, and this is a Panacea I recognize that, where we’re creating a motivational factor for people to want to get off the welfare rolls, to get back to legitimate employment,” explains Sacia.
Sacia says House Bill 11 is imperfect, but is getting better. He says one of the bills’ amendments will eventually address how to pay for the drug tests, but the specifics have yet to be hammered out.
The proposal has received significant push back in its first three years, namely from the House Human Services Committee.
“I will not move the bill until I get a bill that I can get those who are adamantly opposed to it, maybe not to necessarily say they’re in support of the bill, but to go neutral on [it],” says Sacia.
State Lawmaker Wants Drug Tests For Welfare Recipients CBS Chicago
What do you guys think about requiring more out of welfare recipients?