Real Change News | Fight for GAU is on

March 3, 2010
Vol: 17 No: 10

News

Fight for GAU is on

by: Cydney Gillis , Staff Reporter

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More than 18,000 disabled people who live on $339 a month from the state’s General Assistance-Unemployable program could see their monthly grant reduced to $50 starting in September under a bill amended last week in the state Senate.

In place of the $339, the amended Security Lifeline Act, Second Substitute House Bill 2782, which was originally proposed by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle) with the full grant, would provide a housing voucher to pay for a person’s rent, with the $50 and food stamps expected to cover other household needs.

That’s just one component of a striker amendment made to the bill Feb. 25 by Sen. Jim Hargrove (D-Hoquiam) and the Senate Human Services & Corrections Committee that Hargrove chairs. Among others, Hargrove’s amendment would require GAU recipients to be housed or lose the $50 grant. Recipients who didn’t participate in mandated drug and alcohol treatment or vocational rehabilitation would also lose the $50, but still receive medical coverage under the program.

The amendment mirrors what the Senate approved over the weekend in its operating budget and is an attempt, housing advocates say, to replace the cash grant with a badly needed service – housing – for those in the program who are temporarily disabled and often homeless. The idea is modeled on a program in San Francisco called Care Not Cash that provides single-room occupancy units for assistance recipients.

The problem, says Rachael Myers, executive director of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, is that Hargrove’s amendment comes without any housing resources or specifics on the intended housing voucher program. While the House’s capital budget would set aside $5 million of a proposed $100 million for the state’s Housing Trust Fund, that’s not enough, Myers says, and there’s very little housing to be had across the state, much less in Seattle, for $339 a month – something that Myers and other housing advocates are hoping to meet with Hargrove to discuss.

“It doesn’t work to require people to participate in housing that doesn’t exist,” Myers says. “I’ve heard someone describe the thinking in the Senate as magical thinking – you can’t expect a better outcome from this program without putting significantly greater resources into it.”

Dickerson has strong backing on full GAU funding from House Speaker Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) and says she’s meeting and will continue to meet with Hargrove to work on aligning their versions of the Security Lifeline bill. But, with the legislative session scheduled to end March 11, full funding for the $188 million GAU program could end up part of a last-minute budget battle.

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Comments

I work in insurance claims and I will tell you from direct first hand experience, many who are disabled are disabled due to life choices, the biggest one being obesity and the disabling effects that come with it. Please disregard all of the BS that Oprah and Tyra Banks tell you that being fat is OK and you should just be happy with who you are. NO, eating bad food and getting fat from it is not OK. It is disgusting self-indulgence that makes you fat and, eventually, disabled.

I deal with countless amounts of truly disabled people who would be getting much more than a measily $339 if it were not for the endless hordes of people on disability for obesity related symptoms.

Look at Mo’Nique. She would always rag on the “skinny bitches” and tell fat people to just be happy with their bodies. News Flash: Mo’Nique is now a diabetic and she constantly complains about having to keep it under control.

Eat healthy and loose weight or deal with the consequences.

Obesity sucks | submitted on 03/08/2010, 10:46pm

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