Journal of the Senate of the State of Texas, Regular Session of the Sixty-Second Legislature, Volume 1 Page: 49
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1971
medical school building appropriations
to the Public Welfare account.
"This move prevented a special ses-
sion and avoided reduction in pay-
ments during 1970 for Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC),
Nursing Home Care and Medical As-
sistance.
"We are committed to refunding
this money.
"The PRESENT crisis demands
that we take steps during the next
few days of this Session to avert cuts
in AFDC and Medical Assistance pay-
ments during the rest of this fiscal
year.
"To accomplish this objective, we
must do two things:
"(1) We must appropriate $40 mil-
lion in additional funds to the De-
partment of Public Welfare.
"(2) We must submit a Constitu-
tional Amendment to the people which
would remove the $80 million per year
ceiling on categorical assistance pay-
ments.
"At the current rate of expendi-
tures, we will reach the $80 million
ceiling on about June 1. Unless the
ceiling is removed by then, drastic
cuts in the AFDC program will be-
come necessary.
"I SUBMIT BOTH OF THESE
RECOMMENDATIONS TO YOU AS
EMERGENCY MATTERS.
"The FUTURE crisis in welfare
financing is so serious as to be almost
insoluble, and so complicated as to be
almost unbelievable. A few facts will
help us grasp the magnitude of the
problem.
"(1) We know that the Texas De-
partment of Public Welfare has re-
quested $647 million in State funds
for the 1972-73 biennium, which is an
increase of over $350 million over es-
timated expenditures this biennium.
And fiscal demands for welfare are
projected to double again in the next
four years.
"(2) We know that the AFDC
caseload grew from 112,000 in Sep-
tember 1968 to 266,000 in December
1970, an increase of 135% in just
over two years.
"During the month of December
1970, the caseload grew 13,000.
"Federal Court decisions have
knocked out State provisions that at-
tempted to limit increases; under
court order, Texas has had to in-
crease the AFDC 'standard of need'
by about 50 percent, and State resi-dency requirements have been over-
turned.
"(3) We know that costs of med-
ical and nursing home care are spiral-
ing. The 61st Legislature appropri-
ated $124 million for medical assist-
ance.
"The request for 1972-73 is for $274
million, an increase of $150 million or
120%.
"(4) We know that there is no rea-
sonable and practical hope of reducing
welfare rolls appreciably with 'go-to-
work' policies-for the blunt truth is
that nearly 90% of welfare recipients
in Texas are too young, old, blind or
handicapped physically or mentally to
hold a job, and that most of the able-
bodied are mothers with dependent
children who cannot leave home to
work.
"(5) We know that, while the
AFDC program is widely criticized,
the average monthly grant in Texas
is only 50% of the national average
--and, at the maximum, 75% of a cal-
culated 'living income.'
"I am satisfied, and so are others
who have objectively explored the wel-
fare jungle, that 'the Welfare Cadillac
just doesn't run in Texas.'
"I am also convinced that, whatever
the answer to the fantastically compli-
cated welfare mess, President Nixon's
Family Assistance Plan as currently
proposed is not it.
"In its present and predictable
form, the Family Assistance Plan
would not improve matters. It further
confuses the welfare recipient; it
makes administration ever more dif-
ficult for the States; and would sub-
merge our scant remaining controls
deeper into a sea of red tape.
"Truthfully, we have no substantial
voice now in welfare matters under
the Federal-State matching program.
"On December 10th of last year,
while engaged in a work session pre-
paring these budget recommendations,
I received an invitation to meet at the
White House with President Nixon
and Governors of about 15 other
States to discuss the Family Assist-
ance Plan.
"While debating whether to attend,
the utter futility of attempting to
plan a budget under existing circum-
stances suddenly became more clear
than ever.
"The Legislative Session was only a
month away.49
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Texas. Legislature. Senate. Journal of the Senate of the State of Texas, Regular Session of the Sixty-Second Legislature, Volume 1, legislative document, 1971; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146003/m1/49/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.