Welfare caseload still high following 9/11

Welfare Administrator Nancy Ford told lawmakers Wednesday the number of people receiving assistance skyrocketed after 9/11 and still hasn't completely recovered.

As a result, she said the system was forced to dip deep into its reserves which she predicted will be at zero by the end of fiscal 2006.

"Without that reserve, I would have had to cut benefits," she said.

As it stands, she estimated her budget will need $7.7 million more in fiscal 2007 to pay welfare benefits.

She said she wants lawmakers to change the law so she can come to the Interim Finance Committee "if something unexpected happens." Welfare is now specifically prohibited from asking for more money from IFC and directed by lawmakers to live within its budget no matter what happens.

Ford told lawmakers there is simply no way to predict events like the terrorist attacks that can cause major swings in the welfare caseload. The terror attacks caused the number of welfare recipients to jump from less than 20,000 to more than 35,000. The number is now down to about 22,500.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, rejected the idea of cutting benefits saying she thinks the state welfare grant needs to be increased. She noted it has been $321 a month for a mother and child for 12 years.

But Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, made it clear there will be tough questions facing Ford in any discussion of lifting the cap on her budget.

Ford said the approach of trying to get people work is bringing the caseload down, but not fast enough to avoid putting the welfare budget in the red by 2007.

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, asked whether Ford had considered cutting benefits back to get costs in line.

"I'm kind of hearing you don't have a well thought-out strategy to get spending within the grant," he said.

She said cuts are possible but that the welfare division has been trying to maintain benefits and reduce the caseload by getting people back to work.

She said another major driver of costs in the budget are new federal mandates such as the Medicare Modernization Act which could force the division to add 11 more staff. She said the Payment Error Rate Measurement program put in by the federal government to reduce improper payments and errors could require as many as 30 added staff.

"And that does not include support staff, supervisors and other personnel we may need," she said.

Another mandate, the Trans-Med Administrative Assessment, she said, would take $1.33 million out of her budget.

Raggio said the legislature would take up all those issues in depth during the session which begins Monday.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or 687-8750.