What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
History
- Referred to social services
- Referred to social services
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to limiting the number of job searches a locality may require before they allow an applicant to receive public assistance
Purpose
To limit the number of job searches an applicant/recipient must perform to no more than five per week.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 336 of the social services law, by limiting the number of job searches a locality can require of a public assistance recipient to no more than five per week.
Existing law
Currently each locality has the authority to set their own limits to the number of job searches that an individual is required to perform each week.
Justification
Despite a 50% reduction in the number of public assistance recipients in New York since the implementation of welfare reform, DSS case workers continue to be overwhelmed by their case loads because of staff cutbacks in many departments. This indicates that there is a need to reduce paperwork and procedures which are duplicative or unnecessary. One area which could be modified is to limit the number of employment searches that an individual must complete each week. Some counties require up to ten searches per week. With a tight job market with fewer businesses looking for help, it makes no sense to have public assistance recipients wasting their time reapplying to the same companies each week. Besides being a waste of time for the recipient, the case worker must verify each one of these job searches. It is also creating a situation where employers are beginning to take offense at this practice and are refusing to verify recipients applications, which in turn can lead to sanctions for the recipients through no fault of their own. Based on the difficult times we are experiencing in our economy, and the limited number of employers who are looking for help, it makes sense to decrease the burden on the recipients and their case workers, and allow them to concentrate their efforts on tasks which will prove more fruitful.
Legislative history
2007: S.1508 - Referred to Social Services, Children & Families 2006: S.1429 - Referred to Social Services, Children & Families 2004: S.6633 - Died in Committee
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.