KASTEN: STATE SHOULDN'T RUSH INTO WELFARE-REFORM PACKAGE

State Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, said she and other GOP lawmakers who voted against a welfare reform bill aren't mean spirited.

Kasten said she and other Republicans on the House Budget Committee opposed a Senate bill that would have expanded the welfare bureaucracy.

The House Budget Committee Monday night rejected the Democrat-sponsored legislation by a single vote, 14 to 15. Some Democratic committee members were in the Capitol hallway and wandered into the meeting too late to vote.

Budget Chairwoman Sheila Lumpe, D-University City, refused to wait for a handful of tardy members before calling for the vote.

Critics said the tardy members could have put the bill over the top.

Rep. Pat Kelley, R- Lee's Summit, serves on the committee with Kasten.

Kelley doesn't know if the bill would have passed if all the tardy committee members had been allowed to vote.

"They would have had to have all of them. It would have been real close," he said.

House Speaker Steve Gaw, D-Moberly, accused Republicans of killing the welfare bill.

But Kasten said Tuesday: "We are not mean, old Republicans. I think people have to have their dignity back. They need to get off dependence."

Kasten said the state should help with job training and education.

"But we don't need to set up a bunch more programs. That was what Republicans felt was wrong with the bill," she said.

With only three days left in the regular legislative session, welfare reform appears dead this year. But Kasten said that is better than passing a bad bill.

Kasten said Monday's action was the second time within a week that the committee had rejected welfare-reform legislation.

Kasten said the Legislature doesn't need to rush into passing a welfare-reform bill.

Missouri made some changes in the welfare law in 1993 and has obtained waivers regarding compliance with the federal welfare reform law.

The waivers remain in place until 2000, Kasten said.

The state already requires welfare recipients to go to work within two years. But Missouri doesn't have the five-year limit on welfare benefits that is in the federal law, lawmakers said.

Kasten said she hopes a welfare reform package can be ironed out over the summer so it could be considered by the Legislature next year.

Republicans opposed a proposal in the bill for a "Child Support Assurance program" in which the state would subsidize poor, working families.

GOP lawmakers also opposed provisions to create two new boards whose members would include officials from the Department of Social Services and other state agencies.

"We thought that was rather top heavy," said Kelley.

He said the "child support" program would have cost $22-$30 million. "It was an expansion of welfare, really," said Kelley.

Some Black Caucus Democrats wanted to add more programs to the welfare bill.

Even if the House committee had approved the reform measure, it had little chance of passing this session, said Rep. Joe Heckemeyer, D-Sikeston.

Heckemeyer said there wouldn't have been enough time to adequately debate the measure before the Legislature adjourns.

"If it came up right now, I wouldn't vote for it," he said.

He said Democrats weren't stunned by the committee action because such legislation had already gone down to defeat once before in the committee.

Heckemeyer said Lumpe has a reputation for being businesslike in running committee meetings.

"It is not her job to make sure everybody is there," he said. "I hate to put the blame on Sheila. She just did her job."