Wheels for Welfare
The Patrick administration is making an effort to get families off of welfare and moving, literally, by providing free automobiles. Wheels for Welfare is a program started in 2006, aimed at giving low-income families assistance with transportation.
Eligible families are those residing in areas not close enough to utilize public transportation and who already have or can prove they will be able to attain a job after receiving an automobile; participants are required to submit pay stubs to verify employment. The assistance provided not only includes a free car, but also AAA service, registration, inspection and a paid equity tax. If employment is lost, services end but the car does not need to be returned.
The question is whether or not the program can reach its goal. The ultimate purpose is to get low-income parents into jobs that pay family-sufficient wages. The premise is that families living in suburban areas are less likely to qualify for jobs without having reliable transportation.
The big debate, however, is that with our current economy it isn't right to be using tax payers dollars to give cars away. Julia Kehoe, commissioner of the Department of Transitional Assistance, concluded that approximately twenty percent of the program participants are ending up back on welfare; in opposition to the expected and much anticipated results.
Is the Wheels for Welfare program a good investment for the Commonwealth?
Is this program going to inevitably benefit society overall or only certain groups?
- Jessica Bavuso's blog
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3 comments
Shame on you Mr. Patrick
Shame on you Mr. Patrick for , even thinking of this program. The scams that will be set forth by car dealers, insurance companies and the public at large will come back and bite you. I respect you and your staff but this is foolishness and a bad example for generations too come... Thank you for your time.. A wise old sage, North Reading Ma
Senior citizens are taking the hit
Senior citizens are taking the hit that no one talks about during the recession. Senior citizens, as their numbers increase exponentially, are increasingly taking to short term loans to keep afloat. As more people are laid off, there is less tax revenue coming in, and that is how Social Security and Medicare are funded. The Medicare expense out of every paycheck goes to the Medicare fund, and part of the Medicare woe is that not only is the fund running out faster than it can be replenished, but health care costs are going up. Medicare will be bankrupt in 8 years or less, which means we need debt relief to be able to care for our senior citizens.
wheels for welfare
if half of the recipients can maintain their job for a year it seems that it would be a benefit.After a year a fee can be paid and added to a fund to make vehicles available to others. Building productive citizens should be the basis for this proposal.