BUDGET NEGOTIATORS DISCARD WELFARE CUT.Byline: Doug Willis Douglas "Doug" Willis was a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Terence Donovan. He first appeared in 1990 until the character's departure in 1994. Doug briefly returned to the show for several episodes in 2005. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Democratic and Republican budget negotiators agreed Wednesday to reject Gov. Pete Wilson's proposal for a 4.5 percent cut in state welfare grants for families with dependent children, but they approved his proposal to make permanent some earlier welfare cuts due to expire expire /ex·pire/ (ek-spi´er) 1. to exhale. 2. to die. ex·pire v. 1. To breathe one's last breath; die. 2. To exhale. this year. But the panel recessed re·cess n. 1. a. A temporary cessation of the customary activities of an engagement, occupation, or pursuit. b. The period of such cessation. See Synonyms at pause. 2. without taking action on prison, education, taxes, renters' tax credits, highway fund shifts and other significant issues in a pending $63 billion state budget. Meeting for the first time since the Legislature missed the constitution deadline four days ago for enacting a spending plan for the 1996-97 fiscal year, the three senators and three Assembly members charged with forging a compromise between competing Democratic and Republican spending plans resolved most outstanding welfare issues on a series of 6-0 and 5-1 votes. The votes were all conducted in a public hearing in a room filled with more than 200 staff aides, lobbyists and others, but the lack of debate or explanation reflected the fact that the real decisions had been hammered ham·mered adj. 1. Shaped or worked with a metalworker's hammer and often showing the marks of these tools: a bowl of hammered brass. 2. Slang Drunk or intoxicated. Adj. out in private negotiations since the panel's last formal meeting. Among key decisions, the committee: Rejected Gov. Pete Wilson's proposal for an additional 4.5 percent cut in Aid to Families With Dependent Children Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was the name of a federal assistance program in effect from 1935 to 1997,[1] which was administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. grants and a 3.4 percent cut in grants for aged, blind and disabled recipients, killing a $251 million spending cut Noun 1. spending cut - the act of reducing spending cut - the act of reducing the amount or number; "the mayor proposed extensive cuts in the city budget" in the Republican governor's budget plan. Rejected a companion Wilson proposal to cut welfare grants when children are truant for schools. That proposal promised a relatively small annual savings of $482,000, but had larger symbolic importance. Agreed to make permanent an early 5.8 percent AFDC AFDC abbr. Aid to Families with Dependent Children AFDC n abbr (US) (= Aid to Families with Dependent Children) → ayuda a familias con hijos menores AFDC n abbr grant reduction and extend for another year a 4.9 percent grant reduction for the aged, blind and disabled. Also continued for another year a suspension by the Wilson administration of automatic cost-of-living increases for AFDC and aged, blind and disabled recipients and in grant levels for foster home care of welfare-supported children. Although the constitutional deadline for enacting an annual state budget is June 15, that date is rarely met by the Legislature. The practical deadline is regarded as July 1, when the new fiscal year begins, and even that deadline has been missed frequently in recent years. Leaders of both parties have insisted they were not far apart in dollar amounts this year - thanks to improved tax revenues from the state's rebounding economy - and that most differences were philosophical. |
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