Senate Bill No. 545
(By Senators Love and Redd)
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[Introduced February 16, 1999; referred to the Committee on
Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article nine, chapter
nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing that a person
twenty years of age or older receiving cash assistance is
eligible to receive training and preparation to test for the
general education development exam (GED) when determined
appropriate by that person's case manager; and granting an
exemption from the work requirements of the West Virginia
works program for those hours of training and preparation
undertaken to test for the GED.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article nine, chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. WEST VIRGINIA WORKS PROGRAM.
§9-9-8. Exemptions.
Participants exempt from the work requirements of the works
program pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be
required to develop a personal responsibility contract. The
secretary shall establish by rule categories of persons exempt
only from the work requirements of the program, which categories
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) A parent caring for a dependent child with a
life-threatening illness;
(b) Individuals over the age of sixty years;
(c) Full-time students that are less than twenty years of
age and are pursuing a high school diploma or equivalent;
(d) Persons with a physical or mental incapacity or persons
suffering from a temporary debilitating injury lasting more than thirty days, as defined by the secretary;
(e) Relatives providing in-home care for an individual that
would otherwise be institutionalized; and
(f) Any woman during the last trimester of pregnancy and the
first six months after the birth of the child but in no case
shall the woman be exempt from the work requirements for more
than a total of six months: Provided, That, in the case of the
birth of the first child to said woman after said woman first
becomes a cash assistance recipient, the woman may be exempt up
to the time her child reaches twelve months of age.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision in this article to the
contrary, a person twenty years of age or older receiving cash
assistance is eligible to receive training and preparation from
the division to test for the general education development exam
(GED), when determined appropriate by that person's case manager,
and an exemption shall be granted from the work requirements of
this article for those hours of training and preparation
undertaken to test for the GED.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a person
twenty years of age or older receiving cash assistance is eligible to receive training and preparation to test for the
general education development exam (GED), when determined
appropriate by that person's case manager, and that an exemption
shall be granted from the work requirements of the West Virginia
Works Program for those hours of training and preparation
undertaken to test for the GED.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.