1995 LAWS OF MARYLAND

BY adding to

Article - Transportation
Section 16-203
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1992 Replacement Volume and 1994 Supplement)

Preamble

WHEREAS, The State of Maryland recognizes that for too many families, welfare
has become what it never was intended to be: a permanent way of life and this system of
continuous income maintenance not only destroys all incentive for an individual to
become self-sufficient it often leads to intergenerational dependency; and

WHEREAS, The State's welfare system does not reward work or any effort to
seek and secure a job and the total package of welfare benefits can be better than the
package of benefits the working poor can obtain, creating an incentive to stay on welfare;
and

WHEREAS, The State's welfare system has numerous disincentives for the
maintenance of a two-parent family unit and the role and responsibilities of the father is
largely ignored in the current system; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly has established welfare reform as one of the
major human service priorities of State government, with the intended goal of achieving a
significant reduction in the number of citizens who are enrolled in the Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program; and

WHEREAS, The State must transform a welfare system that fosters dependence,
low self-esteem, and irresponsible behavior to one that rewards work and fosters
self-reliance, responsibility, and family stability; and

WHEREAS, Welfare reform should move people from the welfare rolls to the
work rolls through a system of incentives and limits that instill and reward positive
behavior; and

WHEREAS, Welfare reform should' result in work reform, including creating jobs
for recipients that provide a living wage in order to establish a working community and to
create an incentive for recipients to enter the workforce and thereby assure the
well-being of dependent children; and

WHEREAS, It is the intent of the General Assembly to establish a welfare system
that promotes greater economic self-sufficiency among Maryland families by emphasizing
work through job search, job preparation, and job placement and by providing
appropriate family support services, with an up-front understanding that such services
are time limited and will be followed by mandatory subsidized or unsubsidized jobs or
community service work assignments; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

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Ch. 491