Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Dems Ask: What Happened to MAWD?

House Democrats are wondering if Missouri Republicans will live up to their promise to reinstate cuts to a program that provides assistance to workers with disabilities, also known as the MAWD program.

"Two years after Republicans eliminated the Missouri Assistance for the Working Disabled program, 16 months after they said reinstating it would be a top priority for the 2006 legislative session and four months after saying reviving it would be a top priority for the 2007 session, a bill to restore the program is still languishing in the Senate," reads the Democratic press release.

"As was the unfortunate case last year, it looks like it’s on the fast track to oblivion," said Minority Leader Rep. Jeff Harris.

"On a near-unanimous vote, the House sent the MAWD bill, HB 39, to the Senate on Feb. 15. More than two months later, on April 19, a Senate committee finally forwarded it to the full chamber. It currently is languishing on the Senate informal calendar, with no indication it will be taken up," reads the release.

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