The measure easily cleared a House-Senate conference committee yesterday.
The proposed change to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program would take effect in July, and is being hailed by administration officials, social-service advocates and legislators as a way to get recipients off the welfare rolls faster while helping to restore their self-respect.
"My hope is that people who are receiving AFDC will really and truly be able to lead an independent life with a lot more dignity for themselves," said House Human Services Chairwoman Suzanne Chun Oakland, who is credited with pulling parties together to shape the bill.
Robert Nakata, an advocate with the Committee on Welfare Concerns, said the revised program could help alter public views of welfare recipients - transforming them into a class of unemployed workers being trained to be the foundations of new industries.
"Let's not look at people on welfare as a burden," he said. "They're a resource, and if they're a resource, then they need to be upgraded."
The conference committee met for only 10 minutes, mainly to settle minor technical differences in House and Senate versions of the reform bill.
The quick session reflects the consensus that emerged after long hours of hearings and debate. AFDC benefits now go to about 23,000 island families at a cost of $185 million, split evenly between the federal and state governments, according to the state Human Services Department. Recipients collect checks for an average of 35 months.
Like many other states, Hawaii was forced to take action on the program because Congress hasn't agreed on the issue. The changes, though, show some of the same themes expected to emerge from the Republican Congress - principally, that the existing system encourages dependence on welfare and discourages job-hunting.
Under broad terms of the current program, a family of three in Hawaii can get $712 a month, based on a percentage of the federal poverty level. But if a parent earns $200, for example, the amount is subtracted from the welfare check so the family's income remains the same - a disincentive to work.
The reform bill would cut the monthly check to $534. In conjunction with that, however, families can keep at least 20 percent of their gross earned income plus $200 without seeing their welfare payment reduced. The measure also raises the amount of savings that will be "disregarded" from $1,000 to $5,000, and will not count the value of a car.
Proponents say recipients thus would be encouraged to hold jobs because their net income will rise on a sliding scale until they reach or exceed the federal poverty level of $1,140 a month for a family of three, and drop off the rolls.
"As long as they're able to work, and willing to work, they would come out way ahead," said Kris Foster of Human Services.
About 60 percent of the AFDC families are deemed able to work and would fall under the new rules, along with some 1,350 families who will be transferred from the state general assistance program, Foster said.
The department is expected to write to federal Health and Human Services officials this week to get permission to embark on the program.
But a serious concern is the availability of jobs in Hawaii's slow economy, especially in depressed areas like the Big Island's Hamakua coast and Molokai. An estimated 15,000 positions would be needed, and funds for placement and training are limited.
Human Services Director Susan Chandler said the question will be examined when the reform is evaluated in two years, but she hoped a turnaround in the job market would lessen the problem.
Otherwise, those who cannot find jobs because of their location may be exempt from the work requirements, she said.
"I think we've got a strong bill," she said. "And I think that the community's commitment to working with us on this will help in the long run."