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Brownback signs bill adding welfare restrictions By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Topeka — Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill Monday that reduces the amount of time people can receive cash assistance and imposes tighter
work requirements for those people to remain eligible for the program. “It’s encouraging people to get back into the workforce sooner,” Brownback said during a bill-signing ceremony in his office. The bill is an extension
of a welfare reform bill lawmakers enacted last year called the Hope, Opportunity and Prosperity for Everyone, or “HOPE” Act, which drew national attention for limiting the types of purchases welfare recipients could make using
electronic debit cards. Under current law, there is a lifetime limit of 36 months for people to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Family benefits, or TANF. That can be extended to 48 months under certain
hardship conditions. Senate Bill 402, which its supporters call “HOPE Act 2.0,” reduces that limit to 24 months, with possible hardship extensions to 36 months. The bill requires stricter verification of all adults
living in a household that receives TANF benefits and says an entire family becomes ineligible if one adult in the household has reached his or her 24-month limit. Please see WELFARE, page 4A
Housing issue rules budget forum
Purple rain
By Nikki Wentling Twitter: @nikkiwentling
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
RAIN FALLS ON FLOWERS ON THE KANSAS UNIVERSITY CAMPUS MONDAY as a passerby with an umbrella walks in the background. Today’s forecast calls for more rain in the morning with a high temperature in the low 60s.
Union proposes pay raises for district’s teachers By Rochelle Valverde Twitter: @RochelleVerde
Despite uncertainty in state funding, negotiators with the Lawrence school district’s teachers union would like to ensure all teachers see a boost in their wages next school year. At their meeting
Monday, union neoverall in funding, gotiators told disit’s not easy,” said trict leaders that David Reber, lead recruitment and negotiator for Lawretention of highrence Education quality teachers Association. “But should be a budget SCHOOLS we think it could be priority regardless done.” of trends in funding. The LEA proposal “When numbers are would raise every teachstagnant or decreasing er’s base pay by $250 per
year, as well as fully fund the pay increases they receive for additional years of experience and additional college degrees. Those increases would cost the district an estimated $780,000 next year. Reber said that although the proposed increase is modest, it’s
important to teachers. “I think $250 bucks for a year comes out to what — about $20 bucks a month,” Reber said. “For each individual it’s not a tremendous amount of money, but it sends a good message either way.” Please see TEACHER, page 4A
Hybrid Mexican/Italian restaurant coming soon Town Talk
Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
T
hink of the possibilities: tacos with breadsticks and marinara; chicken Parmesan with chips and salsa. I know it sounds like an impossible dream, a world where you can have your cake and eat it too (maybe with queso dip,) but I assure you it is not. Instead, it is Lawrence’s newest restaurant
concept. The word is out that the old El Mezcal restaurant near 23rd and Iowa streets soon will be Vecinos Italian & Mexican Cuisine. “You can get lasagna with a side of beans and rice, if you want,” said Kevin Jones, the chef and one of the owners of the new venture.
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A.M. showers Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 61
Low: 43
Today’s forecast, page 6A
I had not thought of that one, and now I won’t be able to sleep. Understand, though, you don’t have to mix and match your Italian and Mexican cuisines. It is an option, but perhaps a more likely scenario is you want Mexican food, while someone else at your table wants Italian. Jones said the concept has
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been well-received with the people he’s shared it with. “A lot of people tell me that those are their absolutely two favorite types of food,” Jones said. (They are certainly two of my top four. Free and plentiful also make the list.)
About 80 people on Monday attended the second public input session on Lawrence’s 2017 budget, about seven times as many than attended the first. City leaders hosted the two meetings to gain feedback on what services should be prioritized as commissioners begin forming the 2017 budget. Members of Justice Matters, a consortium of 22 local religious organizations, made up most of the crowd and steered much of the conversation toward one issue in particular: affordable housing. “The day has arrived when we put some money where our mouth is on affordable housing,” said Ben MacConnell, lead organizer for Justice Matters. “This commission is different than the last several, and I think they have a mandate to be the peoples’ commission.” The two-hour discussion was punctuated by raised voices and occasional applause. The room broke out into cheers when MacConnell said: “I’ll be honest; I’ll be gravely disappointed if this City Commission doesn’t take the priority of affordable housing and do something very meaningful with it in short order.”
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Please see BUDGET, page 6A
Vol.158/No.138 26 pages
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