2005 Senate Bill 271 ↩

Senate Roll Call 417: Passed

The House-Senate conference report for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2005-2006 Department of Social Services budget (welfare budget). This appropriates $4.425 billion in adjusted gross spending, compared to $4.291 billion, which was the FY 2004-2005 amount enrolled in 2004. Of this, $1.081 billion will come from the general fund (funded by actual state tax revenues), compared to the FY 2004-2005 amount of $1.106 billion. This final version of the budget does not include a House-passed provision to reduce the maximum lifetime welfare eligibility period to four years, which would have removed 10,600 from the state welfare rolls. It also prohibits the department from refusing to award certain contracts to the lowest bidder because the lowest bidder does not have a unionized work force.