A bill requiring public-assistance beneficiaries to show documents to prove citizenship or immigration status encountered opposition at a Committee of Judiciary public hearing Thursday.
Patrick Henneger, chief of staff for state Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, said people who currently receive benefits such as medical assistance or food stamps only have to declare they are citizens or lawful immigrants. This bill, introduced by Reynolds and state Sen. Joseph Leibham, R-Sheboygan, seeks to tighten requirements for receiving benefits and penalize those who submit false documentation.
Family Service Legislative Liaison Ron Hermes, who opposed the bill, said, we have not seen a problem with ineligible individuals using these services.\ Hermes said this bill would unreasonably burden many eligible residents of Wisconsin who do not have birth certificates or passports. He also said this bill goes further than the requirements on the federal level. Starting July 1, 2006, the federal government would require citizenship documents for government benefits.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin submitted written testimony opposing this bill. Chris Taylor, political director of the organization, wrote that 57 percent of the people who use their medical services are at or below the federal poverty level. The testimony cited a report from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities stating adults who make less than $25,000 a year are twice as likely not to have a passport or a birth certificate.
During the hearing, state Rep. Robert Turner, D-Racine, questioned the lack of fiscal note in the new verification requirements because the submitted bill didn't include this estimate. Hermes said the estimates put the financial burden at $6.5 million for the first year alone.
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Research Director Jon Peacock said this would increase the workload of already overworked caseworkers. ""Senate Bill 567 could potentially weaken the health safety net by increasing the number of people who cannot negotiate the additional red tape, and it might weaken the ability of Wisconsin residents to access public health clinics,"" he said in a statement.
Wisconsin Counsel of Churches submitted a written testimony of their opposition to this bill. They said, ""[the bill] would unfairly prevent or discourage citizens from receiving public benefits for which they are lawfully eligible—which could have damaging consequences for the whole community.""
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