Wheels versus welfare

With the relationship between car ownership and employment so clearly documented, California should be working hard to provide low-income families access to a reliable car. And, in some areas, they do get help. Sacramento County, for example, is authorized to purchase 50 vehicles a year for county welfare recipients who lack access to public transit. If we're helping some families buy a car, wouldn't it make sense, then, to let people who have cars keep them?

And instead of investigating someone who owns a 10-year-old Honda, shouldn't district attorneys and others be concentrating their time and resources going after more costly types of fraud, such as identity theft? And shouldn't caseworkers spend more time connecting a family to vital social services than verifying the worth of its 2002 Toyota Corolla?

The County Welfare Directors Assn. thinks so, and that's why it's supporting AB 2368, a bill championed by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) -- and sponsored by the New America Foundation -- that would exclude household vehicles from consideration when determining eligibility for CalWORKS. The Assembly passed the bill and has sent it to the state Senate.

The reasoning is sound: Individuals with cars will be more likely to find a job, stay employed and move to self-sufficiency, the goal of California's welfare program. This reform will also increase efficiency by reducing paperwork and staff hours spent tracking down the value of vehicles, which the Assembly Appropriations Committee estimates would save the state more than $3 million a year.

It's about time California's welfare system catches up to the common-sense policies of states such as Kentucky, Alabama and Louisiana.