BILL REQ. #:  S-1704.1 

Read first time 02/16/09.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to applications for public assistance from persons currently ineligible to receive assistance; and amending RCW 74.08.060.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 74.08.060 and 1985 c 335 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department shall ((be required to)) approve or deny the application within forty-five days after ((the)) filing ((thereof)), and shall immediately notify the applicant in writing of its decision((: PROVIDED, That)). If the department is not able within forty-five days, despite due diligence, to secure all information necessary to establish ((his)) eligibility, the department ((is charged to)) shall continue to secure such information ((and)). If such information, when established, makes the applicant eligible, the department shall pay ((his)) the grant from the date of authorization or forty-five days after the date of application, whichever is ((sooner.
     Any person currently ineligible, who will become eligible after the occurrence of a specific event, may apply for assistance within forty-five days of that event)) earlier, except that the department shall not make payments during any period of time in which the applicant is ineligible for public assistance as an inmate of a public institution under RCW 74.08.025(1)(c).
     The department ((is authorized)) may, in respect to work requirements, ((to)) provide employment and training services, including job search, job placement, work orientation, and necessary support services to verify eligibility.