New Legislation Enables Car Ownership To Immigrants

Governor George Pataki last week signed into law legislation that would allow welfare recipients to save money towards the purchase of an automobile, allowing them to get and hold down jobs in areas not serviced by public transportation.
Traditionally, citizens recieving monetary aid from the government would be rejected from such a financial program if they were found to have large amounts of money in the bank accounts. The predicament usually results in either the recipient hiding the savings from the government or not saving at all and remaining jobless and on the welfare rolls.
This new law, however would let welfare recipients open a bank account specifically for the purpose of buying a car, saving up to $4,650. The law also authorizes the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to ensure that the money saved in these bank accounts are not used for any other purpose. "This new law will allow even more new Yorkers to obtain and hold on to a job so that more families can pursue their version of the American Dream through work," said Governor Pataki. "This is a welcome step forward in ensuring that individuals can move readily towards self-sufficiency," said Manhattan Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick. "I am very gratified and I hope that we will continue to move in this direction."
Though the law mainly accommodates people living in Upstate New York, where public transportation is in many areas nonexistent, welfare recipients in our own county can benefit from this new legislation. Although Queens enjoys an extensive mass transit system, there are parts that remain inaccessible by subway and/or bus. Also welfare recipients can live in the five boroughs and commute to parts of the Tri-state area where the competition for jobs is less.
This new law is the latest in a series of changes brought about in New York since 1995 that have led to an unprecedented drop in the welfare caseloads in the State. Since 1995 welfare cases in the Empire State have dropped by more than 950,000, its lowest level since 1966. According to the New York City Human Resources Administration, currently 15,446 of the 29,024 people on the Citys workfare program are employed, working their way towards independence and improved self-esteem. As of July of this year Queens made up 18,986 of the Citys 228,183 cases.
Thanks to this new law the limitations of the old welfare program have loosened dramatically for many in New York.