In addition to using a family's income to determine eligibility for public benefit programs, Washington State also limits eligibility to those with few or no assets. If a family has assets over the state’s limits, it must deplete longer-term savings in order to receive what is often short-term public assistance.
Saving money and building wealth are essential for families to reach self-sufficiency. However, families who are receiving public benefits are actually penalized for saving because even modest accumulation of assets can make a family ineligible for assistance. Restrictive asset limits should be removed, and opportunities for low income families to save for their future should be encouraged.
Eliminating asset limits reduces administrative burdens and costs. Welfare reform's time limits and work requirements make asset limits obsolete. Inflation has made asset limits much stricter; many asset limits have not been changed since the 1980s. Asset limists discourage savings and investing, serving as a barrier to financial security and upward mobility for low-income families. Other states have demonstrated that eliminating asset limits has little impact on the caseload.
