Evening star., 1941-08-07
Bill Is Drafted
To End Power Of
We|fare'board
Commissioners Seek
To Have Authority
Centralized in Them

Congress shortly will be asked to
revamp the Districts welfare system
to centralize authority in the Com
missioners and to convert the Board
Of Public Welfare into an advisory
body, District officials revealed to-
day.
A bill to this effect has been pre-
pared by Corporation Counsel Rich
mond B. Keech, at the direction OF
the Commissioners, and will be sent
to the Budget Bureau for the Gus
tomary check there en- route to Con-
gresS.
Recently, several members of Con-
gress interested in District affairs,
are reported to have voiced support
for the proposal.
Disclosures were made last month
that the Federal Social Security
Board had raised several questions
about the legal basis Of the District
welfare system. The Federal board
held up Federal grants in aid to the
District for August and September
because the District government was
found, after months of discussion,
still not in compliance with cer-
tain requirements for such grants
specified by the Social Security Act.
"Single Agency" in Question.
Under the tentative draft of the
proposed legislation plenary powers
now exercised by the Welfare Board
would be taken from it, with the
exception of a few specified details.
and transferred to the Commis-
sioners, who would be authorized
clearly to delegate such authority
as it deemed necessary to the di-
rector and other administrative Of
| ficers in the Welfare Department.
One of the questions raised by the
Federal board was whether the Dis
trict had single State agency
in charge of administration of re-
lief grants, as is required for a
local jurisdiction to be eligible for
Federal grants for the needy blind.
aged, and families with dependent
children.
In recent months an issue has
developed between the Commission
ers and the Welfare Board over
new welfare director to succeed Rob-
ert E. Bondy, who resigned from the
welfare post to take responsible
position with the American Red
Cross. Under law, the new appoint
ment must be made by the Com
misSioners upon nomination by the
Welfare Board. The Welfare Board
nominated Ray L. Huff, now general
superintendent Of District penal in
stitutions. His name was rejected
by the Commissioners and when
they asked the Welfare Board to
submit a new" nomination the
board resubmitted the name of Mr..
HUH. This renewed nomination
has been placed on the shelf" but
the Commissioners are expected to
reject 1t again eventually.
The Commissioners had indicated.
although they insisted they had not
issued orders" that they thought
Paul Edwards, District w. P. A. ad-
mlnistrator, would make a good
welfare director. In view of the
delay, however, 1t is not certain
| AsAA' In a. 10 WALL COllIllue lIlQ6U-
nitely available for the job.
Responsibility Pointed Out.
District officials made clear re-
Gently that selection of a new well
fare director is but one question
involved in consideration given for
several months to revision of the
whole welfare setup. One District
official described the problem this
way:
I'VE now have very complicated
set of laws and complicated, inter-
locking machinery. There are very
sincere persons on the Welfare
Board. but frequently the present
machinery just simply bogs down.
The Commissioners always hold the
final responsibility and yet they do
not have a free hand to meet that
obvious responsibility"
While it might be expected that
members of the Board of Public
Welfare would resist any move to
strip prerogatives and power from
that board, as given to it in the
Welfare Act of 1926, several officials
said today they expected some
would agree TO at least q few
changes.