Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-02-17
Citizens Group Backs K
Opening Relief Rolls
To Public Inspection
CONTINUED From First Page.)

10 Public Inspection
Continued From First Page,
tains or attempts to obtain (a)
any grant or payment of public
assistance to which he is not en-
titled; (b) larger amount of
public assistance than that to
which he is entitled: or Co pay
ment Of any forfeited grant Of
public assistance; or any person
who with intent to defraud the
District of Columbia, aids or abets
In the buying or in any way dis
: posing of the real property of a
recipient of public assistance,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
etc"
Under the present District relief
system, as matter of Public Well
fare Board regulation. relief rolls
are not open to public inspection.
Present Law Cited.
Present law and regulations
contain no Jail or fine penalty
for unauthorized disclosure or re-
ceiving of such information. Of
.ficialS explain, however, that Dis
trict employees who give out data
of that kind to unauthorized per-
sons could be discharged.
AS for attempts to defraud the
District in getting or using public
assistance payments, present law
provides a maximum penalty of al
$500 fine and year in jail in the
case Of payments for aid to de-
pendent children and for the blind
and a $500 fine and six months in
Jail in the case of old age as
distance payments.
= Some question arose yesterday
ms to how the trainers of the bill,
introduced by request in the Sem
ate by Senator Pastore, Democrat.
of Rhode Island, happened to
contain the $500-six months pen
atty provision for violations of
relief roll information.
No Precedent to Follow.
!. Assistant Corporation Counsel
irving Bryan said "there was no
particular significance to that
penalty" He said the bill had
no precedent to follow in speci-
tying penalty in the "confiden-
tiality" section.
!. He indicated that the main
reason for insertion of the $780,
six months provision was that
violations would be misdemeanorsI
and therefore subject to a penalty
in that general range of fines
and jail sentences.
The secrecy section has causedI
great controversy, including a diff
ference of opinion among the Dis
trict Commissioners. Commits
sioner ]. Russell Young and Engi-
aleer Commissioner Robinson OPP
pose secrecy. Commissioner FL
Joseph Donohue favors it, as does
the Board of Public Welfare.
8 Perhaps" Mr.. Donohue said inl
q radio interview last night over
Station WWDC. eff the many per-
sons who have come to me COM
planning Of their inability to OBJ
tain relief, or Of the inadequacy|
of the payments they do receive,
had taken their complaints to my
colleagues on the Board of Com
.missioners, and perhaps if they
had given full weight to the fact
that no employable person may
obtain relief, they would appre-
ciate the abject misery of those
who are the benef1ciaries of our
public responsibility and would
be moved to spare them the last
lash OF scorn-a publication of |
their status
Jenner Amendment Cited.
Advocates of opening relief roles
to public inspection have declared
that they do not favor wholesale
publication of names and circum-
stances surrounding assistance
payments.
= The issue arose last year fol-
lowing enactment of the JennerI
amendment to national tax bill.
The amendment provided that al
State or political subdivision
which opened it's relief rolls to
public examination could not
thereby be deprived of Federal
assistance funds.
Because the Jenner amendment
did not apply directly to the Dis
itrict situation, a separate bill was
introduced in Congress. Through
Q misunderstanding, Commission
ers Young and Robinson approved
the bill with its secrecy provision
but later withdrew their support
of that section.
AS the Senate District welfarel
subcommittee prepared for hear
ngs Thursday under the chair
manship of Senator Pastore, sew
eral members of the full committee
voiced divergent views yesterday
on whether the roster of Wash
fngton's relief recipients should bel
made public. Besides the Pastore
bill there are other proposals both
for keeping the lists secret or
making them public at least under
some limitations.
Hunt Opposes Publicity.
Senator Hunt, Democrat of Wy
oming, said he opposed publicity