Committee sends House Bill 55 to floor to clarify volunteer status for 'Percy' benefit

A sponsor introduced House Bill 55 to the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee to clarify that certain volunteer activities do not jeopardize eligibility for the Percy benefit. The sponsor said most of the background and rationale for the bill had been presented at a prior meeting and that the current presentation focused on narrowing language so volunteers serving as resource persons or helping with occasional tasks would not lose benefits.

"I've got house bill number 55. This is the 1 that dealt with the Percy being a bonafide volunteer. I spent most of the time last time giving you the background and the need for this and kinda tightening some things up and making it so some folks don't have trouble or a threat to their, Percy benefit just because they serve as a resource person or or, fields of phone calls or come in and help on a on a particular item," the sponsor said.

Committee members discussed procedure for introducing and moving the bill. Representative Fuhrman moved to introduce H0055 with a due-pass recommendation; after procedural corrections and a withdrawn motion, Representative McCann moved to send House Bill 55 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation. The committee approved the motion by voice vote with no recorded opposition.

Nut graf: The bill aims to reduce confusion about when volunteer help may affect a person's Percy benefit by tightening statutory language and clarifying the status of occasional or resource-based volunteer activity.

Ending: The committee approved sending House Bill 55 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation; the committee adjourned following the vote.