CONGRESS Welfare bill is hung up in Senate

Republicans will try to speed the bill's passage, but it might be set aside.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- There's one point, at least, on which Senate Democrats and Republicans agree: Welfare legislation would pass the Senate easily if it could reach a final vote.
But so far it hasn't, and Democrats and Republicans in the closely divided Senate disagree on who is to blame for holding up the legislation to renew the 1996 welfare law.
Republicans, who hold 51 seats in the Senate, planned to try today to speed the bill's passage by forbidding debate on unrelated items, but they'll need 60 votes to prevail. If they can't get 60 votes, the legislation could be set aside.
Law extended
The welfare law, credited with reducing welfare rolls by nearly 60 percent, expired in 2002, but it has been extended several times to give Congress more time to act. The latest extension is set to expire June 30.
The House welfare bill approved last year on a party-line vote would require more single mothers to work and provide hundreds of millions of dollars to promote marriage.
The bill would strictly limit how much time most welfare recipients can spend in education and training programs; would require states to put more welfare recipients to work; and would require each person to work more hours.
It would limit people to five years of benefits over their lifetimes and would provide $16.5 billion a year for states to run their programs and offer a modest increase in child-care spending. Legal immigrants would still be unable to benefit from aid programs under the legislation.
Senate version
The Senate version also would require more hours of work each week, but not as many as the House bill. The Senate also voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to add $6 billion for child care, despite objections from the White House that the money is not needed.
But before the legislation makes it through the Senate, Democrats want votes on raising the minimum wage, extending federal unemployment insurance and stopping planned changes to overtime rules that would strip extra pay from workers now eligible for the benefit.
"The idea that the minimum wage is unrelated to the underlying bill defies any logic," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said.
Republicans say that those provisions are meant to highlight Democratic issues in an election year, and contend that they are part of an ongoing campaign of obstruction by Democrats trying to prevent the Republican-led Congress from passing major legislation.
Those votes would be allowed to take place, GOP leaders say, if Democrats would agree not to block Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from naming negotiators to work out differences in the legislation with the House.
Have been protesting
Democrats have been protesting what they say is a pattern of being shut out of the negotiating process.
"We're willing to pay a ransom, but we want to make certain we'll get the victim back," said Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., who said Democrats could still effectively stop the legislation without the agreement on negotiators.
Republicans acknowledged they're reluctant to vote on the Democratic amendments. "Why put our members through the whole litany of Democratic political votes for no discernible gain?" said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.
Last week, Republicans sidelined a corporate tax bill after they lost a similar fight to limit debate and prevent a vote on the overtime issue.