Gov.: State didn't seek welfare waivers

Associated Press

Updated: Aug 8, 2012 8:26 PM

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Gov. Bob McDonnell, soon to be Republican Mitt Romney's host for a Virginia bus trip, has picked up on Romney's disputed claim that President Barack Obama had gutted welfare reform work requirements.  

Obama's July directive grants requests from states, including Republican governors, for more flexibility in setting work requirements under welfare, known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Romney sought greater TANF flexibility in 2005 as Massachusetts' governor.

Obama's directive requires states to show more recipients being moved from welfare to work.

McDonnell said he knew of no welfare waiver request from his administration. He said that because Obama once opposed welfare work requirements, it's clear Obama's administration would grant far more lenient exemptions from work requirements.McDonnell joins Romney for his bus tour in Virginia on Saturday.

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