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NEWS
Income Support Recipients May not Have to Refund Money
by G. Kleiman
Professor Yochanan Stessman, director general of Bituach
Leumi, told Yated on Sunday that he hopes that income
support recipients will not have to refund money they have
already received. He is working hard to that end, and has
enlisted the support of Minister of Social Welfar Orlev (NRP)
and the head of the Knesset Finance Committee Avraham
Hirshson among others.
Tens of thousands of eligible income-support recipients
recently received letters from Bituach Leumi notifying them
they would be required to return thousands of shekels they
have received since the beginning of January 2003, according
to reports last week. The retroactive demand comes in
addition to the 30 percent cut in income-support payments
[havtachat hachnasah]--an average reduction of NIS 600
per month--scheduled to go into effect this week.
The cut was approved by the government and the Knesset in
December and took effect in January even though it was only
scheduled to be implemented in June due to technical
difficulties. According to the law recipients are required to
return the money they have already received. Some 108,000
people receive income support, including widows and divorced
and single-parent mothers already below the poverty line.
In the letters sent Bituach Leumi promised the entire sum
would not be collected immediately and when a decision was
made to collect it, payments would be spread out over several
months. The letter also states income-support recipients may
appeal the requirement at regional labor courts.
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