Welfare Work Requirements and Education – Nebraska

State lawmakers to vote on public benefits program, By Grant Schulte (AP), March 5, 2012, Lincoln Journal Star: “Only 10 days after she gave birth to her third child, Ashley Fisher returned to her studies at Southeast Community College, and thanks to a state program, was able to receive welfare benefits while still concentrating on her education. The 26-year-old earned an associate’s degree in 2010, and now is working toward a bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Someday, the self-described small-town girl hopes to start a food pantry in rural Nebraska. Fisher credits the state’s Welfare Reform Act, a law designed to give Nebraskans on public benefits enough time to earn a diploma or degree. Lawmakers will vote on a bill (LB842) this week that would extend the program…”