Budget writers in the Vermont Senate have completed work on their version of a fiscal 2014 state budget that includes new limits on a key welfare-to-work program.
The Senate's budget of $1.362 billion is about $2 million less than the budget the House passed about a month ago. It does not put as much money into reserve funds as the House did.
On the state's Reach Up program, which is designed to get recipients of public assistance into the workforce, both the House and Senate would limit participation to five years, with certain exceptions.
The Senate reduced from two years to one the length of time a new mother would get benefits while caring for her baby before being expected to return to the work.
