Welfare Reform
High-Priced Republican Welfare Plan Puts the Burden on States
The Republican controlled Congress has been unable to reauthorize our nation's welfare program titled Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) since it expired in 2001. Legislation that passed the House of Representatives during previous sessions would have imposed costly new funding mandates on states, which they can ill afford. Indeed, the Republican Welfare bill would have forced California to come up with an additional $3.5 billion dollars over the next five years.
Both the White House and members of Congress have praised the TANF program’s successes since its inception six years ago: welfare rolls shrank and caseloads decreased. But, if TANF has been a success, why is the White House demanding major changes to current law? The proposed changes could severely restrict California’s ability to respond effectively to the needs of its welfare recipients and, at the same time, burden the state with additional welfare expense. Simply put, the new TANF legislation rolls back welfare reform and reflects a one size fits all, Washington knows best approach. Ironically, such attitude towards TANF has doomed its reauthorization prospect for the past four years.
The Need for Flexibility
Flexibility is one of welfare reform’s greatest assets. Under current law, flexibility in the design and implementation of TANF programs has resulted in the decline of caseloads and child poverty rates in almost every state in the nation. California, for example, has significantly reduced its caseload and nearly tripled the number of employed welfare recipients. It has been recognized for its effective performance under the federal guidelines and has received nearly $82 million in federal bonuses in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, California again was singled out and awarded additional federal funds in recognition of high job retention and earnings gains of its TANF recipients. Flexibility in the implementation of welfare programs that are tailored to the specific needs of communities is the principal reason for California’s welfare reform success, both at the state and county level.
Instead of preserving this flexibility, Republicans in Congress have consistently proposed overly strict work requirements, increases non-skilled make-work jobs, and limits opportunities for educational training, all of which threatens to leave families mired in poverty. In a recent survey, state leaders and governors of both parties from across the nation agreed that the Republican welfare plan is unrealistic and administratively unworkable.
Indeed, many key provisions of the Republican welfare bill are derived from the Wisconsin welfare program implemented by Governor Tommy Thompson, President Bush's Secretary of Health and Human Services during his first term. A 2003 audit of the Wisconsin TANF program shows that 35 percent of those who left the program remain unemployed, and 66 percent of those who worked fell below the income poverty level. In effect, the majority of families moving off welfare in Wisconsin are still caught in the poverty trap. Now the Administration is asking the rest of country to adopt a similar model whose long term success is debatable and whose effectiveness in achieving poverty reduction is being questioned by the state of Wisconsin's own Department of Welfare Administration.
The Democratic Reform Plan Preserves Flexibility
I support alternative Democratic plan for TANF. Our reform plan would have built on the successes of welfare reform while attempting to address some of its flaws. The Democratic plan would have provided an extra $11 billion over five years for child care services and would have restored TANF benefits for legal immigrants. Based on legislation sponsored by Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) two years ago, the substitute also would have maintained the 30-hour work requirement for welfare recipients and would have increased the time for which vocational education could count toward participation rates from 12 months, as in current law and the House-passed bill, to 24 months.
I hope after temporarily extending the TANF program 9 times over the past 4 years, this Congress will finally agree to a more just and fair approach to reauthorizing TANF. States must be allowed to build upon their current programs, especially in a time of budgetary crisis. Families on welfare need to maintain their benefits on their way to self-sufficiency, not only in cash benefits but child care services, food stamps, mental health and substance abuse treatment, domestic violence counseling, and housing assistance.