On March 9, the Senate Finance Committee approved, by voice vote, a bill (as-yet-unnumbered) to reauthorize the 1996 welfare reform law (P.L. 104-193). Since its expiration in September 2002, Congress has approved eight extensions of the law. The most recent extension will expire on March 31, 2005.
In his opening remarks, Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) stated, “It is important that we move forward on the issue of welfare reform. For too many years, states have operated their welfare programs under a cloud of uncertainty. Child care funding has remained static. Because of the way the case load reduction credit has functioned most states have no effective work participation requirement. It’s important that we give states some clear direction, that we improve state flexibility, and that we strengthen work and promote healthy families. I believe that the legislation we will mark up today represents many improvements over current law.”
The measure would reauthorize for five years the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which gives block grants to states to design welfare programs that focus on moving recipients away from government dependence and into the job market. The bill also would authorize $6 billion for child care and $2 billion for the Social Services Block Grant.
Under the bill, $50 million would be provided for programs to promote responsible fatherhood, and $200 million would be authorized for programs to support healthy marriages. In addition, the measure would provide $50 million for the abstinence education block grant program.
The measure would require welfare recipients to work 34 hours per week, up from 30 hours under current law, and states would be required to put at least 70 percent of their welfare clients to work by 2010. Recipients would be required to spend 24 hours of their 34-hour week in direct work, up from 20 hours under current law, and states would have the flexibility to decide which activities, such as education or substance abuse treatment, should be included in the remaining 10 hours. In addition, a recipient could count up to 12 months of vocational education as a work activity.
Under the bill, states would be required to submit a state plan specifying performance objectives in their TANF programs. The plan should include information on employment retention and advancement, reduction of teen pregnancy, and services for struggling and noncompliant families, and for clients with special problems.
The House approved a welfare reform reauthorization bill in February 2003, but the Senate was unable to complete its consideration of the bill before the end of the 108th Congress (see The Source, 4/2/04).
