Reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Act (TANF)
In 1996, Congress and President Bill Clinton ended the welfare system and created a "workfare" system. The goal of the 1996 "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" (PRWORA) was to radically revamp "welfare" in order to decrease the number of beneficiaries on AFDC and increase employment rates for the non-working poor. For the first time, 60-month lifetime limits were placed on benefits, and welfare recipients were required to be engaged in work activity to receive assistance. Other provisions in the bill sought to decrease the number of out-of-wedlock births, and shift responsibility to the states to provide greater flexibility and experimentation in the program. Following passage of the bill, welfare caseloads decreased dramatically to 2.1 million recipients in 2000 from 4.4 million in 1996.
Many individuals receiving TANF benefits have multiple barriers to employment, such as a lack of education and training, substance abuse problems, and mental health issues. Under current law, efforts to address those employment barriers do not count toward the work requirement. The law requires states to assess participants' needs and develop an employment plan, but efforts to address mental health issues and substance abuse do not count towards fulfilling the work requirement. Further, attending vocational education or a training program for more than 10 hours per week lasting longer than 12 months does not count towards a work activity.
Spending authorization for PRWORA and its programs-including the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant, and its related programs, such as the Child Care and Development Fund, the Food Stamp Program, and the Child Support Enforcement Program-expired on September 30, 2002.
The Senate and House versions of welfare reauthorization differed considerably resulting in the 107th Congress' failure to reauthorize these programs this year.
The House passed its version of welfare reauthorization-modeled on a proposal from the Bush Administration-in May 2001, by a vote of 229-117. Entitled the "Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act" (H.R. 4737), the bill would have made the following changes to current welfare policy:
Increase work requirements for benefit recipients from 30 to 40 hours per week;
Of the 40 hour work week, require that 24 hours must be spent in actual work activities, with activities for the remaining 16 hours to be determined by the State, and potentially including education or job training;
Eliminate vocational education as an activity that states may count as a work activity;
Increase the percentage of state welfare caseloads that must be engaged in work-related activities from 50 to 70 percent by 2007;
Allow welfare recipients to attend school for four months within a two year period;
Allow up to three months, within any 24-month period, spent in full-time substance abuse treatment, rehabilitative services, work-related education or training, and job search to count toward the work requirement; and
Create a "superwaiver" by which the Executive Branch could waive, at a governor's request, most provisions of authorization and appropriations laws related to a range of low-income and other domestic programs.
Under this "superwaiver" proposal, Executive Branch officials could override nearly all provisions of law governing how these programs operate. They also could override congressional appropriations decisions by redirecting funds that Congress appropriated for one or more of programs to other covered programs, including in other federal departments. In May, ACA as part of a large coalition of over 200 organizations formally opposed the "superwaiver" proposal. ACA is concerned about the "superwaiver" and the far-reaching consequences the proposal could have on beneficiaries and providers.
On June 26, 2002, the Senate Finance Committee approved "The Work, Opportunity, and Responsibility for Kids" (WORK), the Senate companion to H.R. 4737, by a vote of 13-8. As approved by the committee, the Senate bill would have made the following changes:
Maintain the current law hour a week work requirement, but mirror the House 24 hour work-activity requirement language;
Allow up to 2 years of vocational education or community college attendance to count as work;
Allow up to eight weeks of job hunting to be considered as work;
Allow up to three months of substance abuse treatment to count as work;
Eliminate the caseload reduction credit and substitute an employment credit;
Repeal the "Illegitimate Pregnancy Reduction bonus fund" and replace it with a "Healthy Marriage Promotion" grant program;
Repeal the legal immigrant ban on participation in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program; and,
Allow information about contraceptives to be included in sex education classes.
No superwaiver proposal was included in the Senate TANF reauthorization proposals. Advocates are hopeful that the moderate Senate TANF reauthorization proposal will ease the strain, if not reverse course, created by the House bill and the previous 1996 reauthorization.
ACA TANF reauthorization priorities were circulated to Senate and House staff. ACA staff met with almost all the House Ways and Means Committee members and Senate Finance Committee members. Of particular note, Senate and House staff resisted including language to establish minimum staff qualifications for agency providers. Staff suggested that such a requirement would place an undue and costly burden on states to comply with the requirement.
Federal money continues to flow to states for the programs, but a thorough re-examination of the program has been put off until next year. ACA is working with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) on this issue, and will continue to do so in 2003.
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