The Bush Proposal for TANF Reauthorization

On February 26 President Bush released his proposal for reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. Speaking at a Catholic church in Washington DC, the President announced that his Administration "will pursue four important goals to continue transforming welfare in the lives of those that it helped. We will strengthen work requirements. We must promote strong families. We will give states more flexibility and we will show compassion to those in need." A close reading of the Administration proposal suggests that, while it does contain some positive features, it leaves much to be desired, particularly with regard to being "compassionate to those in need."

BACKGROUND

In 1996 Congress passed legislation that dramatically altered the nation's welfare system, ending a 60-year-old entitlement to cash assistance for low-income families with children by creating in its place a far more restricted program. Known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), the new program featured a "work first" approach to benefits, requiring all but the most disabled adult participants to be employed within two years of enrolling for cash benefits. The legislation also set a lifetime limit on participation in TANF by adults at 60 months.

TANF provided a block grant to the states, at a total of $16.5 billion per year, a figure based on caseloads in the previous entitlement program as of 1994. It was enacted as part of a budget reduction measure and it did, indeed, reducing the budget substantially - in small part by reducing caseloads through terminating benefits for those who did not comply with program requirements, but to a far greater extent by ending food stamp and cash assistance benefits for legal immigrants and some handicapped people and sharply curtailing food stamps for childless unemployed adults. (Congress subsequently reinstated some of these benefits for children and handicapped people.)

The law's purposes were to: "(1) provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; (2) end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; (3) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and (4) encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families." There was no reference to reducing poverty or to improving child well-being, despite the emphasis on family structure.

WORK REQUIREMENTS

Current law requires states to ensure that 50% of all families that include an adult and receive TANF benefits are engaged in work or work-related activities for 30 hours per week. The President's plan would increase the participation rate to 70% by 2007, and increase the number of hours worked to 40 per week. The President also proposes to eliminate the Caseload Reduction Credit, a current provision that allows states that reduce their caseloads to reduce their participation rates accordingly. Many states now have mandated participation rates well below 50%.

Although the recent recession appears to be winding down, unemployment is still at 5.7%, it's highest rate in several years. The Administration's increased work requirements, coupled with the elimination of the Caseload Reduction Credit, will greatly increase the number of people forced to seek employment at a time when the only jobs for which they qualify are in short supply. In addition, because the economy has been so healthy until recently, those TANF recipients who could be employed with relative ease are already working. Most of those who remain on the rolls do not work because they face serious barriers to employment, such as mental illness, drug or alcohol dependency, or lack of marketable skills. Their problems are the hardest ones to solve, and the Administration proposes no additional funding to assist them. Treatment for substance abuse and rehabilitation could count toward meeting the work requirement, but only for three months in any two years, under the Bush plan. Most experts agree that these programs require far more time to be effective.

PROMOTING STRONG FAMILIES

It is not clear how the Administration plans to meet this goal. The President would divert $300 million from other parts of TANF to subsidize state and local programs on pre-marital education and counseling and to provide bonuses for state efforts to promote healthy marriages. Grants to states would include $40 million in Fiscal Year 2002 and $73 million in FY2003 for abstinence education. Attempts to reduce out-of-wedlock births under current law have been ineffective.

One positive provision for children in the proposal to give states incentives to pass through to families more of the funds collected through the Child Support Enforcement Program. Currently funds retrieved from non-custodial parents go almost entirely to the states to reimburse them for welfare costs. Some non-custodial parents avoid paying child support because they know the money does not go to their children.

Far less helpful to needy families, however, is the Administration's proposal to hold funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant at its current inadequate level of $4.8 billion per year. One of the greatest obstacles to employment for TANF recipients is the absence of an adequate supply of safe, quality, affordable child care. Many providers are, themselves, TANF recipients or have recently left TANF, yet the salaries are so low that they have no hope of bettering their situations even though they provide a vital service. Family life cannot be strengthened if safe and appropriate care is not available for the children of working parents.

STATE FLEXIBILITY

Speaking at the National Governor's Association the day before he released his TANF proposal, President Bush said that state flexibility would be the key to TANF's success; but his plan places on states an unfunded mandate to increase work participation while eliminating the incentive to do so and providing no additional resources. The Governors asked for increased funding and reduced work requirements, pointing out that they have difficulty meeting the existing ones. The Governors have also asked for authority to broaden the range of activities that count as work. Instead, the President proposes to limit those activities severely. Some Governors want more flexibility with regard to the length of time people are allowed to receive TANF, a request the President denied. Finally, the states want the option to restore welfare benefits to legal immigrants, while the President was willing to propose only that benefits be restored for those who have been in the country for five years or more.

COMPASSION FOR THOSE IN NEED

The President proposes to hold funding for TANF at the 1994 level, a decrease of 13% in purchasing power since 1996. He proposes no increased resources for child care or any other aspect of TANF, except marriage promotion. He would reduce the options available for people who are trying to comply with work requirements, and he not allow those seeking treatment and rehabilitation for addictions to stay in programs long enough to be significantly helped. Although he would allow legal immigrants to receive TANF and Food Stamps after they have been resident in the US for five years, he offers them no opportunity for their first few years, generally the time of greatest need.

CONCLUSION

Twenty-five national religious bodies, including the Presbyterian Church (USA) have signed "A Call to Poverty Reduction in the Context or Reauthorization of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)," a statement describing principles that must guide a TANF program that would effectively reducing poverty. Evaluated by those principles, the Bush TANF proposal falls far short.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Your Members of Congress need to hear from you! Representatives and Senators should hear how people of faith feel about the Administration's proposed changes for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) legislation.

To write your members of Congress:

Senator __________
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Representative _________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

*Be sure to print your name and include your address at the bottom of your letter. It is important that your letter can be identified as coming from a constituent and also so the office can send you a reply.

MORE WAYS TO BE INVOLVED

Many Presbyterian congregations participate in Bread for the World's "Offering of Letters" in which people of faith inundate Congress with letters concerning one common issue. The 2002 theme for the letters is "Working from Poverty to Promise." More information on the Offering of Letters can be found at www.bread.org or by calling 1-800-82-BREAD. Bread for the World is a non-profit Christian organization that seeks "justice for the world's hungry people."

On May 20-22, 2002, Pentecost 2002: Speaking the Truth About Poverty will take place in Washington, D.C. This national mobilization on welfare reform plans to bring churches and faith-based organizations together to witness to Congress about the needs of those living in poverty in this country. For more information or to register, visit www.calltorenewal.com . The event is sponsored by Call to Renewal, a Christian anti-poverty organization.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

In 1997 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reminded us of these words from section 9.32 of our Book of Order: "The church proclaims the love and justice of God, and effectively ministers to Jesus Christ (Matt. 25:40) as it welcomes and cares for poor, hungry, and homeless persons and families." The Assembly continued, stating, "The basic necessities of life are essential human rights. Only government assistance programs with federally-set minimal national benefit levels can provide benefits adequate to meet basic needs and to sustain every person's participation, with dignity, in society. . . Government assistance programs should be available to all residents, regardless of residency status." The General Assembly statement reminds us, " The Reformed Tradition has a positive view of the role of government in society and of the church's responsibility for calling on government to extend compassion and justice to all people with a special preference for those caught in the web of poverty" (Minutes, pp. 554-555).