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Congressional Testimony
April 11, 2002 Thursday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 2071 words
COMMITTEE:
HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS
SUBCOMMITTEE:
HUMAN RESOURCE
HEADLINE: WELFARE OVERHAUL PROPOSALS
TESTIMONY-BY: REV. NATHAN WILSON,, DIRECTOR OF
AFFILIATION: PUBLIC POLICY, CALL TO RENEWAL
BODY: Statement of the
Rev. Nathan Wilson,
Director of Public Policy, Call to Renewal
Testimony Before the
Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House
Committee on Ways and Means
Hearing on Welfare Reform Reauthorization Proposals
April 11,
2002
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee.
Thank you for
inviting me to testify this afternoon. I am Director of Public Policy for Call
to Renewal, a national network of churches and faith-based organizations who
have come together on the biblical imperative to overcome poverty. Our "Campaign
to Overcome Poverty" is one of the broadest ecumenical tables in the country for
churches involved in anti-poverty efforts. We work to network churches and
faith-based organizations into a movement, and provide a national public policy
voice. We acknowledge that the causes of poverty are complex. They include
economic inequality, lack of opportunity, and institutional racism; as well as
irresponsible personal choices and the breakdown of families and communities.
The solutions to overcome poverty are equally complex. They include employment
at a living family income, quality education, safe neighborhoods, affordable
health care and housing, strengthening families, and renewing an ethic of
personal and community responsibility.
After five years, the 1996
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act has had an
important impact in reducing the number of people on welfare through requiring
employment. A significant number of former welfare recipients are now working.
Yet far too many, especially children, remain in poverty. As the reauthorization
of
TANF approaches, there are several areas where we urge
Congress to focus.
Most importantly, we urge a conceptual shift to view
TANF and related programs through the eyes of poverty reduction
rather than simply welfare reduction. Too many of those who have moved to work
remain below the poverty line. We believe that people who are responsibly trying
to work should be able to support themselves and their families. The objective
for the next period should focus not only on caseload reduction, but also on
reducing the number of families living in poverty and increasing the number of
self-sufficient families.
We strongly urge that an explicit goal of
reducing poverty be made part of the legislative purposes of
TANF reauthorization. While there is serious debate and
difference about how best to reduce poverty, a genuine bi-partisan commitment to
that goal would significantly help to reduce the partisanship and offer the hope
of finding common ground that puts the interests of those who are poor foremost
in the legislation. The reauthorization priorities should be framed with this in
mind.
Our specific recommendations toward that objective include:
1.Fund
TANF at adequate levels with increases for
inflation. The 1996 Act funded annual block grants to the states at a fixed
$
16.5 billion per year. It should be obvious that
$
16.5 billion in 2002 is not what it was in 1996, and certainly
not what it will be by 2007. Continuing flat funding is actually a significant
cut in funding. Reauthorization should at a minimum adjust the grants for
inflation, and ideally increase the amount.
TANF should allow
states to continue to provide assistance to those remaining on welfare along
with continuing and expanding the support programs for people who have found
employment.
2.Increased work supports and outreach efforts. Many of
those who have moved from welfare to work have ended in the lowest paying jobs,
often at or near the minimum wage. Their ability to remain employed and move out
of poverty requires several important work supports.
a.Child care.
Access to safe and affordable child care is one of the major problems facing
low-income workers. To increase the work requirements and hours at work per week
without increasing the availability and affordability of childcare simply will
not work. An array of services and resources should be funded, ranging from
improved facilities to better
training for child care workers
to an increased capacity for specialized needs. The ability for states to spend
TANF funds directly on child care should be maintained along
with adequately funding the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Minimum
national standards for facilities and staff should also be established to ensure
the health and safety of children. This is in the best interests of those women
who are moving from welfare to work, but perhaps even more importantly, in the
best interests of their children.
b.Food stamps. Low-income working
families frequently report having to choose between buying food and meeting
other expenses. Yet the food stamp program is intended to assist these families.
The evidence is that families still eligible for food stamps are not receiving
them - either because they are unaware they are eligible or because application
forms and requirements are too onerous. An outreach program designed to find
eligible families along with simplified application procedures should be
developed.
c.Health insurance. While improvements have been made in the
past five years, efforts to increase the number of low-income families with
access to health insurance should be strengthened. Increased outreach to enroll
children in the Children's Health Insurance Program is essential. Eligibility
standards for Medicaid coverage should be eased, and states should be encouraged
to simplify enrollment procedures.
d.Transportation. Access to adequate
transportation between home, childcare, and work is often a major barrier to
employment. States should be encouraged to use flexibility in developing such
programs as discounted bus fares, loans for car ownership, automobile
restoration programs, and providing special bus service to places of employment.
3.Time limits. While the five-year lifetime assistance limit may have
aided in moving people from welfare to work, the reauthorization process should
re-examine it and allow for greater flexibility by the states.
a.Low-income workers. People who are working in compliance with program
rules while continuing to receive some amount of assistance to supplement low
earnings should not be subject to the time limit.
b.Allow post-secondary
education and
training and caregiving. Efforts to improve an
individual's employment skills through obtaining education or vocational
training should be permitted to count toward meeting the work
requirement. The "work first" requirement often meant that persons had to choose
between receiving assistance or improving their skills and employability. Such
initiative toward employment should be rewarded rather than penalized. For
people trying to escape poverty, serious efforts to prepare for work or enhance
training and knowledge that can lead to greater
self-sufficiency should be recognized and supported rather than penalized.
c.Waivers in areas of high unemployment. With the economy still
recovering from September 11 and a recession that led to large numbers of
layoffs and growing unemployment, states should be required to suspend the limit
when unemployment reaches a certain threshold. People who have been successfully
employed and are laid off due to economic conditions should not be denied
assistance because of an artificial time limit.
d.Limit sanctions.
Sanctions for non-compliance with program rules should be more carefully
monitored by the Department to ensure their fairness. Sanctioning an entire
family, for example, due to the failure of one member to meet a requirement
should not occur.
4. Restore
TANF and other benefits to
legal immigrants. Immigrants legally in the United States following the 1996 law
are ineligible for most forms of assistance. New legislation should reinstate
eligibility for legal immigrants to major assistance programs, particularly
TANF benefits, food stamps and Medicaid. Many legal immigrants
in the country today work hard and pay taxes, and should be entitled to
assistance when in need.
5.Address barriers to unemployment for those
remaining on welfare. Many of those still on welfare rolls face barriers to
employment, including domestic violence, substance abuse, or mental illness and
disability. States should be required to develop and fund programs that assist
people in overcoming these barriers.
6.Programs to strengthen marriage.
Our personal experience and multiple studies indicate that children raised in
single parent households are more likely to be in poverty. The evidence
increasingly shows that one of the most effective ways out of poverty is a
stable marriage. We therefore encourage initiatives to develop programs designed
to reduce single parenthood, promote responsible fatherhood, and strengthen
marriage. The pilot programs being initiated in various states should be
carefully examined to assess their success and the ability to replicate them. We
also support the elimination of provisions that discriminate against married
parents through stricter work requirements, exclusion from some programs, or
other means. It is true that healthy marriages are good for economic stability,
and it is also true that economic stability is good for healthy marriages. We
urge the Committee to find ways to do both.
7.Continue and strengthen
the charitable choice provision. Call to Renewal has supported partnerships
between faith-based organizations and government in overcoming poverty. We
believe that government at all levels - local, state, and federal - has an
important role in developing, promoting and implementing public policies to
reduce poverty. As part of that role, government and faith-based organizations
should develop partnerships that empower or fund the successful programs of both
religious and secular nonprofit organizations in ways that do not violate the
First Amendment. We believe the "charitable choice" provision in the 1996 law
should be maintained, with several changes.
a.Religious organizations
seeking government funding should be required to establish a separate tax-exempt
non-profit organization. In the five years since the passage of the original
charitable choice legislation, Call to Renewal has advised religious
organizations considering applying for government funding that it would be
prudent for them to form a separate organization. We urge this provision be
added in the final version of the reauthorization legislation.
b.Protect
the integrity of religious organizations and the religious freedom of
individuals receiving assistance. Debate in Congress on the President's
faith-based initiative led to suggested changes in the 1996 provision that
should be adopted here. Individuals seeking assistance must have clear access to
alternative religious or non-religious programs. Programs freely chosen by
individuals using vouchers can include religious activities, while any religious
activities in directly funded programs must be separately funded and voluntary.
Social services and religious activities must be kept separate, so that public
funding is for public purposes.
In closing, in addition to
TANF, we also urge Congress to support working families by:
1.Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC has been one of the
most effective poverty-reduction programs in history by reducing taxes for
low-income workers. Expanding the EITC to provide tax relief for additional
low-income families and increasing the maximum credit a family can receive would
assist additional families to continue moving from poverty to self- sufficiency.
2.Strengthening unemployment insurance. The combined effects of
September 11 and a recession have led to the highest unemployment rate in five
years. Unemployment assistance should be strengthened to provide benefits to
unemployed workers who are looking for part-time work but who meet all other
current eligibility standards, and basing eligibility on the most recent work
experience of the unemployed person.
Reducing poverty and promoting
individual responsibility for all our people are biblically rooted and morally
compelling goals. We urge the Committee to approach the issue of
TANF reauthorization with that clarity of purpose. We look
forward to a continuing dialogue with you, and stand ready to assist in whatever
ways we can. I can be reached at 328-8745, ext. 218 or at
nwilson@calltorenewal.com
LOAD-DATE: May 1,
2002