Senate Finance Committee Includes Levin-Jeffords
Amendment in Report Out of TANF Reauthorization
WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced today that the
Senate Finance Committee included an amendment that he and Senator
Jim Jeffords, I-VT, sponsored that would increase from 12 to 24
months the limit on the amount of vocational education training that
a state can count towards meeting its work participation rate. The
amendment was included in the bill reauthorizing the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which was reported out by the
Senate Finance Committee today.
"While I strongly support the emphasis on moving welfare
recipients more quickly into jobs, I am troubled by the restriction
on post-secondary education training, limiting it to 12 months,"
said Levin. "Increasing the time limit will afford poor families the
opportunity to both advance their standard of living and to get off
and remain off welfare."
Levin indicated that the current 12 month limitation on
post-secondary education training raises a number of concerns,
including the fact that individuals may be forced into low-paying,
short-term employment leading them back onto public assistance
because they are unable to support themselves or their families.
Citing recent studies, Levin noted that short-term training programs
raise the income of workers only marginally, while completion of at
least two years of post-secondary education training has the
potential of breaking the cycle of poverty for welfare
recipients.
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