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TANF REAUTHORIZATION 2002 -- HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO (Extensions of Remarks -
June 13, 2002)
[Page: E1038] GPO's PDF
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HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO
OF OREGON
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
- Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, well before the Republican majority forced
passage of the 1996 ``Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act'' (PRWORA)---the so-called welfare reform package--Oregon
pioneered several welfare and poverty alleviation initiatives and landmark
education and training programs.
The 1996 welfare bill allowed states, like Oregon, a waiver to continue their
successful social assistance programs with minimal federal interference.
- Oregon was able to offer such programs as the JOBS welfare-to-work program
and the JOBS Plus program that assists in job placements in fields with
opportunities for real career advancement and makes an impact not just in the
caseloads, but in poverty alleviation. Oregon was also one of the first states
to include innovations like incentives for employers to train and hire welfare
recipients.
- There are a number of proposed changes to the Temporary Assistance to Need
Families (TANF ) reauthorization
that will end up costing Oregon more and reduce its flexibility in delivering
innovative, individualized programs.
- Under current law, adults have two years to find a job before losing their
welfare benefits. One of the most important factors in finding a stable job at
a living wage is education. That's why I've advocated that any reforms allow
recipients to enroll in two-year college or four-year university programs, job
training or professional
development programs, or rehabilitation programs for mental health, substance
abuse, or domestic violence, without hurting their eligibility for benefits.
Over 50 percent of the poor in Oregon have, for one reason or another, not
completed high school. Over 35 percent of the poor in Oregon have only an
eighth-grade education or less. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
of the 30 fastest growing, well-compensated occupations, only five can be
accomplished with short-term training .
- With Oregon suffering from the highest unemployment rate in the nation at
nearly 8 percent, and many Oregon counties at double-digit unemployment,
education becomes even more important during these tough economic times to
ensure living wage jobs. The facts are shocking. A single mom with two
children will
[Page: E1039] GPO's PDF
only
earn $13,520 a year before taxes working a full-time minimum wage job and not
receive TANF benefits because
the minimum wage--$6.50/hour in Oregon--is too high to qualify. This is
nowhere near the federal estimate of a living wage for a family of three of
$34,429 (or $16.55/h). The Republican proposal doesn't even address how Oregon
can resolve this disparity. Instead, they leave it to each state to address.
Oregon is drastically cutting social service programs in order to deal with a
near billion dollar deficit. I can't imagine the state will find resources to
deal with this issue.
- Equally important is the amount of time TANF recipients spend at work
activities and the quality of these activities. I'm concerned about proposals
advocating 40 work hours per week, either implicitly or explicitly stated,
that will push recipients into ``workfare'' programs that fail to increase
earnings or opportunity. Forty hours of direct work is unrealistic for most
TANF recipients because of the
other support programs--like training , job search assistance,
counseling--that recipients need to participate in.
- Education, training and
ensuring a living wage are only part of a successful plan to allow recipients
to become more self-sufficient. Many working mothers depend on child care.
I've always supported significantly increasing funding for the Child Care
Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The CCDBG is currently funded at $2.21
billion nationally, which means $2.5 million for Oregon. This funding doesn't
come close to meeting demand. A 2000 Radcliffe Public Policy Center study
found that for families under 200 percent of the poverty level, the most
likely reason parents lose jobs is because of a lack of child care. The
Republicans claim that the TANF
bill commits $6 billion towards child care but looking at the fine print, the
Republicans have made mandatory only $2.9 billion and merely authorized
another $3.1 billion. A good press hit in an election year, but given the
disastrous federal budget situation, it's unlikely that child care funding
will ever reach its full authorized level.
- Like many of my colleagues, I want make sure states have some degree of
flexibility in implementing TANF
and allow a measure of program coordination with other social assistance
initiatives. But I'm also concerned that the Republicans have included a
completely unnecessary provision in this legislation that would override, at a
governor's request, Congressional authorization and appropriations laws
related to a range of social assistance programs. This so-called
``superwaiver,'' would allow the diversion of funds from some programs to
others and trump Congressional funding decisions. The superwaiver allows
states to circumvent the legislative intent and programmatic standards in the
name of state flexibility. Significant amounts of money are involved, too.
Programs--like TANF , food
stamps, job training under the
Workforce Investment Act--slated for superwaiver authority are going to
receive $65 billion in FY2002 and, according to Congressional Budget Office
estimates, will receive nearly $669 billion over the next ten years. This puts
an enormous amount of money outside normal Congressional oversight.
- Finally, I'm concerned that the TANF block grant of $16.5 billion to
states has not even increased with the rate of inflation since it was
instituted in 1997. By 2007, the block grant will lose nearly 22 percent of
its value. This needs to change.