Use your browser's back button to return to Senator Rockefeller's Webpage.

ROCKEFELLER CALLS COMPROMISE LEGISLATION A STEP FORWARD FOR WELFARE REFORM
-Senator to Fight for Additional Child Care Funding-

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) described the welfare reform bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee today as a solid step forward in helping families move to self-sufficiency, while reaffirming his commitment to fight for additional child care funding. Rockefeller, a senior member of the Finance Committee, voted for the compromise legislation, which included a number of his provisions improving child care funding, flexibility, as well as educational and vocational opportunities, from Rockefeller’s original bill and tripartisan principles in which he was a key negotiator.

"The goal of the original welfare reform legislation in 1996 was to promote work and self-sufficiency, and it has been very successful in moving toward that. The bill we passed in the Senate Finance Committee today improves upon this program through additional funding for child care, transportation, and promoting training and education," Rockefeller said. "While this legislation strikes a good compromise, I am committed to fight for more funding to provide safe, affordable child care because no mother should ever have to choose between a job and the safety and health of her children."

Rockefeller continued, "Increasing the funding for child care is absolutely critical if we expect parents to be able to work. In West Virginia and in most states, child care for a toddler costs more than tuition at a public college. Parents who are moving from welfare to work must have safe and affordable child care to make that transition a success."

The legislation, which reauthorizes the Temporary Assistance To Needy Families (TANF) program for an additional five years, includes:

An additional $38.5 million in child care funding for West Virginia over five years;

A new TANF supplemental grant for West Virginia, totaling $11 million a year;

A provision which ensures that two-parent families are not penalized;

An increase in work requirements from 20 to 24 hours per week, plus at least 6 hours of training and other support programs totaling 30 hours;

Protections for workers that are afforded by the federal government including safety and discrimination laws;

Greater flexibility for education and training by increasing time limits from 12 to 24 months for vocational education, and including the Parents-As- Scholars program. The Parents-As-Scholars program gives states the authority to allow 10 percent of parents receiving assistance to enroll in higher education;

Funding for business link grants, which are competitive grants to support public and private partnerships to help parents get jobs;

And, additional funding giving states the flexibility to use TANF funding to help provide transportation for recipients to and from work.

"West Virginia is working hard to succeed in welfare reform, and I am dedicated to do everything I can to help them stay on this path. In my state, as in other states across the country, it is critical to protect flexibility and set reasonable standards. That’s why I made a commitment to keep the overall time requirement at 30 hours, fight for necessary child care funding, and retain flexibility for state funding so they are able to provide assistance with transportation," Rockefeller added.

###