GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE
107th CONGRESS "PUNTS" WELFARE
REAUTHORIZATION TO THE 108TH
November 22, 2002
Legislative Status:
Final congressional
action on the reauthorization of the 1996 Personal Responsibility
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)(P.L. 104-193)
occurred on November 19, during the waning days of the 107th
Congress' lame-duck session. Lawmakers failed to reach
agreement on a full-fledged five-year reauthorization bill
or even a scaled-down three-year extension promoted by state-level
officials late in the session. Instead, Congress approved
a short-term extension (H.J. Res. 124) that will allow states
to receive their quarterly TANF block grant payments in
January and operate the program under current rules until
March 31, 2003. The 108th Congress will be charged
with passing a reauthorization bill before the end of March
or again extending the program.
Legislative Summary:
The House passed
the Personal Responsibility, Work and Family Promotion Act
(H.R. 4737) on May 16. The House bill largely mirrors the
proposal put forth by President Bush in February and includes
the following:
-
increased
work requirements from 30 hours to 40 hours per week
-
increased
participation rates from 50 percent to 70 percent
-
a
more narrow definition of what counts as work
-
full-time
participation in activities to address barriers, such
as mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence,
can count as work for no more than 3 months within a 2-year
period
-
severe
limitations on access to education and training
-
authorization
for $300 million in funding for marriage promotion activities
-
requirement
that states adopt full family sanctions for non-compliance
-
minimal
increase ($1 billion) in child care funding
-
no
provisions for improving the welfare workforce
The Work, Opportunity, and
Responsibility for Kids (WORK) Act was passed by the Senate
Finance Committee on June 26, but was never considered by
the full Senate. The Work Act:
-
maintains
current hourly work requirements
-
increases
participation rates to 70 percent, but permits partial
credit for part-time workers
-
maintains
the current definition of work
-
allows
full-time participation in barrier-removal activities
to count as work for 3 months out of 24 and for an additional
3 months if combined with work or job readiness activities
-
increases
access to education and training, including post-secondary
education
-
provides
funding for a broader range of marriage promotion activities
-
authorizes
a larger, but still inadequate funding increase ($5.5
billion) for child care
-
restores,
at state option, TANF benefits to immigrants and Medicaid
and SCHIP to immigrant children and pregnant women
-
authorizes
funding ($120 million) for training caseworkers, coordinating
programs, and conducting outreach, among other activities
Prospects in the 108th
Congress: Despite
the Republican takeover in the Senate, early indications
are that the major battle lines will remain largely intact
during the next Congress. Congressional staff believe that
the House-passed H.R. 4737 and the WORK Act passed by the
Senate Finance Committee will serve as the starting points
for their respective chambers in 2003. However, the incoming
chair of the Finance Committee, Senator Charles Grassley
(R-IA), who voted against the WORK Act, released a statement
in November extolling his support for increased work requirements.
The major issues next year likely will remain: work requirements,
marriage promotion, funding levels overall, but particularly
for child care, a "superwaiver" mechanism, access
to education and training, restoration of benefits to immigrants,
and assistance to recipients with barriers to employment.
NASW ACTION
NASW opposed the House bill
and supported the basic outlines of the Senate bill, but
was advocating for a number of improvements prior to final
passage. Decisions were based largely on how well legislation
addressed NASW's three priorities for reauthorization.
Those priorities included:
(1)
changing the law's focus from caseload
reduction to poverty reduction
(2)
improving assistance to families with
significant barriers to self-sufficiency, focusing on mental
health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and civil rights
(3)
enhancing the capacity of the welfare
system infrastructure, particularly the welfare workforce
While the legislative work
was not completed this year, NASW did achieve a number of
positive outcomes.
-
NASW
submitted comprehensive recommendations to the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the reauthorization
of 1996 law, which highlighted the research of a number
of NASW members.
-
NASW
developed a comprehensive organizational strategy to strengthen
the association's influence on federal legislation by
increasing grassroots involvement and working with the
media. The strategy included development of a separate
webpage on welfare reauthorization that highlights the
scope of the association's activities (see http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/welfare/default.asp).
-
NASW
convened and chaired a national coalition on the TANF
workforce through which the association gained recognition
in Congress and among other national organizations of
the need to focus resources on improving the welfare infrastructure,
specifically the workforce.
-
NASW
was invited to participate in a major stakeholders group
advising the Senate Finance Committee on reauthorization.
-
NASW
provided input on a number of bills introduced in the
House and Senate, many of which included parts of recommendations
in the association's three priority areas.
THANKS FOR
YOUR ADVOCACY WITH THE 107th CONGRESS AND
SOON WITH THE 108th!
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