Coalition Letter Supporting Increased Access to Education and Training for TANF Recipients

The Honorable Max Baucus
Chairman, Finance Committee
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Charles Grassley
Ranking Member, Finance Committee
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Baucus and Senator Grassley:

We, the undersigned, want to express our strong support for expanding education and training opportunities for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Particularly, we urge you to support two key pieces of legislation currently before your committee: Senator Bingaman’s Education Works Act (S. 2548) and Senator Snowe’s Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act of 2002 (S. 2552).

Training and education programs go beyond simply moving people off of welfare: they prepare people to succeed in jobs with career potential and upward mobility. Yet current law restricts the ability of TANF recipients to improve their skills, the ability of states to best match recipients to the economic opportunities in their states, and the ability of business to access a pool of skilled workers. This paradox in the law needs to be addressed. Senator Bingaman’s Education Works Act and Senator Snowe’s Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act of 2002 would do so.

The Education Works Act addresses the skills training needs of welfare recipients, increases states’ flexibility to address their particular needs, and meets the demand of local employers across the country in need of a skilled workforce. It does so by eliminating the federally imposed 12-month limit on the time TANF recipients can spend in vocational education and 30 percent cap on the amount of a state’s caseload that can be engaged in education and training. It allows states the flexibility to decide how much education is appropriate for their TANF recipients and their state’s economic circumstances.

The Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act is modeled on Maine’s successful Parents as Scholars program. The legislation allows states to establish programs to provide support services to TANF recipients engaged in post-secondary or longer-duration vocational education, and the option to allow up to 10 percent of their caseload to count their participation in a Pathways program as work. Moreover, it allows states to stop the clock for Pathways participants.

Those leaving the welfare rolls are working, but many are working in low-wage jobs that still leave them in poverty. Further, employers across the nation continue to experience a shortage of skilled workers. In order for our nation to compete in the 21st century economy, we must have a well-trained workforce. Allowing welfare recipients to upgrade their skills so that they can pursue better jobs helps meet the needs of our nation’s economy, employers and working families.

The Bingaman Education Works bill and the Snowe Pathways to Self-Sufficiency bill are key opportunities to provide for the skill building necessary for those on welfare to leave by securing good jobs that enable them to support their families. We urge your strong support for these bills.

Sincerely,