FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: (202) 225-1025
May 20, 1999
No. HR-7
Congresswoman Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT), Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the effects of welfare reform. The hearing will take place on Thursday, May 27, 1999, in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include representatives from the Administration, State welfare directors, child advocacy groups, and researchers. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" (P.L. 104-193), dramatically changed American social policy. Perhaps the most dramatic change was that the entitlement-based Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program was replaced with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The new program has five major features. First, it ends the entitlement to cash welfare created by the AFDC program. Second, it creates a block grant with fixed funding that transfers a great deal of control over welfare programs to the States. Third, the law requires both States and individuals to meet stringent new work standards that require an increasing percentage of the adults on welfare to be involved in actual work; by 2002, 50 percent of the adults on welfare in every State must be involved in a work program. Fourth, it imposes strong sanctions on both States and individuals if they fail to meet program requirements. Fifth, the law imposes a five-year limit on cash welfare benefits funded by the TANF program. Taken together, these provisions represent one of the most substantial changes in a major American social program ever enacted.
It has now been well over five years since a majority of States implemented welfare-to-work programs under waivers from pre-1996 welfare law, three years since enactment of the Federal welfare reform law, and nearly two years since all States were required to implement their work programs. Many research and evaluation studies have been undertaken to study the effects of these programs on families, and many studies have already published results. Thus, it is now possible to formulate an initial judgment about whether the new work programs are having their intended effects.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Johnson stated: " The 1996 welfare reform law is one of the most important pieces of legislation enacted in recent years. Now we have a wealth of information about the effects of the legislation on welfare programs and families on welfare. We have examined this evidence carefully and come to the conclusion that so far welfare reform has been a solid success. There are some issues we need to carefully address -- and we are committed to do that -- but I believe an unbiased assessment of the evidence is that the nation's welfare programs are at last helping poor and low-income Americans find work and improve their economic status."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The goal of this hearing is to review important evidence on the effects of welfare reform, more specifically, information available on the details of state implementation, State spending, caseload declines, women's labor force participation, poverty, and the income of female-headed families.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, June 10, 1999, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Human Resources office, room B-317 Rayburn House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.