Committee on Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Human Resources

For Immediate Release
Contact: Press Office 202-225-8933
April 10, 2002

WASHINGTON - At the unveiling of his welfare reform bill, Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) made the following statement:

“I am honored to be a part of our common effort to extend and strengthen the tremendously successful 1996 welfare reform law.

“This law has achieved truly historic results. Since 1996 nearly 3 million children have been lifted from poverty. Employment by mothers most likely to go on welfare rose 40 percent between 1995 and 2000. And welfare caseloads fell by 9 million -- from 14 million recipients in 1994 to just 5 million today.

“Today we begin the next step in welfare reform, based on the President’s priorities. The legislation I have sponsored will help even more low-income parents know the dignity that comes with a paycheck instead of a welfare check. Parents like so many in my district in Northern California, including some who actually feared going to work before reform. Now they are among the millions who left welfare for a better life.

“We can help even more low-income Americans improve their lives for themselves and their children. That is what the welfare reform is all about.”

Click on the link for a copy of H.R. 4090, or the letter from the Republican Governors Association.

The Personal Responsibility, Work,
And Family Promotion Act Of 2002

Introduced by Chairman Wally Herger on April 10, 2002

In keeping with the strong principles outlined by President Bush, Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources has introduced “The Personal Responsibility, Work and Family Promotion Act of 2002.”  The legislation reauthorizes the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and reflects the President’s proposals, with certain modifications.

This legislation reinforces the President’s principles, “Working Toward Independence”:

• Helping more welfare recipients achieve independence through work.

• Protecting children, strengthening families, and promoting healthy marriages.

• Encouraging new and innovative solutions to help welfare recipients gain independence.

• Maintaining full funding for TANF and child care programs, continuing the commitment Congress made in 1996 despite unprecedented welfare caseload declines.

Chairman Herger’s bill also:

• Enhances State flexibility by maintaining and updating current incentives to reduce caseloads and count those reductions toward State work requirements.

• Increases States’ flexibility in using TANF funds to provide childcare.

• Conforms work requirements to allow for sick leave and holidays.

• Offers additional incentives for States to pursue strategies to improve child well-being by strengthening families and promoting healthy marriages.

Key Components of the Legislation

 Helping Welfare Recipients Achieve Independence Through Work

• Increasing Minimum Work Requirements.  Under current law, at least 50% of TANF families are required to participate in work and other activities designed to help them achieve self-sufficiency.  The President’s plan and Chairman Herger’s bill increases the work requirement by 5% per year, so that States are required to have 70% of welfare families working and participating in other job-preparation activities 40 hours per week in FY 2007.  Chairman Herger’s legislation also allows States to continue to get “credit” toward work participation rates for caseload declines.  Under current law, States get credit for caseload declines since FY 1995; under the Herger bill, by 2005 and in subsequent years, States would get credit for caseload declines in the prior 3 years.  

• Requiring Welfare Recipients to Put in a Full Work Week.  The President’s proposal builds on the successful work requirements of the 1996 welfare reform law by requiring welfare recipients to work 40 hours per week – either at a job or in programs designed to help them achieve independence.  Chairman Herger’s bill also builds into the calculation a four-week cushion for sick leave and holidays, simulating a typical American work schedule.  The plan makes special accommodations for parents with infants and individuals who need substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation or special work-related training.  As much as two days per week can be spent in these activities and be counted as “work”.

Protecting Children & Strengthening Families

• Protecting Children by Providing Historic Child Care Funding and Increasing States’ Flexibility in Providing Child Care for Low-Income Working Families.  Chairman Herger’s bill follows the President’s recommendation to continue historically high levels of support for child care ($4.8 billion per year) through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).  Chairman Herger also increases the amount of TANF block grant funds that States can transfer to CCDBG from 30% (or 20% if a State transfers 10% to the Social Services Block Grant) to a total of 50% per year. 

• Strengthening Child Support Enforcement and Encouraging States to Give Child Support Payments to Mothers And Children.  Under current law, government keeps a substantial portion of the money collected to pay past-due child support in cases of families that have received welfare.  The President’s proposal and Chairman Herger’s bill provide financial incentives for the States to give as much of this money as possible to mothers and children, especially mothers who have left welfare.

• Encouraging Healthy Marriages and Two-Parent Married Families as a Goal.  Chairman Herger’s bill reflects the President’s plan to direct up to $300 million annually for programs that encourage healthy, stable marriages.  These programs include pre-marital education and counseling, as well as research and technical assistance into promising approaches that work.  Chairman Herger’s bill also removes disincentives in current law so States will spend more of their own funds on programs designed to achieve the important goals of promoting healthy marriages and strengthening families.

• Providing New Grant Authority to Promote Responsible Fatherhood.  Chairman Herger’s bill authorizes a $20 million grant fund, as provided for in the President’s 2003 budget and in the House Budget Resolution, to support community efforts to improve parenting skills and promote responsible fatherhood.

Encouraging Innovation by States

• Establishing Broad New Waiver Authority to Encourage State Program Innovation.  Like the President’s proposal, Chairman Herger’s bill offers new waiver authority for programs within the Ways and Means Committee’s jurisdiction to enable States to conduct “superwaiver” demonstration projects to improve program effectiveness or integrate a range of programs in order to improve service delivery.  This new flexibility, along with waiver authority to be provided by other Congressional Committee action, will help States design fully integrated assistance programs that could revolutionize service delivery.

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