Committee on Ways and Means
 Subcommittee on Human Resources

For Immediate Release
Contact: Press Office 202-225-8933
September 30, 2002

Senate Fails to Reauthorize Welfare Reforms

Successful Program on Life Support, says Herger

WASHINGTON - On the official expiration date of the landmark 1996 welfare reform law, Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) today called once again for the Senate to act on a 5-year reauthorization bill of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.

“The 1996 welfare reform law is the most successful social program in 60 years. It is a shame that the Senate is only able to pass a three-month extension of a program that has produced such tremendous results,” Chairman Herger stated. “Right now, welfare reform is on life support, and the Senate must act to revive these powerful reforms.”

On September 26, 2002 the House and Senate passed a short extension of the TANF program, providing for three months of continued assistance to low-income families. Today, the President signed the bill, a continuing resolution to provide for the ongoing appropriations of a broad range of Federal programs.

TANF has lifted nearly three million children from poverty, tripled the share of welfare recipients who work in exchange for their benefits, and reduced welfare dependence by nearly 60 percent.

Detailed results of the 1996 welfare reform law are summarized in a document to follow.

• The share of recipients who work tripled between 1996 and 2000. (HHS)
• The work rate for all never-married mothers rose 40% between 1995 and 2000. (Census)
• Wages for single mothers are up nearly 30% since 1993, and for single mothers at the bottom of the wage scale, the increases were especially dramatic. (Urban Institute)
• The poorest 40% of single mother families increased their annual earnings by about $2,300 per family on average between 1995 and 1999, after adjusting for inflation. (CRS)

• Welfare caseloads fell 60% nationwide, to their lowest levels since 1965. Welfare rolls dropped by nearly 3 million families and 9 million recipients since 1994. (HHS)
• This change is unprecedented in American history. Good economic times alone can’t explain the decline - in the 1980s expansion, welfare caseloads actually grew 12%.
• National caseloads continued to fall during 2001 even as the economy was in recession.

• Opponents predicted 1 million children would be cast into poverty. (Urban Institute)
• In contrast nearly 3 million children have been lifted out of poverty since 1996. (Census)
• Overall child poverty rates are at their lowest since the 1970s. Poverty rates for black children and children living with single mothers are at record lows. (Census)

• Job training, education, Medicaid, and Earned Income Credits support work over welfare.
• Fixed welfare and growing child care funds despite caseload declines meant Federal cash/child care support per family on welfare more than doubled to over $8,000 per year.
• Means-tested benefits totaled $400 billion in 2000, vs. $200 billion in 1990. (Green Book)

• Despite gains, most welfare recipients still do not work or prepare for work. (HHS)
• Too many families break up or never form - 1 in 3 births is out-of-wedlock, including 7 in 10 births to black mothers. (CDC)
• Key features of the 1996 law expired on September 30, 2002.

• The House passed legislation (H.R. 4737) in May to extend and strengthen welfare reform.
• The full Senate has not acted on a 5-year reauthorization bill. The Finance Committee approved a bill in June. But it guts work requirements and time limits, does nothing to promote healthy marriages, and busts the budget, increasing spending at least $9 billion above the House level over 5 years.
• Just four days before the TANF programs were due to expire, the House passed a three-month extension of the historic 1996 reforms. The Senate passed the measure later that evening.

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