House Ways and Means Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-TX) and U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) today reintroduced the “Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services for Success Act” or “JOBS for Success Act,” to help low-income families find work by providing job training and other resources to help parents secure good-paying jobs.
“We should be building on the success of welfare reform, but instead, President Biden is using temporary emergency COVID relief as a backdoor to create permanent new welfare-without-work entitlement programs,” said Rep. Brady. “Republicans are linking work to benefits in the JOBS for Success Act, investing in marginalized workers, promoting case management, and developing the workforce. With 9.3 million job openings and national worker shortage in a post-COVID economy, Americans shouldn’t be paid to sit on the sidelines.”
“Finding and keeping a job is the best way for families to move toward self-sufficiency,” Senator Daines stated. “My bill recognizes that there is dignity and hope in work. We need to do more to give families a hand-up, not simply a handout, and provide the resources they need to secure a brighter future.”
For bill text, click HERE.
This bill will reform the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to ensure families utilizing this program receive the assistance, training, and services needed to connect them with jobs and succeed in the workforce. The introduction of this TANF reform legislation follows the 25th anniversary of the TANF program’s creation.
Daines and Brady are hosting a bicameral roundtable discussion on the importance of reforming TANF tomorrow, July 19th.
Background:
Work requirements were a core component of the historic bipartisan welfare reforms in 1996, and proved to drive down welfare caseloads and reduce child poverty. Over the years, however, the work requirements fell flat and were ignored by many states. While current law bases TANF allotments on participation requirements that are routinely avoided, the JOBS for Success Act requires everyone to be working or seeking work.
The bill will require that the state’s case worker engage with job seekers to help them not only find a job but keep a job. The measure will help close the “jobs gap” by connecting job creators with potential workers who are currently on the sidelines.