Meaningful democracy in America requires open, honest debate in the United States Congress.  The Republican leadership has blocked this opportunity by passing a rule that only allows for one substitute amendment.  Their new rule just passed today is equally restrictive.

Welfare reform affects every state and locality throughout the country.  Members have a right to engage in extended dialogue on this legislation and to offer amendments to strengthen the bill.  This is particularly necessary due to the numerous problems with HR 4735.

This so-called welfare reform bill level funds one of the most important national programs Congress has ever created and imposes massive, costly new mandates on states that they cannot afford.  

Today’s economy is vastly different than it was when welfare reform was first enacted.  Six years ago, the economy was booming, unemployment was at a fifty-year low, and employers were straining to find qualified workers.  Today, the unemployment level is higher than it’s been in years.  Workers are more vulnerable, and employers are struggling to keep costs down by laying people off, cutting employee benefits and raising the workers’ share of health insurance premiums.  In Rhode Island, 35,000 children – 15 percent of all the children in the state – are still living in poverty despite the fact that their parents are working.   With the economic boon long gone, HR 4735 needs to provide increased funding, not level funding with expensive new mandates, for this vital program.

Eighty percent of the states report they would have to implement fundamental changes to their current welfare programs in order to comply with HR 4735, which is precisely why I cannot support it.  

Rhode Island has developed an effective welfare to work program that moves parents into sustainable jobs as quickly as possible in a way that is consistent with their employment readiness needs.  Under the Rhode Island Family Independence Program (FIP), all parents are required to develop and participate in an employment plan within 40 days of applying for cash assistance.  

Rhode Island also provides a cash supplement to low-wage-earning families and stops the five-year clock in any month in which the parent works at least 30 hours.  This provides much-needed stability for vulnerable families and ensures that children live in families with enough income to meet their basic needs.

What makes the Rhode Island Family Independence Program so effective is that its employment preparedness activities are tailored to the parents’ needs and include a range of education and training services to help parents become job-ready.  The program recognizes that 25 to 40 percent of welfare recipients have learning disabilities by identifying such individuals early and providing specialized assistance in preparing for, finding and maintaining a job.  In fact, the Rhode Island Learning Disabilities Project, a collaboration between the Department of Human Services and the Vocational Rehabilitation program, has received national recognition for ensuring that parents receive the services they need to become gainfully employed.

Since 1997, Rhode Island has seen a slow but steady decrease in its caseload from 18,904 to 14,972.  This progress is not due to harsh cuts in benefits or forcing people to work without access to education and job training, but to prudent state policies that examine the holistic needs of the family and tailor assistance to help individuals gain the skills to obtain and retain meaningful jobs.  

Moreover, a recent report, “Rhode Island’s Family Independence Act:  Research Demonstrates Wisdom of Putting Families First,” concluded that the Rhode Island Family Independence Program is working. Among other findings, the report found that parents who participated in education and training had significantly higher levels of both employment and earnings as compared to the period before welfare reform was begun in Rhode Island.

If HR 4735 becomes law, the progress Rhode Island has made in helping parents gain sustainable jobs and overcome significant barriers to employment will come to a halt.  Rhode Island would need to radically change its program or risk significant fiscal penalty for failing to meet the new participation rates. In addition, since federal TANF and childcare funds would not be increased, Rhode Island would need to find additional state funds to meet the new requirements.  These funds simply do not exist.

If this bill is enacted, the Rhode Island Department of Human Services estimates it would cost an additional $5.6 million in childcare costs (31.2% of the current expenditures for childcare), about $3 million more for employment-related and other services designed to offer participation opportunities and get parents into work, and about $1.1 million for additional social work and case management staff. In addition, if Rhode Island does not follow the new participation rates, it will lose $4.5 million per year in TANF funds.  The bill also does not include guaranteed minimum wage protections even though 39 states could not fulfill the bill’s work requirement without violating the current minimum wage rate for a two-person family.

Further, the bill’s requirement that parents spend at least 24 of their 40 hours in “direct work activities” to count toward the participation rate, would turn Rhode Island FIP on its head.  It would no longer be able to allow parents to engage in education or training prior to going to work, even though this is the best way to prepare a parent for sustainable employment.  Currently, there are 1,000 parents participating in vocational education programs that would no longer count toward the participation requirement. 

Finally, the superwaiver policy in this bill is unnecessary and irresponsible.  Allowing the Executive branch to override decisions made by Congress to target funds to specific populations or for specific programs undermines the safety net of services the states have worked so hard to build.  Flexibility in federal funding is precisely what was needed in 1996 to change the system and empower individuals to move from welfare dependence to self-sufficiency.  That flexibility spurred the success we see today in states like Rhode Island.  Maintaining the ability to waive certain program rules to improve service delivery and coordination makes sense.  Giving authority to one branch of government to completely redesign and redirect resources does not.  

The Republican so-called welfare reform bill is a sham.  It ignores the accomplishments states have already made in moving people from welfare to work.  It limits state flexibility and imposes work requirements most states have rejected, while making it much harder for welfare recipients to become economically independent by eliminating education from the list of activities that count as a work-related activity.  Education opens the door to higher earnings and a better quality of life.  It is critical to effectively moving people from welfare to meaningful, long-term employment.

Mr. Speaker, I must encourage my colleagues to oppose this legislation.  It does nothing to strengthen our welfare system and imposes costly burdens on our states at a time when they cannot afford it.