| Advocates for needy running out of time on
welfare bill
By JOE FEUERHERD
Washington
A single mother of two in Missouri earning $17,000 a year
can’t afford a 50-cent-an-hour pay raise -- the resulting cut in her
government-funded daycare assistance would reduce her income.
Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., 48 of
their colleagues, as well as the U.S. Catholic Bishops, President Bush, and a
host of social welfare lobbyists want the Senate to consider legislation that
could curb such incongruities in the U.S. welfare system. But facing a crowded
legislative agenda prior to adjournment -- now likely to include debate over
war with Iraq -- those who favor resolving differences over the legislation
before Congress adjourns next month are running out of time.
It is critical to pass the five-year reauthorization of the
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, TANF, program this year, proponents of
the measure passed by the Senate Finance Committee argue, because failure to do
so would mean starting over again in a budgetary climate even less hospitable
to the poor than today. Add political uncertainty to the equation -- Republican
control of the Senate is one possible outcome of the upcoming elections -- and
lobbyists for more daycare assistance, job training for those leaving the
welfare rolls and assistance to legal immigrants have a powerful argument that
the current Senate bill is the best possible outcome.
“We’re firmly convinced that the poor need our help
right now, not in a year, and not after the elections,” said Mercy Sr.
Kathy Thornton, national coordinator of Network, a Catholic social justice
lobby.
The clock, however, is not the only obstacle. A House-passed
version of the legislation that would have to be reconciled with its Senate
counterpart includes $700 million less for daycare and has more stringent
“work requirements.” Under the Senate bill, states can count
participation in college or vocational training as work for up to two years.
President Bush has criticized this provision, which proponents argue is vital
to moving families out of poverty and not simply off the welfare rolls.
“The education level of parents has a strong influence on a
child’s development,” said J. Lawrence Aber, director of the National
Center for Children in Poverty. Plus, said Aber, “trying to get 40 hours a
week in a labor market that does not have 40 hours of work is a difficult
thing.”
In addition, the Senate proposal would allow states to provide
assistance to legal immigrants. The House bill has no such provision.
Meanwhile, a low-cost but high-profile provision of the
House-passed bill could derail the entire effort. House Republicans pushed for
$300 million to fund programs that “promote marriage” because
two-parent families are far less likely to live in poverty than single parents.
Opponents argue that government should not be in the business of enticing
people to marry.
If Congress fails to reauthorize TANF, it is likely to extend the
program for a year at current funding levels, observers say.
Joe Feuerherd is NCR Washington correspondent.
National Catholic Reporter, September 27,
2002
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