UREAP Updates

    Bill Walsh announced that UREAP Position Papers on Child Support, Child Welfare and Well Being, and Families with Disabilities are finalized and available on the web site.

    Bill reminded participants that the letter of May 29, 2002 to Senator Hatch is also on the web site too. This letter indicates UREAP support for the Tri-partisan Consensus Provision on Welfare Reauthorization. He thanked participants for their help in drafting the letter and said copies went to Senator Bennett, Governor Leavitt, Utah's Congressional Delegation, and all the members of the Senate Finance Committee.

    Bill reported that he and Shirley had sent an e-mail to Becky Shipp, Senator Hatch's lead staff on the Finance Committee, relaying rural concerns about proposed high participation rates. Becky responded that she would relay the message to Senator Hatch.

    Shirley Weathers reported that emails had been sent to UREAP participants and Welfare Reform Reauthorization Round Table participants encouraging them to write individual letters to Senator Hatch.

    Shirley also reported that, during their meeting with Becky Shipp in early May in D.C., they brought up disincentives/disadvantages in welfare policy and the tax code for two-parent families. All sides in the welfare reform debate agree on promoting healthy two-parent families but policies in at least these two arenas work against that goal. Becky requested that UREAP write a formal letter to her on this matter and she would see that the Finance Committee would bring this up for possible study by the General Accounting Office (GAO). Garth Mangum pointed out that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) was such an example. Shirley said she and Bill were working on the letter.

Latest Developments in Congress

    Bill briefly reviewed the last year and a half of welfare reform activity and UREAP history. He noted the special roles played by Robin Arnold-Williams in 1996 and to the present. He asked Robin to lead the discussion on the very latest developments.

    Robin provided a 25 page hand-out on the "Work, Opportunity, and Responsibility for Kids (WORK) Act of 2002," which is called the Chairman's Mark. It reflects the work of the Senate Finance Committee's Tripartisan group. She said the name of the bill is designed to counter the Administration's charges that the bill is soft on work. She indicated that 11 votes are needed to pass the Finance Committee and that pressure was intense from all sides. She said Senator Hatch is a leader in the Tri-partisan effort and that Senator Bennett helped greatly by signing on his support along with a number of Republican Senators.

    Robin began with good news. On funding $16.5 billion annually is maintained and supplemental grants to states increased. For Utah, it could mean an increase in our supplemental grant from nine million to $16.4 million. She reported that the Universal Engagement provision, based on the Utah model, was adopted and $120 million added for staff training. Bad news is that the Social Services Block Grant was not funded at higher levels but may appear in an amendment. She said that the bill has been limited to $10 billion in new funding makes adding any more funding changes difficult, and whatever bill the Senate passes still has to go through a House-Senate Conference Committee, but that the Chairman's Mark was the most positive among the alternatives and there is support for SSBG.

    Robin explained the Employment Credit, which rewards states that put people to work. It has attracted political heat for being too generous. "Welfare leavers" generate credit if they find employment, more credit if their wages are above 33% of the state's average, partial credit if they work at least 15 hours per week, credit if they are "diverted," and credit if states can prove use of dollars for child care and transportation purposes for employed non-TANF parents. Allowable percentages start at 35% in FY 2004 and drop to 20% in FY2007. States, including Utah, want this provision badly. The White House, represented by Ron Haskins and Wade Horn, oppose measures like this.

    Additional good news is that Transitional Medicaid would be reauthorized for 5 years and eligibility extended to 24 months, as is the case in Utah now, although the process is complex. Senator John Breaux championed this.

    Child support changes are positive and more money collected goes to kids,  rather than to government collection offices. Senator Olympia Snowe championed this.

    Child welfare changes are positive in allowing states to spend federal dollars for in-home services, not just adoptions. Senator Jay Rockefeller championed this.

    Tribal issues in TANF, child support and child welfare were addressed. Senator Max Baucus, the Chairman, championed these provisions.

    Robin said Child Care was the most controversial issue: liberals think the additional $5.5 billion in the Chairman's Mark is too meager and conservatives think it's excessive. Senator Charles Grassley, the Ranking Republican, says he'll vote against the bill because of the child care amount. In the first two years no state match would be required to use these funds.

    There is agreement to spend TANF dollars on legal immigrants, at state option, but liberals want immigrants to also be eligible for Medicaid and SCHIP through welfare reform reauthorization. There is fear among some that opening the WORK Act on the Senate Floor to add these two changes could lead to debates that could slow or kill passage of the Act. Costs to add Medicaid and SCHIP would come out of the bill's $10 billion cap. Robin added that, if trying to add these risks scuttling the whole bill, there would be other ways to get the two expansions.

    About 20 amendments are expected. One would move to substitute the House Bill. One would put SSBG back in at $2.8 billion. One would establish an unemployment trigger. The Finance Committee is due to vote tomorrow, June 26.

    If the Mark doesn't get out of the Finance Committee, the most likely alternative is a one-year continuing resolution, but Robin said the urge to pass a Tripartisan bill is so strong that the vote will probably be rescheduled if those shepherding the bill don't have the votes to pass. States oppose a continuing resolution because they need budget certainty in these tight money times. Also, if the $10 billion in new funding is not set aside by passage of this bill, it will be spent elsewhere and may not be available in a year. Political verbiage is rampant in D.C. In 1996 welfare reform was strictly partisan. In 2002 the Tripartisan effort in the Senate is accommodating many interested parties. UREAP will support the WORK Act, try to add things like SSBG, and hold firm if the bill goes to Conference Committee. Senator Hatch will most likely be a Conferee. Letters of support are going in from NCSL, NGA, National Association of Counties, and APHSA, among others. There is no superwaiver nor Food Stamp block grants in the WORK Act.

    Robin acknowledged the many players who have been involved in moving Welfare Reform Reauthorization to this point, including NGA, NCSL, APHSA, UREAP, DWS and Becky Shipp. There will be technical amendments if progress continues. Then if it passes and is signed by the President, it will have to be explained to the State Legislature next year on the road to implementation.

Contact Efforts

    Shirley handed out an e-mail UREAP staff sent to Becky Shipp last Saturday supporting the Tri-partisan Provisions. She responded appreciation on Sunday. Bill said that UREAP staff will continue responding as issues arise and post them at the web site, under the new heading "Information on Emerging Congressional/Legislative Activities." Staff handed out a Welfare Reform Contact Sheet and a list of Finance Committee members with FAX and phone numbers.

    Robin said she expects Senate Floor action shortly after July 4. In 1996, the Welfare Reform Bill was signed on August 22.

Feedback, Next Meeting

    Garth complimented DWS for its Child Care Professional Development Program.

    The next UREAP meeting will be on July 30, same time and place, not on the fourth Tuesday. Please note the change.