August 8, 2003, TANF Action Alert: Contact Senators in Their Home Offices Before September 2

Congress, as expected, left town for summer vacation without completing work on reauthorization of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. This means that the period from now until September 2 will be a key time for advocates to contact Senators in their home offices, urging them to support improvements in TANF.

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Information on the state offices of Senators can be found at www.senate.gov

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The following update is excerpted from the newsletter of the Coalition on Human Needs.

2. TANF REAUTHORIZATION UPDATE: MARKUP DELAYED UNTIL THIS FALL

BACKGROUND: As mentioned in earlier Policy Alerts, the Senate Finance Committee had tentatively set July 23 as the date for markup of a TANF reauthorization bill. Finance Committee Chairman Grassley (R-IA)had earlier circulated a proposal, the Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE) Act, as a starting point for negotiations.

However, several Senate Democrats, both on- and off-committee, as well as grassroots and advocacy groups, voiced their concerns about the Grassley proposal. Among the most contentious provisions are establishing full credit for work activity participation at 34-37 hours per week, and eliminating the protection in current law that allow parents with children under age six to work 20 hours per week. The PRIDE proposal also fails to address several key TANF reauthorization issues, such as increased childcare funding, the reauthorization of Transitional Medicaid Assistance (TMA), and the restoration of benefits for legal immigrants in TANF or Medicaid/SCHIP.

In response to these concerns, Chairman Grassley revised the PRIDE proposal, indicating some flexibility on a few key issues. However, many Senate Democrats feel it is still too close to the House-passed bill (HR 4) and is not the appropriate place to start a conversation for a bi-partisan Chairman's mark. As a result, markup on a TANF reauthorization bill has been pushed back to at least this fall. Several issues remain as sticking points, including childcare funding, work participation, and access to education and training.

Senator Carper (D-DE), along with Senator Collins (R-ME) and Senator Nelson (D-NE), recently introduced a bi-partisan TANF reauthorization bill (S.1443) that would provide $6 billion in additional childcare funding but raise full credit to 32 hours per week, with 24 hours to be spent in core work activities. The Carper bill includes the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) provision and a state option on TANF for legal immigrants, and a five-year extension of TMA. It also incorporates Senator Snowe's (R-ME) child support provisions, the Parents as Scholars program, and allows two years of education. However, this bill does not adequately address barrier removal, and includes significant funding for marriage and "family formation" programs.

MATERIALS AVAILABLE: For a brief overview of the Senate Finance Committee proposal, visit the Coalition on Human Needs website http://www.chn.org/issues/article.asp?Art=1434

For ongoing in-depth analysis on TANF reauthorization and related issues, visit the Center for Law and Social Policy website http://www.clasp.org/Pubs/Pubs_New and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website http://www.cbpp.org/tanfseries.htm

For more information, contact Mary Cooper, NCC