January 10, 2003, Action Alert on Legislation Regarding Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

ACTION NEEDED:

Please contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support prompt reauthorization of TANF. Urge them to:

· fund TANF at least at the current level ($16.5 billion per year);

· provide significantly increased funding for child care (talk about the shortages in your area);

· resist pressure to increase the work requirements beyond the current 30 hours a week;

· give states more flexibility to determine what counts as meeting the work requirement, especially allowing full-time college attendance and permitting recipients to participate in vocational education for up to 24 months, instead of the current 12 (or three, as proposed by the Administration);

· reinstate benefits for legal immigrants; and

· give states flexibility to waive time limits for families with significant barriers to employment.

Delivery of mail to Members of Congress in Washington is significantly delayed because of security concerns. Please write to their state offices, or call, fax or send e-mail. Contact information is available at http:/www.house.gov and http:/www.senate.gov.

BACKGROUND

As the 108^th Congress reconvenes, one of the major domestic issues on the early agenda is reauthorization of TANF, the nation’s cash assistance program for low-income families. The program actually expired September 30, 2002, but Congress extended funding through March 30, 2003, giving itself a little more time to decide about the form in which it wishes the program to continue.

Last February President Bush put forward his proposal for how to revise the TANF program, created by Congress in 1996. The House, in May, passed a bill that essentially affirmed the President’s plan, with a few changes. The Senate Finance Committee subsequently approved a tri-partisan proposal that was far more generous to recipients, but that bill was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote. For full information on the Administration, House and Senate TANF plans from 2002, see the "TANF Reauthorization Home Page: An NCC Issues and Actions Guide."

The religious community supports legislation that would:

1. Focus on Poverty Reduction

A central goal of TANF should be poverty reduction, not just caseload reduction. Cash benefits, combined with wages and supportive services, must be sufficient to allow each family to meet its basic needs. In no case should former TANF recipients receive less in combined benefits and income as a result of working than they received while they were on TANF.

2. Be adequately funded

TANF funding should be increased at least to accommodate increases in the cost of living and states should be required to continue the current maintenance of effort levels, to assure that all who are eligible can be served.

3. Provide education and training and eliminate barriers to employment

Priority should be given at every level to eliminating barriers to employment. This includes providing training and education necessary for unskilled workers to get and hold jobs, and providing all low-wage workers with critical support services such as health care, quality childcare, tax credits, transportation and housing assistance. All job placements made through TANF should lead to family-sustaining wages and comply with workplace protection laws.

4. Serve all who need help.

TANF should be available to all people in need. This includes legal immigrants, whose eligibility for benefits should be the same as that of citizens, and those who cannot work outside the home because of physical or mental handicaps, care-giving responsibilities, or multiple barriers to employment.

5. Give states flexibility with regard to time limits.

Flexibility should be increased with regard to time limits, so that those who are complying with program requirements but still need assistance in order to meet family needs may remain eligible beyond the established deadlines. States should have increased flexibility to exempt part of their caseloads from time limits on the basis of special needs.

As the 107th Congress ended last fall, the legislators passed a series of Continuing Resolutions, extending the life of the program for short periods, and finally through the first quarter of 2003. It appeared that there might be a one-year extension of the current program (favored by the President) or a three year one (favored by the Governors, state legislators, and the religious community); but all of these plans fell through.

In a recent meeting with representatives of the mainline religious community, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and his staff indicated that the Administration will shortly propose legislation to reauthorize TANF for five years. It is likely that the new proposal will be essentially the same as last year’s plan, with a few changes based on input received over the past year, particularly from the Governors.

It seems likely that the House will consider TANF reauthorization early in the Session, perhaps waiting for the President’s proposal before passing a bill very similar to what it passed in 2002. With the change of control in the Senate, it is unclear what course TANF legislation will take in that body. All of the co-sponsors of last year’s bill are still in the Senate, but it is not known how much of a priority they will make of TANF.

As in the past year, the struggle is likely to be over funding, child care, work requirements, education and training, and benefits for immigrants. A great deal has changed since the debate over TANF reauthorization began. The economy has deteriorated. The unemployment rate has soared from less than 4% to 6%. The September 11 attacks have caused the redirection of resources into the homeland security effort. The nation may soon be at war, with the horrific human and financial cost that would involve. The needs of America’s poor and disadvantaged probably will not be high on the congressional agenda.