Gramm on Welfare, from Campaign Web Page


ELIMINATE WELFARE ENTITLEMENTS BY BLOCK GRANTING TO THE STATES:
This bill would expand the number of welfare programs block granted to
states in the Senate Finance Committee bill from 1 (AFDC) to 9. The programs
to be block granted to the states include:

     AFDC (As provided in House bill);
     Child Welfare Services (Similar to House bill);
     Child Care and Development Program (As provided in House bill);
     Child Nutrition Act (As provided in House bill);
     National School Lunch Program (As provided in House bill);
     The disabled children's portion of Supplemental Security Income (As
     provided in House bill);
     Job Training programs (As provided in Senate Labor Committee bill);
     Housing Assistance (All federal means-tested housing assistance will be
     block granted to states); and Food Stamps will be block granted on the
     basis of their current distribution.

70% of the funds block granted to any state must be used for the purpose of
that block grant. No more than 30% of any block grant can be transferred
among the various block granted programs. By increasing the number of
programs block granted to states, the funding disparity between states is
virtually eliminated.


TERMINATE THE FEDERAL WELFARE BUREAUCRACY AND REMOVE FEDERAL STRINGS:
All payments to states in the block grants set out above shall flow directly
from the Treasury under the specific formulas within this bill. Any portion
of any federal agency, department, program, project and activity with
jurisdiction over any program block granted shall be terminated with
employment levels reduced. Private firms shall audit states to monitor
compliance, and only those federal programs, projects and activities
specifically authorized to enforce the provisions within this bill shall
remain.

Upon enactment of this bill, no federal restrictions or requirements
currently applicable to means-tested programs block-granted under this bill
shall apply to the state administration of those programs except those
specifically stated in this bill or required by the Constitution. Further,
nothing in federal law shall prohibit a state from contracting out to
private and religious charitable organizations, or otherwise privatizing the
administration of means-tested benefits provided under this Act.


STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND WORK REQUIREMENT:
This bill creates stringent work requirements. Within 3 years, 90% of all
2-parent households on welfare must work, and within 8 years, 75% of all
able bodied participants must work. Recipients must work, not job search,
and their benefits will be subject to "pay for performance" -- they will be
adjusted, pro rata, for their work effort, as required in the House bill.
The bill includes language that requires states to apply the work
requirement first to homes without children under the age 5. These work
provisions will also apply to funds block granted under Food Stamps and
housing assistance.

States will be allowed to develop their own job and training programs. They
will also have the option to apply these work conditions to other programs
block granted to the states. The bill eliminates the federal "JOBS" program.


STRENGTHEN FAMILIES, MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION:
This bill provides for the strengthening of families, marriage and adoption
through the following provisions;
Marriage Penalty credit - This provision reduces the marriage penalty
imposed by the welfare system and the tax code that penalizes a married
couple more on the same joint income than if the couple had remained single.
Applies to married couples with low- to moderate- incomes. (cost: $8.2 b
over 5 years); Adoption Expenses credit - This provision assists families in
the cost of adoptions with a tax credit to offset the cost of adoption, up
to $5,000 per adoption. (cost: $1 b over 5 years);
Custodial Care credit - This provision helps families deal with the cost of
at-home care for the incapacitated elderly with a tax credit of $500. (cost:
$1 b over 5 years);
Expand grants to states for adoption services and abstinence programs, and
offsets the cost by termination of Title X of Public Health Act; Bonus Grant
for reduction in state illegitimacy ratio; and Provide a tax deduction for
charitable activity that assists the poor and needy, and offset the cost by
termination of AmeriCorps. (Coats-Santorum-Ashcroft)


REDUCTION IN ILLEGITIMACY:
This bill restricts the payment of any benefits provided under the AFDC
Block Grants so that;
no additional benefits can be paid for having additional children while on
welfare;
no direct cash benefits can be paid to any minor mother who has children out
of wedlock; and no benefits can be paid to any household where the mother
has failed to establish the paternity of the children.


OTHER REFORMS:
ENHANCE CHILD SUPPORT
Require States to enforce child support payments and create national
tracking system. (As provided in House bill)


PROHIBIT ASSISTANCE ON A PROSPECTIVE BASIS TO NON-CITIZENS
No new immigrant shall qualify for welfare benefits, including Supplemental
Security Income. After five years of productive activity, any non-citizen
who entered the country legally can apply for citizenship and, if accepted,
can then qualify for all benefits available to citizens.


PROHIBIT SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME BENEFITS FOR DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE
No one disabled due to alcohol or drug abuse shall qualify for supplemental
security income benefits. (As provided in House bill)


COSTS AND OFFSETS:
Savings in this bill result from several sources: 1) block granting and
capping the growth of entitlements, 2) reducing federal bureaucracy, and 3)
terminating specific programs.

The Congressional Budget Office scores H.R. 4 as saving $62 billion over 5
years. This bill expands the number of programs block granted in H.R. 4 by 3
-- Food Stamps, housing assistance and job training. The savings in this
bill will more than meet the deficit reduction targets of the Budget
Resolution and pay for the new provisions contained within this bill.

DOLE'S DECISION TO PULL WELFARE BILL A VICTORY FOR GRAMM

Copy of Gramm Campaign press release dated Aug. 10, 1995

     The national media declared Gramm the winner in Bob Dole's
decision Tuesday to delay action on passing welfare reform
legislation until the Senate returns from their August recess. 
The Washington Post reports:

  "The delay is a victory for Sen. Phil Gramm, the Texas
Republican who was close to winning concessions from Mr. Dole.." 

     "Mr. Gramm had again outflanked Mr. Dole on the right,
offering a bill with greater savings and denying more benefits to
women who bear children while on welfare, benefits to mothers who
are still minors, and benefits to legal aliens who are not yet
citizens."

     The New York Times reports, "The bill was a major setback
for Senator Bob Dole..." The Times also notes the general
lack of support for Dole's bill.

     "No clear consensus has formed in support of Mr. Dole's
bill, and the bill, after just two days on the Senate floor, has
not gained momentum."

     Sen. Lauch Faircloth, a Dole campaign supporter, told The
Washington Post, "Sen. Dole does not have the votes to pass
his bill, absolutely."

     The Post also reports that Sen. Gramm said the delay would
help his cause in reforming welfare.

     "Gramm said yesterday Dole wants to meet to work out
differences, including conflicts over denying benefits to
immigrants and unwed teenage mothers, and predicted his cause
would benefit from the delay.   We're building support,' Gramm
said."
 

DOLE QUICKLY CAVES IN ON WELFARE REFORM PLAN
     
As the debate began last Monday, Bob Dole quickly began
caving in on his own welfare reform plan.  A story from the
Associated Press said:

     "In an early concession to conservatives, Dole agreed to
require reductions in the benefits of welfare recipients who
refuse to work.  
     "Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, one of Dole's rivals for the GOP
presidential nomination, said that Dole was tacking in the right
direction but that many other contentious issues must still be
resolved before he considers the bill acceptable."

     "House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga, said Monday that he,
too, had problems with Dole's bill, but expected it would be
improved when House and Senate negotiators met to reconcile the
two chambers' bills."

SHUFFLING WELFARE WORDING WON'T SOLVE PROBLEM
  
Before the bill was pulled Sen. Gramm said last week at
a press conference on Capital Hill that he would offer several
amendments to the Dole/Packwood welfare reform bill that Bob Dole
outlined before the National Governors Association meeting in
Vermont on Monday.

     "Our objective is to build a base of support to adopt
enough of these major amendments so that we will be changing
welfare, not simply shuffling the wording that imposes basically
the same unworkable system on the American people that we've had
in the past."

     The Gramm amendments would strengthen Dole/Packwood by
reforming 87% of the welfare program their bill leaves untouched. 
The amendments would also deal with the single biggest problem in
the welfare system--illegitimacy.  Gramm said the Dole/Packwood
bill does not represent dramatic reform while his plan does.

     "The American people are for a dramatic reform.  The
House has passed a dramatic reform.  What we have before us (the
Dole/Packwood bill) is a fairly modest proposal which does not
deal in a mandatory way with the main things the American people
want to do."

MORE TROUBLE FOR DOLE
     
Last Friday brought a double dose of unwanted news for
Bob Dole.  First, The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed
while Dole still leads the GOP field nationally, "64% of his
backers could be lured to somebody else."  Pollsters Peter
Hart and Robert Teeter tell the Journal these numbers "should
be a warning sign." In reality, the "front runner" only has a
firm base of 18% of the GOP who will definitely vote for him. 
That is hardly a commanding position for a candidate who is
universally known. 

     The other problem comes by way of an editorial in last
Friday's Manchester (New Hampshire) Union Leader.  They say Dole
is a "late bloomer" to the conservative cause.

     "Yes, Dole is definitely a  late bloomer' who is now
sounding all the themes conservatives want to hear.  He may even
come around to believing in them himself, but that's going to
take time.  At the rate he's progressed thus far in his career,
Dole will, by a conservative estimate, be ready for the White
House when he turns 149-year-old.  Chances are he'll be
campaigning in New Hampshire at the time.  Let your
grandchildren vote for him."