State Waivers for TANF Programs

Posted on July 18, 2012 by townsend

• Shift in welfare policy draws G.O.P. protests, By Rebecca Berg, July 17, 2012, New York Times: “A move by the Obama administration to give states more latitude in running federal welfare-to-work programs has set off a firestorm among Republicans, who say it undercuts the work requirements set forth in the 1996 overhaul of welfare policy. The Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that it would grant states waivers to experiment with how they administer the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which distributes aid to the poorest Americans while they look for work. The directive results from a broader effort by the Obama administration to peel back unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and allow states to spend federal money more efficiently. But Republicans, who characterize the move as a power grab by the executive branch, have criticized the waivers, saying they prove that the president and Democrats support providing welfare money without encouraging the recipients to find work…”
• Utah sought welfare waiver that riled conservatives, By Cathy Mckitrick, July 17, 2012, Salt Lake Tribune: “Utah’s senior senator Orrin Hatch and Gov. Gary Herbert – stalwarts of the state’s Republican party – appear to be at odds over welfare and waivers after Hatch expressed outrage at the Obama Administration for accommodating a state request. Late last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a memo giving states more flexibility in how they help families find employment under the landmark 1996 welfare reform law passed by a GOP-dominated Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. That action brought swift criticism from Sen. Hatch, who called the Obama Administration’s quiet action a ‘power grab,’ according to Associated Press reports. And late last week, Hatch joined House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., in demanding an explanation from HHS as to why work requirements – set in stone for 16 years – were now being loosened. It turns out Utah is one of five states requesting waivers from burdensome federal reporting requirements that divert caseworkers from helping welfare recipients find gainful employment under the law’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program…”