May 2002

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Action Alert: Stop Congress from Slashing Public Assistance

Grassroots pressure is urgently needed to stop harsh new welfare laws from passing Congress in May and June. All people concerned about economic justice are urged to make the struggle over welfare reauthorization a high priority.

Both houses of Congress are moving much rapidly on welfare legislation, apparently in an effort to avoid a debate on welfare during the fall elections. With the House likely to have a floor vote in early-to-mid-May,activists are now focusing their efforts on the Senate. Congress has until Sept. 30 to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant to the states, which it created under the 1996 welfare reform law.

On April 18, mirroring a Bush administration proposal, two House Ways and Means subcommittees approved bills (HR.4090 and HR.4092) that the National Council of Churches has called "draconian." These bills would require almost all welfare recipients, even mothers of children ages one to six, to work 40 hours a week, with no new money for child care. The bills would spend $300 million to promote marriage; deny benefits to legal immigrants; limit state flexibility to count education, training, and other effective programs as work; and give the Administration "super-waiver" authority to waive numerous federal laws and regulations at a state's request. State costs would increase by $15 billion. An amendment to make poverty reduction a goal was defeated. Not surprisingly, most advocacy groups as well as the National Governors Association oppose these bills.

These bills seem to embody a hidden agenda of forcing people into minimum-wage or unpaid "workfare" jobs. They imply that low-income women are lazy; their marriage provisions are discriminatory and insulting. Under House rules, however, alternative bills proposed by Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI) and other Democrats are unlikely to be voted on.

Action:

• Fight back! Grassroots groups in all 50 states are planning to deliver Mother's Day cards to their senators' homes on May 12, to remind them to remember low-income mothers. Groups in many states are planning grassroots mobilizations in May, and candlelight vigils on a National Interfaith Day of Action May 20. For local contacts for these events, contact Ruth Cohen at the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support, 202/339-9354; cohenr@nationalcampaign.org.
• If you have minutes a week, call one of your senators and urge her or him to support these progressive principles: no 40-hour work requirements; count more education and training as work; no social engineering like promoting marriage; increased childcare aid; restore legal immigrants' benefits.
• If you have 10 minutes, call both senators. Call the Capitol Switchboard for numbers: 202/224-3121.
• If you have an hour, write a letter to the editor, or fax a letter to your senators and governor.
• Subscribe to the "poverty@yahoogroups.com" list-serve. to keep informed: email Bulbul Gupta at bgupta@nowldef.org.
• Email Roberta Spivek (rspivek@afsc.org) or Kathryn Kurtz (kkurtz@afsc.org) for talking points or more resources.
  

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