The US House voted this week to reauthorize a federal jobs act that would open up opportunities for a handful of individual states to consolidate and simplify the way safety-net programs are administered. HR 6655, a Stronger Workforce for America Act, revises the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for the first time since 2014. The...
Requiring able-bodied people to work in exchange for government benefits is a popular idea. It’s a proven way to reduce dependency and break the cycle of poverty. And in the case of the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — what used to be called food stamps — it’s also the law. So why are...
In Washington, Republican lawmakers are insisting that any deal with the Biden administration to raise the federal debt ceiling be accompanied by stricter work requirements for such programs as cash welfare, nutrition assistance, and Medicaid. In Raleigh, Republican state senators tried to make work requirements a condition for expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act,...
I’m a fiscally conservative North Carolinian — and I think state taxes should be significantly higher. No, I haven’t lost my head, or my spine. And while I’m a committed supply-sider, I’m not referring here to projected revenues from a fast-growing economy. I truly mean North Carolina ought to levy higher state taxes. But only...
If you gave everyone in the country free health care and free housing, it wouldn’t change the measured poverty rate at all. That's a fundamental flaw.
The welfare policies adopted by states in the 1990s were a key determinant of the size of their welfare caseload declines.
For the most part, the Democratic and Republican national conventions have presented profound policy differences to American voters.
RALEIGH — A Washington, D.C.-based libertarian think tank gives North Carolina a mixed review in a 50-state analysis on the implementation of welfare reform. In a policy report published last fall that rated all the states on the results of their policies, the Cato Institute gave the Tar Heel state a “C” grade, along with 19 other states. Idaho, one of four states to earn an “A,” received the highest marks, while Vermont ranked the lowest among the nine states that received an “F.” Cato reviewed the states’ policies and practices in place since the federal overhaul of the welfare system in 1996.
The 1996 welfare reform was one of the most successful federal bills ever. Now, it's time to consider next steps in promoting responsibility and reducing dependency on the public dole.
Government cannot take the place of a spouse or a parent.
