Government Relations "TIME SENSITIVE" Action Alert

Quick Calls Needed to Senators on the Senate Finance Committee to Improve the Committee's Welfare Bill!

States represented on the Committee include:

Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to meet this Wednesday, June 26 at 10:00 am, to take action on legislation to reauthorize the 1996 welfare law. The draft bill the Committee will "mark-up" is the "Work, Opportunity, and Responsibility for Kids (WORK) Act of 2002," sponsored by Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). This plan is significantly better than the Bush plan or the bill passed in the House, but it still needs to be improved.

MESSAGE:

Today (6/25) and Wednesday (6/26), call your Senator's office (telephone numbers follow) and ask to speak with the Legislative Director (LD). You need not speak to the LD directly, leaving a voice mail message will achieve the same result.

"My name is (first name, last name). I am a social worker from (city, state) and I am calling to urge Senator (last name) to support amendments that will improve the welfare bill before the Senate Finance Committee and to oppose amendments that will make it more difficult for parents to support their families.

"I urge the Senator to support (1) the Snowe/Bingaman amendment to expand access to education and training, (2) the Conrad or Kerry amendment to help parents caring for sick and disabled kids, (3) the Graham or Rockefeller amendment to restore funding for the Social Services Block Grant, and (4) the Graham of Florida amendment to restore Medicaid coverage for immigrants.

"I urge the Senator to oppose the Gramm of Texas amendment on full-family sanctions.

Thank you."

Senate Finance Committee: Contact Information

• Alaska: Frank H. Murkowski (R-AK) 202-224-6665
• Arkansas: Blanche L. Lincoln (D-AR) 202-224-4843
• Arizona: Jon L. Kyl (R-AZ) 202-224-4521
• Florida: Bob Graham (D-FL) 202-224-3041
• Iowa: Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member 202-224-3744
• Louisiana: John B. Breaux (D-LA) 202-224-4623
• Maine: Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) 202-224-5344
• Massachusetts: John F. Kerry (D-MA) 202-224-2742
• Mississippi: Trent Lott (R-MS) 202-224-6253
• Montana: Max Baucus (D-MT), Chair 202-224-2651
• New Jersey: Robert G. Torricelli (D-NJ) 202-224-3224
• New Mexico: Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) 202-224-5521
• North Dakota: Kent Conrad (D-ND) 202-224-2043
• Oklahoma: Don Nickles (R-OK) 202-224-5754
• South Dakota: Thomas Daschle (D-SD) 202-224-2321
• Tennessee: Fred Thompson (R-TN) 202-224-4944
• Texas: Phil Gramm (R-TX) 202-224-2934
• Utah: Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) 202-224-5251
• Vermont: James M. Jeffords (I-VT) 202-224-5141
• West Virginia: John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) 202-224-6472
• Wyoming: Craig Thomas (R-WY) 202-224-6441

BACKGROUND

SUPPORT Snowe (R-ME)/Bingaman (D-NM) Amendment on Education and Training. The Finance Committee mark takes important steps to increase access to vocational education. The plan does not, however, currently allow post-secondary education to count as a work activity. The Snowe/Bingaman amendment would clarify that postsecondary education should count as an allowable activity. The amendment gives states the option to create a Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Program for TANF recipients engaged in post-secondary or longer-duration vocational education, and the option to allow up to 10 percent of their caseload to count their participation in a Pathways program as work. Moreover, it allows states to stop the clock for Pathways participants.

SUPPORT Conrad (D-SD) or Kerry (D-MA) Amendment on Parents Caring for Sick and Disabled Kids. Many low-income families receiving TANF have children with serious illnesses or disabilities. In some instances, the presence of a child with an illness or disability makes it difficult or impossible to work extensive hours outside of the home; in other cases, the family needs additional services and supports in order to sustain employment. The amendment would create a set of policy changes in TANF to assist families in meeting program requirements or, if necessary, exempt families in which a child has a serious illness or disability.

SUPPORT Graham (D-FL) or Rockefeller (D-WV) Amendment on Restoring Funding for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). The Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act) supports state and local efforts to provide a social safety net that serves many vulnerable children and families, the elderly, and single adults. Title XX-funded programs and services help the targeted populations remain in their communities in the most independent settings possible and so reduce the need for more expensive government assistance. The 1996 welfare law reduced SSBG funding from $2.8 billion to $2.38 billion. Despite the welfare provisions that allowed funding to be restored to the $2.8 billion level in FY 2003, Congress cut funding even further--to $1.7 billion in the 1998 transportation bill.

SUPPORT Graham (D-FL) Amendment on Restoring Medicaid for Legal Immigrants. Current lawfully residing legal immigrants, including children and pregnant women, are barred from accessing Medicaid and SCHIP benefits if they arrived in the U.S. after August 22, 1996. Many states created their own programs for legal immigrants, however state budget crises have put these programs at risk. By granting states the option of extending eligibility to SCHIP and Medicaid to legal immigrants, Congress could lessen the chance that children will develop long-term chronic health problems.

OPPOSE Gramm (R-TX) Amendment on Full Family Sanctions. The Gramm amendment is similar to proposals that passed in the House, which would require that states terminate all cash assistance when families do not comply with work requirements for two months. Under current law, states must apply a penalty for noncompliance with work rules, but may reduce rather than terminate assistance. Full family sanctions are ineffective at moving parents to employment. What they are effective at is closing cases: there is substantial evidence that many families with children lose aid because severe problems create barriers to compliance.

AS ALWAYS, THANKS FOR YOUR ADVOCACY!