The House Ways and Means Committee approved bills on Wednesday that were introduced by U.S. Reps. Bob Dold (R-IL), Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Todd Young (R-IN) to help families escape poverty.
The Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act, H.R. 2990, introduced by Dold, would encourage employer-led partnerships that help transition people from welfare programs to work.
“Expanding opportunity and helping families escape poverty is a bipartisan goal we can all get behind,” Dold said. “Solving this problem requires meaningful action and change—two things Washington does not often do well. The first step in the process is for more leaders to recognize that the one-size-fits-all programs of the past will not produce any better results in the future. This bill will equip each community with the resources and flexibility they need to help struggling families find work and get back on their feet.”
Under the bill, $100 million would be provided to states to subsidize wages for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients to help them gain work experience. Up to 50 percent of an employee’s wage could be paid through subsidies, and employers or another funding source would pay the remainder.
The TANF Accountability and Integrity Improvement Act, H.R. 2959, introduced by Noem, meanwhile, would prohibit states from artificially inflating state spending on TANF commitments by counting outside spending as their own.
“Some states are falling short of their TANF commitments — both in terms of financial support and outcomes —and still receiving the full federal block grant,” Noem said. “It’s unfair to recipients who aren’t getting the support they need and to states, like South Dakota, that run the program as it was intended. H.R. 2959 helps close the loophole. I’m hopeful that by bringing greater accountability to the TANF program in this way, we can improve outcomes and ensure more families achieve financial independence.”
Under the bill, states would no longer be allowed to count third party spending as “state spending” to force states to engage more people in work-related activities to receive federal benefits.
The Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act, H.R. 5170, introduced by Young, would build public-private partnerships that use philanthropic and private sector investments to row and replicate science-backed social and public health programs.
“Washington spends too much time debating how much or how little to spend on social safety net programs, and not enough time asking whether or not we’re improving lives,” Young said. “For all our best intentions, evidence shows current federal programs aren’t doing much to improve income inequality. The American people feel the effects, and continuing to ignore the problem only fuels their resentment toward a system that’s failing them. By changing the federal government’s definition of success in federal social programs from inputs to actual outcomes, we can help our fellow Americans overcome the root causes of poverty and seize economic opportunities to work and provide for their families.”