Washington Roundup

June 28, 2002

Contact: Jenny Collier and Tom Leibfried

Legal Action Center

202-544-5478

                                                               

Senate Finance Committee Passes TANF (Welfare) Reauthorization Legislation: Senate Bill Contains Improved Drug Treatment, Education, Work Preparation, Child Care and Medicaid Provisions

This week, the Senate Finance Committee passed a bill that would reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF/welfare) program.  The bill passed by a bi-partisan vote of 13 to 8, with 3 Republicans voting for the bill.

The bill, which included substantial portions of the tri-partisan bill introduced by several members of the Senate Finance Committee, included provisions that would:

•                      Reauthorize the TANF Block Grant at its current funding level.

•                      Require 30 hours of work activities for TANF recipients, with 24 of those hours in direct work for all TANF recipients, except for parents of children under 6 years of age.

•                      Count full-time drug and alcohol treatment as a work activity for 6 months, with the last  3 months combined with work preparation activities.       

•                      Permit up to two years of vocational education to count as work, including community college when it results in a degree or credential related to a job or a job-related skill.

•                      Create a $200 million annual competitive grant program that would make grants to nonprofit groups, local workforce investment boards, localities, or tribes to facilitate partnering with employers to improve wages of low-income persons through improving job skills and providing work supports.  The grants also could expand temporary wage-paying work or “transitional jobs” programs for low-income individuals unable to secure work through job search or other employment-related services because of limited skills or other work barriers.

•                      Require TANF to be a partner in the Workforce Investment Act’s (WIA) local “one-stop” system that provides employment services.

•                      Provide $5.5 billion of additional child care funding.

•                      Reauthorize transitional Medicaid for an additional five years.

At this time it is unclear whether the bill will go before the full Senate for a vote in July or in the early fall.   Additionally, it is unclear whether there is enough time left in the Congressional session to resolve differences between the Senate and House bills and produce final reauthorization legislation ready for the President’s signature.  If this does not occur, Congress will need to pass and the President sign a one-year extension of the current TANF program so that the program can continue to operate.   

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Passes FY 2003 Funding Bill: Mixed Results for Prevention

This week the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government passed its FY 2003 appropriations bill that included funding for key drug prevention programs administered by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).  Two of these initiatives are the Drug-Free Communities Program, which supports the dissemination of information by community coalitions about effective drug prevention programs, and the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which seeks to reduce and deter youth drug use.     

Funding levels for these programs that the bill would provide include:

•                      $60 million for the Drug-Free Communities Program, a $9.4 million increase over the FY 2002 funding level and the same as the President’s FY 2003 budget request.

•                      $170 million for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, a $10 million decrease below the FY 2002 funding level and $10 million below the President’s FY 2003 budget request.

The bill also included language that would require future funding for the media campaign to depend on evidence of reductions in youth drug use.        

Congress will be on recess until July 8, 2002.  The next issue of the Washington Weekly Roundup will appear on July 12, 2002.