[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 158 (Thursday, October 12, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1937-E1938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




FEDERAL CUTS JEOPARDIZE MARYLAND'S ATTEMPT TO END WELFARE AS WE KNOW IT

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                           HON. KWEISI MFUME

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 12, 1995

  Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, my purpose today is to bring to my 
colleagues' attention an article that was published in the October 7, 
1995 edition of The Washington Post.
  The State of Maryland has developed a program to end the problem of 
welfare dependency. The success of the effort has been stymied by the 
current squeeze on welfare. This article from the Washington Post sheds 
light on the problem of Congress' rush to seek reform without exploring 
all reasonable options.
  Mr. Speaker, welfare reform should be strong on work, not strong-
arming children.

              [From the Washington Post, October 7, 1995]

                  Federal Cuts Put Squeeze On Welfare

                        (By Michael Abramowitz)

       Maryland may have to scrap its pilot welfare program and 
     reduce basic grants to welfare recipients as the result of 
     expected federal spending cuts, a task force of top state 
     officials and welfare advocates has concluded.
       Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) said yesterday in an 
     interview that his aides are drawing up plans to cut $25 
     million to $50 million from the $650 million budget of the 
     Department of Human Resources, which manages the state-
     federal welfare program in Maryland.
       That represents the state's best estimate of the immediate 
     fiscal impact of the welfare overhaul plan approved in both 
     houses of Congress.
       ``We've got to move very quickly on all these [federal] 
     losses,'' Glendening said.
       State officials said that they had not determined how the 
     cuts will be allocated and that a decision could come by 
     November. But a task force of legislators, Glendening aides, 
     local social, service officials and advocacy groups has 
     drafted a list of recommendations that include requiring 
     welfare recipients to take any job offered and requiring 
     other steps to keep people off welfare to begin with.
       Although the idea is not part of their formal 
     recommendations, task force members said the state also was 
     seriously considering trimming the basic monthly welfare 
     grant, which is $373 a month for a family of three. That's 
     already less than the $406 monthly payment people on welfare 
     received before the General Assembly cut grants in 1991 and 
     1992.
       But the group's most controversial recommendation may be to 
     drop the pilot welfare program scheduled to begin in April 
     for 3,000 families in Prince George's and Anne 

[[Page E 1938]]
     Arundel counties and in Baltimore. Aides said Glendening had not 
     endorsed any of the recommendations yet.
       Touted by state officials as a common-sense approach to the 
     problem of welfare dependency, the pilot program would 
     require participants to get a job or perform community 
     service after three months on welfare. It also is designed to 
     cushion the transition from welfare to work by providing more 
     health and child care benefits for participants.
       Even though state officials said the plan ultimately would 
     save money, it would cost about $6 million to implement over 
     the next three years in the pilot jurisdictions and $250 
     million more to put in place statewide.
       The Clinton administration approved the pilot plan only two 
     months ago. But the task force concluded that it may not be 
     worth it to spend the money in the wake of welfare spending 
     cuts that will reduce Maryland's federal funds by $200 
     million over the next five years. Instead, members said, the 
     state simply should incorporate some of the less costly 
     features of the pilot program statewide, such as the tougher 
     work requirements.
       Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore), a task force member 
     and one of the authors of the state's welfare reform bill, 
     said the ``fiscal reality is that you can't do'' the pilot 
     program. ``We're being asked to do more with less,'' he said.
       Like many other states, Maryland is engaged in furious 
     last-minute deliberations over how to cope with the prospect 
     of massive change in the federal-state welfare program. Both 
     the House and the Senate have approved bills that would end 
     the traditional federal guarantee of financial support to 
     poor people who meet certain eligibility standards. Instead, 
     the federal government would send federal money to the states 
     in the form of block grants and give governors and state 
     legislatures more discretion over how the money is spent. 
     Both bills would cut millions from the funds states were 
     expecting to receive from Washington.
       Virginia officials said yesterday that they are confident 
     that they are in better shape than Maryland. For one thing, 
     Virginia already has implemented its own welfare overhaul 
     that is far broader than Maryland's. State officials have 
     estimated that their plan will pare thousands from the 
     welfare rolls, saving as much as $130 million over five 
     years, or more than the Clinton administration's estimate of 
     what Virginia stands to lose in the federal welfare overhaul.

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