[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 97 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7187-S7188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ABRAHAM (for himself and Mr. Shelby):

  S. 1917. A bill to authorize the State of Michigan to implement the 
demonstration project known as ``To Strengthen Michigan Families''; to 
the Committee on Finance.


                  Michigan Welfare Waiver Legislation

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today along with my colleague from 
Alabama, Senator Shelby, to introduce legislation that will allow the 
State of Michigan to proceed with the third phase of its comprehensive 
welfare reform program, known as ``To Strengthen Michigan Families.'' 
This legislation is similar to legislation which recently passed the 
House of Representatives that authorized the State of Wisconsin to 
proceed with its latest welfare reform initiatives without requiring 
formal waiver approval by the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services.
  In 1992, Michigan began a comprehensive overhaul of its welfare 
reform programs. This effort, called ``To Strengthen Michigan 
Families,'' was guided by four major principles that distinguished it 
from existing Federal welfare policy.
  First, Michigan sought to eliminate many of the existing 
disincentives for welfare recipients to find work and to earn money.
  Second, Michigan proposed to end the elements in the current system 
which serve either as an incentive for families to split up or as a 
disincentive for couples to become or to remain married.
  Third, Michigan sought to instill increased personal responsibility 
among welfare recipients by making greater demands of them with respect 
to finding work or obtaining the education

[[Page S7188]]

and skills necessary to finding future employment.
  Fourth, Michigan sought to supplement these changes in personal and 
familial behavior with a commitment to greater involvement on the part 
of community-based institutions, especially faith-based organizations.
  With reforms in each of these areas, Michigan began its crusade to 
end long-term, chronic welfare dependency. It required executive action 
by the Governor, acts of the State Legislature, and waivers from HHS 
from many burdensome or counterproductive regulations that were 
symptomatic of the existing failed system. And in 1994, Michigan 
enacted and began implementation of its second set of comprehensive 
welfare reforms, building on the foundation established by the original 
reform initiatives.
  The results of Michigan's reforms to date have been impressive and 
demonstrate Michigan's success in moving people off of welfare. 
Michigan's AFDC caseload has dropped from 221,884 cases in September 
1992 to 176,634 cases in May 1996--a decrease of 45,250 cases. The 
current AFDC caseload level is the lowest in nearly 25 years in 
Michigan. Caseloads in our State have decreased for 26 straight months 
and have fallen by more than 20 percent over the past 2 years.
  There is similar evidence that Michigan's emphasis on placing welfare 
recipients into employment activities has been effective. During fiscal 
year 1994 alone, nearly 30,000 individuals were placed into employment. 
In addition, by January 1996, the number of cases with earned income 
had risen to 31.1 percent, compared to the 15.7 percent of cases with 
earned income in September 1992. The most recent figures available--May 
1996--for percentage of caseload with earned income is 29.1 percent. 
Since September 1992, over 90,000 AFDC cases have been closed as a 
result of earned income from employment.
  In developing the latest round of reform initiatives, Michigan 
created advisory committees to make policy recommendations in four core 
areas of public assistance: AFDC and other cash assistance, child care, 
child protection, and Medicaid. These advisory committees were each 
comprised of 50 to 100 people selected to represent a broad cross-
section of community leaders, service providers and advocates, and 
users of services. These advisory committees conducted over 400 focus 
group meetings involving more than 4,000 participants. Their objective 
was to analyze the current system and identify barriers to greater 
program efficiency and to moving people more quickly and 
compassionately from welfare to self-sufficiency.
  The advisory committees were a key reason why these reforms received 
such strong bipartisan support in the Michigan State Legislature. The 
Michigan State Senate adopted the reform package on a vote of 30 to 7. 
The State house of representatives passed the legislation by a margin 
of 85 to 22.
  In the latest series of reforms, we impose tougher requirements on 
welfare recipients, but we also pledge more assistance--including child 
care, transportation and health care--in helping those who are 
attempting to make the transition from welfare to work. The goal is not 
to punish people who receive welfare. Rather, we believe people who are 
in need of assistance and receive it have some important 
responsibilities of their own. We stand ready to assist them as long as 
they are willing to make genuine efforts toward becoming self-
sufficient.
  Mr. President, if Congress and the President cannot agree on 
comprehensive welfare reform legislation at the national level, I 
believe individual States must be allowed to implement their own bold 
and innovative new approaches to ending welfare dependency. Under the 
present system, States are required to obtain prior approval from HHS 
before they implement many types of reform. The latest package of 
Michigan reforms would require 76 waivers. When you consider that 
during the 3\1/2\ years of the Clinton administration HHS has only 
approved 67 waivers nationwide, there is tremendous concern as to how 
long it will likely take for all of Michigan's waivers to become 
approved--if they ever are all approved.
  The bill I am introducing today will provide the State of Michigan 
the latitude it needs and deserves to conduct effective welfare reform 
until it can be enacted at the national level. As I discussed earlier 
in my remarks, Michigan's leadership in the area of welfare reform is 
well-known. To date, the reforms have been very successful--both in 
moving people off of welfare and in improving the quality of life for 
those who remain on welfare. The latest round of reforms follows in the 
tradition of tough but compassionate welfare policies that we in 
Michigan started in 1992. The people of Michigan deserve to be allowed 
to move forward expeditiously with these latest reform initiatives.
  It is my hope that the Clinton administration will move quickly to 
approve all of the necessary waivers that have been requested. If that 
does not happen, the legislation that I have introduced in the Senate 
today--and that my friend and colleague Representative Dave Camp is 
introducing today in the other body--will be available for us to bring 
to the floor for debate and hopefully passage.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an analysis of the 
reforms included in the most recent proposed reforms in the Michigan 
program be included in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record; as follows:


    MICHIGAN'S LATEST ROUND OF PROPOSED WELFARE REFORMS IN THE ``TO 
                 STRENGTHEN MICHIGAN FAMILIES'' PROGRAM

  The third phase of Michigan's on-going efforts at comprehensive 
welfare reform, called ``To Strengthen Michigan's Families,'' passed 
the Michigan State Legislature and were signed into law by Governor 
Engler in December 1995. These reforms affect five major Federal public 
assistance programs: AFDC, Food Stamps, Medicaid, child day care, and 
refugee assistance.
  The proposed reforms require a total of--at last count--76 waivers 
approved by the Department of Health and Human Services. The major 
components of the reform package fall into four general categories:

       (1) Increased Personal Responsibility for Individuals 
     Receiving Assistance:
       Require attendance for all adult AFDC, Food Stamps, and 
     State General Assistance applicants/recipients at a joint 
     orientation meeting with Family Independence Agency and 
     Michigan Job Commission personnel as a condition for 
     eligibility.
       Require recipients to enter into a Family Independence 
     Contract.
       Require compliance with work activity requirements within 
     60 days. Failure to comply will result in the loss of the 
     family's AFDC benefits and food stamps for a minimum of one 
     month and until there is compliance with work requirements.
       Require teen parents to live in an adult-supervised setting 
     and stay in school. Failure to comply will result in case 
     closure.
       (2) Assistance and Incentives for Those Seeking Employment:
       Provide greater employment-related services.
       Guarantee access to child care.
       Guarantee transportation.
       Guarantee access to health care for anyone leaving welfare 
     for work.
       Provide more resources to welfare recipients who work by 
     providing monthly EITC payments instead of one lump sum 
     payment.
       (3) Remove Unnecessary or Overly Burdensome Regulations:
       Provide for a vastly simplified application form--reduced 
     from the current 30 pages to 6 pages in length.
       Provide for the most dramatic simplification of AFDC, Food 
     Stamps, and Medical Assistance anywhere in the country.
       Streamline services by establishing a single point of 
     contact with the welfare office for each welfare recipient--
     regardless of the mix of benefits received.
       (4) Strengthening Families and Increasing Community 
     Involvement:
       Provide additional funding for prevention services to help 
     keep children safe and strengthen families.
       Allow faith-based organizations to work with communities to 
     address the needs of welfare recipients.
                                 ______