[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 126 (Monday, September 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10641-S10643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WELFARE REFORM

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, today I rise with good news about 
Americans on welfare. It is clear that the hard labor we put forth 
during the 104th Congress to enact welfare reform has been paying off 
with big returns. The system so many had grown to use as a crutch and a 
burden to self-sufficiency for 62 years was finally removed in July of 
1997.
  States are now showing that Americans can achieve financial 
independence when given the right tools. I thought it would be of 
benefit for the Members of the Senate to hear a review about Colorado's 
experience with changing the welfare program.
  In 1982, I was elected to the State Senate of Colorado and found that 
one of the first issues I was involved in was the idea that we needed 
to change welfare. I was approached by one of the counties I 
represented at the time that had a very frustrating problem. They saw 
their budget escalating out of control, and there was not anything they 
could do about it.
  So they said to the Colorado legislature at the time, and they said 
to me also, ``Look, if you will give us some local control, we have 
some ideas on how we can change the welfare system to make it better 
and save the taxpayer dollars and actually get people to work and be 
self-sufficient.''
  They had two phases that they wanted to go through. First of all, 
they wanted to go through a reorganization of their county government. 
They wanted to consolidate those agencies that dealt with employment 
and welfare. And they wanted to put these agencies together and under 
the guidance of one individual. They happened to select Walt Speckman 
at the time who was in charge of finding jobs for people in Weld 
County. This was the county that had come to me and was trying to do 
something about reforming their welfare system.
  They were putting him in charge because he was used to looking for 
jobs instead of putting people in a position where they were becoming 
put in a position to rely on government. This individual was used to 
getting them off of government and getting them into a self-sufficient 
program. And having been prepared to do that type of reorganization, 
they had to come to the State legislature to get some legislation 
passed. And I was involved in that.

[[Page S10642]]

  Another part of that process was that they had to go to the Federal 
Government and they had to get a waiver in order to be able to waive 
some Federal laws and regulations that were being applied to the State 
of Colorado as well as the county.
  As a result of that legislation--which we passed in a Republican 
legislature, by the way, from both the House and the Senate, and which 
was reluctantly signed by a Democratic Governor of the State of 
Colorado--we began to put the program in place. And as it moved along, 
we found that it was beginning to move people off of welfare into the 
workplace. It was working in this county at a time when there was a 
large amount of unemployment because one of the major employers in Weld 
County at that time had found it necessary--they were in a labor 
dispute, so they found it necessary to close their large plant.
  We also recognized in this program that we needed to provide some 
day-care services for many of the women who were on welfare. Most of 
the people in Colorado who were on welfare were young women who had 
children. We had to provide educational opportunities for them as well.
  This experience in Colorado gave us an example, those of us who were 
serving in the Congress at that time. After I left the Senate in the 
State of Colorado, then in 1990 I got elected to the House of 
Representatives, and it gave me a good example to point to my 
colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives about how welfare 
reform could work if managed properly. And my colleague at that time 
was Senator Hank Brown from Colorado, who was from Weld County and also 
worked hard on welfare reform as a Member of the U.S. House of 
Representatives and in the U.S. Senate.
  When I had the opportunity, as a Member of the House of 
Representatives, to work on welfare reform, I was thrilled because I 
could see what could happen if you would just turn the responsibility 
over to the States. If that State, in turn, would turn the 
responsibility over to the county, miracles could happen. And that is 
exactly the type of thing that I proposed in the 1994 election when the 
Republicans were putting forward the Contract With America.
  I had a good deal to do with putting in a lot of the provisions that 
were in the Contract With America on welfare reform because I could 
point to the experience in Weld County and the experience of Colorado 
and the tremendous success that happened out of that program. So I was 
absolutely delighted to see that the Republican Congress was beginning 
to adopt that idea.
  Finally, as I mentioned in my opening comments, in 1997 it was a 
Republican Congress, with a Republican Senate and Republican House, 
that finally had a reluctant President who was willing to sign some 
legislation on welfare reform. And it is working.
  The Johnson era and the decades following this taught us that the 
availability of Government welfare only feeds poverty, digging a deeper 
hole for those who grow to depend on it. By returning power to the 
States and giving them the flexibility to design and administer welfare 
programs tailored to the needs of their citizens, Americans are seeing 
the fruits of liberating the public from welfare dependence.
  Some skeptics would say our strong economy and low unemployment are 
responsible for the decline in welfare cases, but they forget that the 
flourishing economy of the 1980s barely put a dent in the welfare 
rolls. It is clear that our new laws are working.
  From January 1993 to March 1998, the number of welfare recipients in 
the Nation declined by 5.2 million, or 37 percent, from 14.1 million 
individuals in 1993 to 8.9 million in 1998.
  Since welfare reform was enacted in August of 1996, the number of 
recipients has declined by 3.3 million individuals, which is 27 
percent, while the number of families on welfare has declined by 1.2 
million, also 27 percent, since welfare reform was enacted.
  I am proud to say that Colorado continues to be one of the front 
runners in the progress of welfare reform. Colorado is the only State 
which has block-granted all welfare funds directly to the counties.
  Since 1995, Colorado's caseload has declined by nearly 50 percent.
  I have a number of other examples that I will point out to my 
colleagues in the Senate on the success of the Colorado program.
  Each county in my state has been experimenting with various programs 
which comply with the Colorado state law. Our law requires that an 
``individual responsibility contract'' be signed by each of the 32,000 
welfare recipients in Colorado. The contract describes each recipients 
program for obtaining a job. What makes Colorado's program work is the 
local flexibility and control handed to counties to carry out the new 
laws.
  In addition, counties have used their leverage power through their 
contracting and procurement activities to help create more jobs in the 
private sector.
  Counties in Colorado tell me they had to re-think their purpose in 
distributing welfare. Now, they see their role defined more by 
encouraging recipients to make a commitment to immediate work and 
imposing a shorter time limit for cutting off those who don't cooperate 
with this commitment. They are accomplishing this by reeducating 
recipients, creating new incentives to get off welfare, and contracting 
out job training.
  Since implementation of ``Colorado Works,'' our new version of the 
former Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, welfare 
cases dropped 28 percent in just one year.
  Several counties in Colorado have shown remarkable progress:
  El Paso County has renamed its welfare office the ``Family 
Independence Center'' and has moved into the same building that houses 
Goodwill Industries. They have developed a philosophy of empowerment of 
participants to care for their own families and seek employment as soon 
as possible, not as a last step in the self-sufficiency process.
  Boulder County has taken new strides in implementing reform. In July 
of 1997, they had 715 cases. At the end of June 1998, the caseload was 
562. 257 people were placed in jobs. The average wage of the former 
recipients was $7.82 an hour.
  Three of those former welfare recipients have found permanent jobs 
with Boulder County's own employment and training center.
  Mesa County has gone even further with a reduction of 40 percent in 
their welfare rolls. They tell me it's working because the county 
commissioners and social services staff have remained committed to 
getting people off welfare and into jobs. Plus, businesses and human 
services agencies in the county have pitched in to help find jobs for 
former welfare recipients. In several Colorado counties, the leading 
civic organization in welfare-reform efforts is the Chamber of 
Commerce. Communities are pulling together resources to help new 
reforms become a success.
  Colorado welfare cases have continued to drop since June of this year 
to an all-time low of 17,990 cases in the month of August. That is 
10,000 fewer welfare cases than we had in 1983--15 years ago. But on 
top of that, this phenomenon has been taking place while population in 
Colorado has been increasing. According to the Census Bureau, our 
population has increased 13 percent from 1990 to 1995. Although 
caseload reduction is not the only measure for success in this area, 
the fact that we have reduced our welfare reform by more than 50 
percent in just the last five years is worth talking about.
  Caseworkers in my state applaud this work-first model. They stress 
that there has been a large increase in child care utilization and 
expenditures--yet another sign that Colorado residents are being put to 
work.
  Since July, 1997, statewide child care expenditures have increased 
from $3 million to $6 million per month. Also, the number of families 
receiving child care assistance increased from 8,200 to 12,600 per 
month during the same period.
  But I think more than anything else, we should acknowledge that there 
is a clear-cut change in society's opinion about behavior we once just 
accepted. It's no longer acceptable for large chunks of our tax dollars 
to serve as a permanent wage to those who choose to lean on welfare.
  People are not helpless, as the welfare state has told them. In fact, 
predictions that we would see a massive increase in the homeless 
population have not come true.
  Instead, we see now that for years, our laws underestimated the 
abilities

[[Page S10643]]

of welfare recipients to work and care for their own families by 
earning their own money.
  Mr. President, changing the work ethic of the welfare community is 
not a simple process, but the results so far are impressive. The state 
and local governments are proving that they can accomplish this goal 
when we give them the latitude to do so. I'm proud to have been a part 
of this historical policy change.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Colorado for the 
examples he brings and the issue about which he speaks. There is no 
question that we are finding here the ideas that percolate from local 
and State governments which are really the laboratories of change that 
we have been able to bring and incorporate into public policy at this 
level, and welfare reform is the prime example. I am pleased that 
Senator Allard would speak to that this morning.
  I recognize his leadership in that area.
  Mr. ALLARD. I thank the Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

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