President Obama had been seeking ways to circumvent the 1996 welfare work requirements since coming to office, according to a 2009 memo released Tuesday by Representative David Camp (R–MI) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R–UT). “From the first year the Obama Administration took power, it was trying to find any legal …
Across the country, states are courting participants for food stamps (now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) even has a webpage dedicated to helping states create “SNAP Outreach Plans.” The argument from the USDA is that “Food Stamps Make America Stronger” …
As action to stop Obamacare languishes in Washington, the debate continues at the state level. Heritage is hosting a series of health care reports from our allies in the states to provide an up-close view of state-level action regarding Obamacare. The states play an important role in protecting citizens against …
Most Americans believe “work is the best solution for poverty,” according to a recent Rasmussen Report. A full 80 percent of Americans agree with this statement (9 percent disagree and 11 percent are undecided). Using work to fight poverty was the driving force behind the welfare reforms of 1996. Temporary …
When the President’s budget comes out Wednesday, it will complete the last piece of the budget puzzle, as the House and Senate have each duly passed a budget according to law. Never mind that the President’s budget is supposed to lead Washington budget discussions, rather than follow. The key question …
According to a statement by the Obama Administration in March, a House bill that reinforces the welfare work requirements of the 1996 reform act equates to an “unnecessary bar to innovative welfare-to-work strategies.” What are these “innovative” strategies? Last year, the Obama Administration simply waived compliance with the already lenient …
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that even with improvements in the economy, food stamp participation rates have reached all-time highs. Since 2008, enrollment has increased by 70 percent, reaching a record 47.8 million this past December. Funding for the food stamp program—or, as it’s now called the …
Senator Pat Roberts’s (R–KS) amendment to the Senate’s budget plan (S.Con.Res. 8) to eliminate funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) Employment and Training Program is a serious attempt at imposing some much-needed fiscal discipline in Congress. According to the Government Accountability Office, officials at SNAP did not track …
On March 13, the House voted to restore the work requirements that the Obama Administration attempted to gut from the 1996 welfare reform law. The Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act of 2013 was introduced in late February by a group of conservatives to undo the Administration’s actions. The …
