USA Daily Chronicles obtained a statement from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) celebrating the Trump Administration for its commitment to “advance welfare reform through principles that will move millions of Americans out of dependency and into work.”
In that statement, FGA noted:
“Today’s executive order is a clear directive for agencies to review welfare programs and ensure that rules and regulations are promoting work, especially for able-bodied adults. It also outlines principles to preserve resources for the truly needy and return flexibility for program implementation to the states, among others.
“The order is a continuation of the Administration’s commitment to reform the broken welfare system through commonsense reforms like work requirements. Work requirements have proven successful in moving able-bodied adults from welfare to work. In states where work requirements were implemented, able-bodied adults who left welfare saw their incomes double and found work in over 600 diverse industries.
“’Despite there being six million open jobs across the nation, there is a record number of able-bodied adults trapped on welfare,” said Tarren Bragdon, CEO and President of FGA. ‘This executive order is a strong signal that the Trump administration intends to change that and help millions of Americans move from dependency to work. Federal agency leaders must now act quickly to eliminate harmful rules and practices keeping individuals in dependency.'”
FGA also noted that the President’s executive order provides a roadmap for agency leaders to pursue reforms that will prioritize work for those that are able-bodied adults and yet properly care for the truly needy. In fact, through the implementation of such reforms, there is a likelihood that those really in need of help will be better taken care of following the implementation of welfare reform.
“By strengthening the work requirement for able-bodied adults on food stamps and approving states’ waivers for Medicaid work requirements, agencies can ensure that resources are preserved for the truly needy,” said Kristina Rasmussen, FGA Vice President of Federal Affairs.
After the passage of tax reform the Trump Administration has had welfare reform in mind as his next target. Following Welfare Reform in the 1990s — driven by Republicans and signed into law by Clinton — the number of people on welfare dropped significantly. Under Obama, many of those changes were reversed through government regulations and policies. The result was the rise of the percentage on welfare to pre-Clinton levels.
USADC obtained the following statement from the White House:
“The Executive Order on Economic Mobility, which President Trump signed late yesterday, takes the first steps toward real welfare reform in America. The last overhaul of the welfare system came more than two decades ago under the Republican Congress’ “Contract with America,” led by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
“Welfare enrollment for able-bodied adults is at a record high, despite near-record low unemployment in most parts of the country. For example, there are a record 28 million able-bodied adults on Medicaid today—a figure that has quadrupled since 2000.
“Work is the solution. States that have enacted commonsense work requirements are seeing positive results, improving the lives of thousands. Washington can learn from their example: After reforms in Kansas and Maine, individuals who left welfare and returned to work saw their average incomes more than double.”
Kevin Price, who is host of the Price of Business show (and an editor at USADC), which is nationally syndicated by the Biz Talk Radio Network, told USADC that “welfare reform is long overdue. We know that it worked extremely well in the 1990s — lowering costs for taxpayers, moving people from dependency and welfare checks to increased independence and pay checks. Meanwhile those reforms strengthening the help for the truly needed. Obama’s policies were damaging and are past due for serious reform.”
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