PA House Republicans to prioritize welfare reform in 2018

On Tuesday, a baker’s dozen of House Republicans supported a package of 20 pieces of legislation seeking to implement welfare reforms, an agenda being pushed by the House’s majority caucus in 2018.

The effort, spearheaded by Rep. Mike Tobash (R-Schuylkill) and Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R-Luzerne), is said to be one of the many ways House Republicans are trying to tackle fiscal issues facing the Commonwealth.

“We need to break Pennsylvania’s cycle of poverty; we need to get away from the mentality of borrowing and increasing taxes to grow our economy,” said Tobash. “One of the things on the horizon is making sure we are very astute at taking care of our welfare benefits moving forward.”

According to the members standing in support of the welfare reform push Tuesday, the welfare programs housed in the Department of Human Services are endangering the state budget and the lack of enforceable program requirements has created an environment where people are choosing welfare over work.

“These are welfare programs that are stressed to provide the benefits that we need for our most vulnerable citizens, that are a deterrent to obtaining the dignity that comes with earning a living, and aren’t supplying the workforce that employers need in order to grow,” Tobash said.

With many of the bills in various stages of the legislative process, the lawmakers at Tuesday’s news conference highlighted just a handful of the full legislative package.

House Bill 1659, sponsored by Tobash, would prohibit the Department of Human Services from applying for federal waivers from work requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and would require able-bodied adults without dependents to work, perform community service, participate in a work program or be enrolled as full-time students in order to receive benefits.

According to Tobash, as of the beginning of 2018, 59 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties and 10 municipalities have received waivers from SNAP’s work requirements.

House Bill 1788, sponsored by Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre), would eliminate the extended Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits beyond the current five-year time span and would place a cumulative 48-month lifetime limit on the receipt of TANF benefits for Pennsylvania residents.

Benninghoff, who, as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, has convened a number of hearings on the issue, noted testifiers have shared stories of people gaming the system by moving to Pennsylvania to continue receiving TANF benefits after their limits have been maxed out in other states.

House Bill 1559, sponsored by Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York), would require the Department of Human Services to opt in to the federal option by requiring both custodial and non-custodial parents to have a child-support cooperation agreement when the parents apply for SNAP benefits.

Additionally, a forthcoming bill from Kaufer would create a pilot program to encourage private-sector employers to hire individuals receiving welfare benefits by allowing TANF recipients to receive both their welfare benefits while working 20 hours per week and receiving the associated pay. The pay would then ramp up after six months until a year of work until the recipient makes enough money to get off of TANF benefits.

Kaufer noted implementing work requirements for able-bodied Pennsylvanians without dependents would lower the number of SNAP recipients by 52 to 66 percent and could potentially save Pennsylvania between $175 million and $210 million annually.

“We are talking about solutions-oriented government here,” said Kaufer. “We need a safety net for those who truly need it, while restoring the dignity of work.”

Other reforms in the package, such as requiring the Department of Human Services to apply for federal Medicaid-requirement waivers in order to help reduce costs, include some of the provisions found in the Human Services Code bill that was vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf as part of the budget process.

Also in attendance at the press event announcing the prioritizing of welfare was House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny), who pledged the support of the entire House Republican leadership team.

“We believe that (the state Department of) Human Services recognizes the dignity of each and every person that comes through the door and we want to promote that dignity through work and a pathway to self-sufficiency,” he said.

Though supported by House Republican leadership, House Democratic leadership Tuesday panned the effort, calling it “disappointing” to see Republicans “repackaging a discredited idea from the past.”

“The fastest way to reduce the number of people on welfare is to raise the state’s inadequate minimum wage. House Democrats are working to get that done in 2018 as part of our Plan for Pennsylvania,” said caucus spokesperson Bill Patton. “Every state that has tried a work search requirement quickly discovers the same thing. It doesn’t save money; it actually costs more and degrades the delivery of benefits. Rather than doing something that will only expand bureaucracy, we ought to focus on maintaining services that directly help people in need.”

Gov. Wolf's press secretary, JJ Abbott, said the governor's office will review the package of bills discussed Tuesday, especially given the governor's continuing goal of trying to help Pennsylvanians find job-ready skills and move toward independence while still maintaining a viable safety net.

However, he did offer a skeptical tone as things move forward in the current legislative direction.

“Gov. Wolf has consistently voiced his strong opposition to any legislative changes that could have widespread and potentially life-changing effects on the health and well-being of millions of Pennsylvanians,” Abbott said. “Seniors, people with disabilities, individuals suffering from substance use disorder, and low-income working families need our support and assistance, not to have their lives be made even more difficult by politicians in Harrisburg."

 

Jason Gottesman is the Harrisburg Bureau Chief of The PLS Reporter, a news website dedicated to covering Pennsylvania’s government.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.