See How Your Politicians Voted
Title: Welfare Reform Bill
Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that replaces most federal welfare programs with a block grant system to States, among other provisions.
Highlights:
- Replaces the current Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with block grants to states, as long as the State submits documents outlining how it plans to design a program that provides temporary assistance to families, requires one parent to work, and establishes goals to reduce pregnancies in unmarried women.
- Increases grants after 2 years for states that decrease the number of pregnancies in unmarried women.
- Prohibits States from giving cash assistance to children of unmarried teenagers, except in cases of rape or incest.
- Requires States to increase the percentage of families that must participate in work activities each year.
- Prohibits States from providing additional cash assistance to families if another child is born, except in cases of rape or incest.
- Denies assistance to families that do not report their minor child's absence after a 5-day period.
- Requires states to limit aid to 5 years per family, and allows States to exempt up to 10 percent of families because of hardship, or if an individual was battered or suffered extreme cruelty.
- Withholds 15 percent of assistance from families when paternity is not established for at least one child, except in cases of rape or incest.
- Denies assistance for 10 years to any person who has fraudulently misrepresented their address in order to obtain assistance in more than one state.
- Denies assistance to fugitive felons and parole and probation violators.
- Defines a disabled children, for the purpose of receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) assistance, as an individual under the age of 18 who has a physical or mental impairment.
- Denies SSI assistance to individuals whose handicap is alcoholism or a drug addiction.
- Prohibits non-citizen, legal immigrants and nonimmigrant from receiving public assistance, except for non-cash emergency relief and certain housing related assistants.
- Provides grants to states for children who have been abused or neglected.
- Encourages states to implement an electronic benefit transfer system where a household is issued a photo identification card to electronically access food stamp benefits.
- $36.26 billion in grants to states for school-based nutrition programs for fiscal years 1996 - 2000.
- $24.75 billion in grants to states for family nutrition programs for fiscal years 1996 - 2000.
- $22.47 billion in grants to states for child protection and payments for foster care and adoption assistance for fiscal years 1996 - 2000.
- $10.47 billion in grants to states for child care assistance for fiscal years 1996 - 2000.