Column - Economic Opportunity for All Americans

Op-Ed

By Rep. Adrian Smith

Pre-COVID, the United States had a robust and booming economy, both in terms of economic growth and in terms of economic opportunity available to Americans in the workforce. This success was directly attributable to two of the biggest accomplishments to come out of the Ways and Means Committee in the past 25 years - welfare reform and comprehensive tax reform.

The Ways and Means Committee held a roundtable this week to mark the 25th anniversary of President Clinton signing into law the 1996 welfare reform, which created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. We discussed successes of the law and examined how we can improve the program for the 21st century. Although TANF has successfully reduced poverty and helped Americans enter the workforce, we know we can do more to ensure states are using TANF to also help Americans stay in the workforce and truly break the cycle of poverty.

I continually hear the same concern from employers in the Third District and across the country. Their greatest challenge is finding workers to fill good-paying jobs. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has exacerbated this problem by expanding unemployment benefits and turning the Child Tax Credit into the first new welfare benefit unconnected to work in a generation.

This week, I joined my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee in reintroducing the Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services Act (JOBS) for Success Act of 2021. When JOBS for Success was first introduced, I was chairing the committee's Human Resources Subcommittee. During this time, we held numerous hearings where we heard from welfare reform experts on how our dollars must be targeted better, as well as employers in dire need of employees and workers who had rejoined the workforce. We also discovered states weren't tracking TANF beneficiaries when they left the program to ensure they kept working, and that some were even diverting TANF funds to programs like college scholarships for middle class families or by sending small-dollar checks to existing workers in an effort to make their welfare-to-work numbers look better. We need practical, actionable measures to ensure the most vulnerable Americans get the services and support they need to move up the economic ladder.

The JOBS for Success bill would strengthen existing TANF efforts by requiring states provide one-on-one counseling to TANF beneficiaries while focusing TANF programs, specifically, on those most in need. The legislation includes language from my bill, the Focusing State Efforts to Expand Opportunity Act, which would require states to provide TANF assistance to families at 200% of poverty and below, an impactful margin that could make a real difference. I know firsthand from my experience as chair during the initial JOBS for Success hearings that in order to achieve an economy that works for everyone, we must ensure states use their TANF funds to benefit those most in need.

Meaningful reforms are how we ensure Americans can achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency, and it is imperative we grow on the successes of the past in creating opportunities now. We celebrated a major 25-year milestone of helping American families and empowering individuals this week, but the work is far from being over.

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