July 8, 2005

ROMNEY FILES LEGISLATION TO LIFT FAMILIES FROM POVERTY

Proposes to expand work requirements in line with federal standards

Governor Mitt Romney today filed legislation to help welfare recipients escape the poverty trap. His legislation mirrors a plan he filed as part of his budget submission in January to bring Massachusetts in line with stricter federal standards that are followed in 48 other states.

Romney said he is filing the bill as stand-alone legislation because of the Legislature’s desire to deal with the issue apart from the annual budget, which was signed last week.

“Fundamentally, this is a debate about the best way to help someone lead a fulfilling life. We know that the best welfare system isn’t a handout but a hand up,” Romney said.

Massachusetts currently imposes a limited work requirement for its welfare system under a 1995 waiver from the federal government that expires at the end of September, 2005. When that happens, Massachusetts will be required to conform to stricter federal standards signed into law by President Clinton in 1996.

Following the introduction of work, welfare rolls in Massachusetts have plummeted from nearly 103,000 in 1995 to about 47,000 today. But with all the exemptions to the work requirement in this state, only 28 percent of today’s welfare population has to work. Romney’s plan would raise that to about 55 percent.

“It’s our responsibility to not only provide the opportunity for people to get themselves out of poverty, but also to give them critical support services to help them make their dreams come true,” said Lt. Governor Kerry Healey.

Investments related to this proposal include $8 million for education and training and $6 million for child care. Those funds, requested by Romney in his January budget submission, have already been approved by the Legislature. Romney will seek an additional $600,000 for DTA caseworkers to assist families in their efforts to become self-sufficient.

To bring the state work requirement in line with federal standards, Romney’s plan requires 20 hours of work by adult welfare recipients with children who are between the ages of one and five. Recipients who have children age six or older will be required to work at least 30 hours a week.

Currently, recipients with children between the ages of two and five are required to work 20 hours per week; those with children between the ages of six and eight are required to work 24 hours per week; and those with children nine or older must work 30 hours per week. Recipients with children under two are currently exempt from any work requirement.

To illustrate the positive effect that work can have on a person’s life, Romney highlighted two former welfare recipients, Annette Jackson of Boston and Tasha Williams of Somerville. Jackson, the mother of a teenage daughter, is now employed at the Department of Transitional Assistance. Williams, who had not been employed for more than two years before enrolling in a supported work program, is now an administrative assistant at Shelter, Inc., a Boston group that works to fight homelessness.

“I am grateful to have had the support to be able to move on and move forward in my life,” said Williams.

Said Jackson: “After being laid off, I used the services of the Department of Transitional Assistance and ended up with a good job. I am glad to be back where I belong, and that’s being employed.”

Adults with severe disabilities that meet federal standards would continue to be exempt from work under Romney’s plan. However, for parents with less serious impairments there will be individualized employment plans developed based on an assessment of their capacity to work.

“Over the past decade there has been a growing recognition that persons with disabilities can and, in fact, are working in competitive jobs,” said William E. Kiernan, Ph.D, Director of the Institute for Community Inclusion, a Boston organization that works to support the rights of children and adults with disabilities. “With effective job matching, comprehensive support and a coordinated effort, employment in a competitive job can be a reality for many persons with disabilities”

Massachusetts is one of only five states without a lifetime time limit for recipients to collect cash assistance. Romney’s legislation calls for continuation of the current time limit of two years in a five-year period, but would also have Massachusetts adopt the federal government’s five-year lifetime limit.

Romney’s plan also rewards work by allowing welfare recipients to keep at least one half of their earned income before their monthly welfare benefits are reduced. Most welfare recipients can currently keep only one third of earned income.

“Relying solely on a welfare check traps people below the poverty line, but working even a minimum wage job for only 20 hours a week raises that same family well above the poverty level,” said Department of Transitional Assistance Commissioner John Wagner. “We’re grateful for the cooperative spirit demonstrated by the Administration and the Legislature in endorsing funding for these critical support services.”

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Governor Mitt Romney and the Poor

Press Releases on the Poor

2003

• 01-10-2003; Governor Mitt Romney seeks expanded authority to balance budget; Calls for shared sacrifice in order to avoid disproportionate cuts to poor and needy

2005

• 07-08-2005, ROMNEY FILES LEGISLATION TO LIFT FAMILIES FROM POVERTY

Romney quotes about the poor

2003

• "A true partnership means sharing in good times and bad. In good times, the Commonwealth shared its prosperity with cities and towns. Now that the state has hit hard times, we need cities and towns to join us in tightening their belts. Our problem is simple: spending is high and cash is low. When we began our transition two months ago, every indication was that the current budget was balanced. That is not the case, and immediate, hard action is required to achieve fiscal balance," said Romney. According to Romney, his current "9C authority" would force disproportionate cuts on the elderly, poor and disabled. "If we are forced to balance this budget on the backs of our seniors and the poor, we will expose the core services of government to disproportionate cuts," said Romney. "That is not fair. The best solution is to spread the burden."
• Governor Mitt Romney, 01-10-2003 Press Release
• An address to the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

• “We will continue to be a generous state when it comes to caring for the poor, the disabled and the elderly. We will be far less generous when it comes to patronage, waste and inefficiencies.”
• Governor Mitt Romney, 02-27-2003 Press Release

• "The first is Common Sense for the Commonwealth that I have just described. The second brings spending programs to levels we can afford. When it comes to caring for the poor, the disabled and the elderly, Massachusetts is one of the most generous states in the nation. And despite facing the worst fiscal crisis in a generation, we will stay one of the most generous. Even more remarkably in light of the record budget gap, our total state spending for Health and Human Services will GROW next year under my budget. Let me say that again: Health and Human Services will actually GROW next year."
• Governor Mitt Romney, Massachusetts State of the State Address 2003 02-25-2003

2004

• “The Adams scholarship is based on merit and is open to everyone regardless of whether they are black or white, rich or poor, from a suburban school or an urban setting. For families struggling to make ends meet, it’s a way to help with the high cost of college tuition.”
• Governor Mitt Romney, 12-10-2004 Press Release

2005

• “I felt very strongly that the social programs of the sixties and seventies, the liberal agenda - I’ll call it the Johnson agenda-had hurt working families, had hurt the poor in many instances. And while the liberals had the best of intentions, I felt that the programs themselves had created a permanent underclass and had fostered poverty instead of eliminating it.”
• Governor Mitt Romney, The Atlantic (September 2005)

• "So, you might say, well then it’s the demographics. Poor and minority kids in urban communities just can’t be expected to do as well as their suburban counterparts. Well, we’ve found that that is simply not the case either. In fact, in one Massachusetts community, and in many others just like it, you can find two schools with similar demographics and similar funding that are getting dramatically different results."
• Governor Mitt Romney, 05-17-2005 Press Release

2006

• WALLACE: So you would have been willing to see the Medicare prescription drug benefit but you would like to have seen scale-backs in other parts of these entitlements? ROMNEY: "I'd like to see a holistic program that says OK, what are we going to do for people who are retiring in Medicare and those that are poor on Medicaid, how do we make sure that this doesn't become an overwhelming burden, let's include prescription drugs but keep it from growing at such an outrageous rate."
• Governor Mitt Romney, 02-27-2006 Interview on FNS

Romney actions and press releases that deal with the poor

• Romney also vetoed provisions providing dental and eyeglass benefits to poor residents on the Medicaid program, and providing health coverage to senior and disabled legal immigrants not eligible for federal Medicaid.

• Romney said the next phase of Commonwealth Care will create Safety Net Care, which will convert the uncompensated care pool into an insurance plan for the 150,000 working poor and long-term unemployed, directing them to a specified network of clinics, community health centers and hospitals. Currently, the state spends more than $1 billion annually on healthcare for the uninsured, but it does so inefficiently with limited controls on usage. 04-06-2005 Press Release

• Romney’s Commonwealth Care plan also addresses signing up individuals who are eligible for Medicaid, but not currently enrolled. Later this summer, he will unveil a plan for the working poor and long-term unemployed. 04-07-2005 Press Release

• Pellerin-Duck is dedicated to her community and has served as president and board member of the Pioneer Valley Project, which works to empower the poor and disenfranchised in the region. She was selected by the Diocese of Springfield to serve as a member of the National Catholic Campaign for Human Development that fights poverty and advocates for social change. 06-26-2003 Press Release

• Without relying on additional support from the state’s taxpayers or imposing mandates on businesses, the Commonwealth Care plan will offer coverage to the state’s 460,000 uninsured citizens by creating affordable insurance policies with basic benefits; enrolling Medicaid eligible patients; and providing aggressively managed treatment at clinics, health centers and hospitals for the working poor and long-term unemployed. 12-06-2004 Press Release

• Bank of America and MHP reached an agreement on the loan amount, and the bank agreed to convert a portion of the loan the $18 million grant. The grant can be used in combination with traditional financing to promote housing that serves extremely low-income families, the working poor and homeless, and to develop housing that is smaller in scale and supported by the community. 05-14-2004 Press Release

• “Without child support, we were evicted from our home, our car was repossessed and we had to move in with my family,” said Payne-Violet. “We went from a middle class family to a poor family overnight.” 02-23-2004 Press Release

• “President Bush established the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to strengthen the partnership between the federal, state and local government to faith-based and community groups that provide compassionate assistance to the American people,” said Towey. “Grassroots groups touch the lives of the poor and distressed with lasting, positive results.” 06-28-2005

• Salazar also announced that the USDA had awarded a $125,000 grant to Jewish Vocational Services of Boston. The agency will work with employers to improve access to the food stamp program for the working poor. 09-29-2004 Press Release

• “The rehabilitation and preservation of these affordable housing units is so important here in the South End,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “These buildings have been restored to their original splendor, but just as importantly, they are providing beautiful and affordable places to call home for people who are priced out of the market. I want to thank and congratulate our partners, the Madison Park Development Corporation and Haley House Inc., for their commitment to providing affordable housing and services for the poor and homeless.” 08-10- 2004 Press Release

• This boost includes a 9 percent increase in Medicaid, from $5.97 billion to $6.5 billion. Romney also preserved benefits for veterans, welfare payments to the poor, childcare funding and the state’s investment in homeless shelters. 02-26-2003 Press Release

Thesis statements that deal with the poor

• those societies that guarantee the least for their poor, often end up giving them the least

George Romney quotes on the poor

• "Too frequently family responsibilities are pre-empted by government and weakened by obsolete welfare policies that cripple each new generation of the poor."
• George Romney campaign material