OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

TANF Reform

Date: March 30, 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Unemployed and Low-Income


TANF REFORM -- (Extensions of Remarks - March 30, 2004)

SPEECH OF
HON. DANNY K. DAVIS
OF ILLINOIS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2004

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, we have failed to make a real TANF reform that helps the working poor low-income single parents, children of poverty stricken families, and especially the men and women who have a drug conviction.

The TANF program contains several provisions that could decrease funding for individuals who received a drug felony conviction, which includes use, possession, or distribution. There is a lifetime ban on TANF and food stamps for individuals who receive a drug felony conviction after August 22, 1996, unless the State enacts legislation to disregard the ban completely or narrow it. Only 7 States and the District of Columbia have completely opted out of the ban with another 18 states allowing benefits to be paid to individuals with drug felony conviction in certain circumstances. For instance, in only three states the ban does not apply to those who finish their sentence and comply with their parole or probation, six states do not apply the ban to those in treatment or who have completed treatment. However, 41% of States ban TANF and food stamps based on the conviction alone. A report in 2002 estimated that the ban affected 92,000 women in 23 States studied.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a State issue. This is our Nation's issue. If we do not help all of those in need, if we stop giving assistance to some of our most needy, those with an addiction or who have been falsely accused of this conviction, our Nation will end up paying for it with higher rates of crime, higher recidivism rate, and a number of individuals remaining drug-users. The National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study found that women treated in federally funded treatment programs increased their employment and decreased their use of welfare. The number who reported being employed in the year after treatment increased by 25 percent. Incomes also increased by 6 percent while the number receiving public assistance decreased by 8 percent. This clearly demonstrates that punishment and banning assistance is not the answer. Instead, federal assistance will assist to produce working, tax-paying citizens.

END

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