The federal welfare apparatus has bloomed into disastrous menagerie of nearly one hundred programs. Many in Congress are seeking a solution to the welfare leviathan’s imminent collapse.
On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to call your senators and representative and ask them to cosponsor the Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act, S. 1290 and H.R. 2832, sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). This bill would significantly reform welfare and get more families back to work by promoting accountability, reducing spending, and decentralizing control by returning it to the states.
FreedomWorks today announced a week long campaign to promote welfare reform. The campaign, “Welfare Week: Solutions to Get America Working Again,” will begin on Monday, June 12 and last through Friday, June 16. The week will include a series of live streams with Members of Congress and policy experts on FreedomWorks’ Facebook page, grassroots events, and more.
There is a strong moral case for welfare reform. Welfare binds the poor with the soft chains of good intentions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that there are 5.7 million job openings, but also reports that there are 7.1 million unemployed in our country. A compassionate response to the unemployed is not meager payouts every month to keep them alive. Genuine compassion means focusing on getting every level of government out of the way and creating conditions in which these 7.1 million unemployed individuals can get into those 5.7 million job openings, take pride in their work, help others by being productive citizens, and flourish.
FreedomWorks has selected the Welfare Benefit Reform and Alignment Commission (BRAC) Act, H.R.1469, as the Bill of the Month for April 2017. This bill was introduced by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) on March 3.
FreedomWorks today marked the 20th anniversary of the 1996 welfare reform bill – the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act – which was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The fundamentally changed how the federal welfare system functioned by placing an emphasis on employment for those who received benefits and empowered states to design and implement their own plans.