|
 |
 |
|
Camp, Hatch demand review of administration's welfare change
Two prominent GOP lawmakers are calling for an investigation of the Obama administration's decision to grant certain waivers under welfare reform.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have been highly critical of the announcement, saying it will allow states to circumvent work requirements for people on welfare.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says the new policy will strengthen, not cripple, the work requirement.
"This review by the nonpartisan GAO will determine whether Congress
can use expedited procedures to block HHS from waiving work
requirements," Camp said in a statement.
In their letter, the lawmakers also asked if previous administrations had taken similar steps on welfare policy.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius defended the government's move in a recent letter to both men.
"Our goal is to accelerate job placement by moving more Americans from welfare to work," she wrote. "No policy which undercuts that goal or waters down work requirements will be considered or approved."
Under the new policy, federal waivers would allow states to test new approaches to ensuring welfare recipients find jobs. In exchange, states would have to prove that their new methods are effective, or lose the waivers.
Past documents reveal that former President George W. Bush and his administration advocated for a similar policy, and that as governor of Massachusetts, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney petitioned Congress for more flexibility under the landmark 1996 welfare-to-work law.
