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WELFARE REFORM

ISSUE BRIEF NUMBER 1377059

AUTHOR:
Burke, Vee

Education and Public Welfare Division

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

MAJOR ISSUES SYSTEM

DATE ORIGINATED O6/l5/77

DATE UPDATED 05/12/82

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL 287-5700

0517

CRS- l IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82

ISSUE DEFINITION

The Nation's multibillion dollar welfare "system" is under attack as
costly, confusing, unfair, and a failure. Since l969, presidents,
commissions, and others have urged Congress to reform welfare, but in
contrary ways. One set of proposals, advanced by Presidents Nixon and
Carter, aimed to expand eligibility for cash aid and to make aid less uneven;
the other, advanced by President Reagan, has aimed to narrow eligibility.
In l98l, Congress chose the second path, voting to reduce or end AFDC
benefits for families with earnings or a stepparent, and students beyond high
school; to freeze food stamp benefits for a time; and to reduce housing
subsidies.  

President Reagan's FY83 budget would extend this reform process with new
cuts in AFDC, food stamps, and housing aid, plus deliberalization of
Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The Administration estimates that the
cash and food stamp proposals would save $4.4 billion (Federal) in FY83.
However, some pending bills would soften the impact of AFDC cuts already
enacted, which the Administration estimates will end AFDC benefits and
automatic Medicaid eligibility for more than 400,000 families.

The President also has proposed that the States take over AFDC and food
stamps in l984 in exchange for Federal takeover of Medicaid.

BACKGROUND AND POLICY ANALYSIS

The Existing System

Welfare can be defined in various ways. In this paper, the welfare system
is viewed as public programs that give cash and non-cash (in-kind) income to
some persons deemed in need and without sufficient means of their own.
Because limited income is a requirement for eligibility, such programs often
are called "needs-tested" or "means-tested." A broader definition of welfare
would include social security and other programs that provide income without
regard to need; a narrower one would exclude some non-cash assistance.

The Federal Government sets standards of need for some welfare programs,
such as food stamps, and they are uniform; but States decide eligibility
limits for the two most costly welfare programs, Aid to Families with
Dependent.Children (AFDC) and Medicaid, and they vary greatly.

More than 60 welfare programs now offer aid to specified groups whose
income and assets are within permitted limits or who are presumed in need
because of age or area of residence. The benefits take the form of cash,
medical care, food, jobs and training, housing, education, and other goods
and services. Federal-State-local expenditures for these welfare programs in
FY80 were $102.6 billion, 3.6%, of the gross national product. Three of four
welfare dollars were from the U.S. Treasury. (CRS Report 81-44EPW provides
details about these programs and their FY77, 78, 79 expenditures.)

From FY68 to FY79, welfare outlays more than quintupled. Even after
allowance for price inflation, welfare spending almost tripled, and the
average annual increase in real spending during the ll years was l6%. During
the ll-year period, the population rose l0%. During these years, Congress

CRS- 2 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

liberalized some old welfare programs and established new ones. some of, the
major expansions follow: Effective in l969 Congress gave a work incentive
bonus to all mothers who receive AFDC checks; the bonus was the right to a
welfare supplement even after their net earnings exceeded the State standard
of need. (In l98l, however, Congress imposed a time and dollar limit on this
provision.) In 1969, minimum rents for public housing were abolished
(reinstituted, at a low level, in l974). By 1970 amendment, the food stamp
program was converted into a Federal income guarantee in participating
counties. By l972 amendment, basic educational opportunity grants were
adopted for all needy college students. In 1972, effective in 1974, a
Federal cash income guarantee was enacted for the aged, blind, and disabled.
Effective in l974, food stamps were extended to all counties, providing a
national income guarantee in the form of food stamps. In 1975, a rebatable
tax credit was adopted for low income workers with children.

In FY80, nine major welfare programs accounted for two-thirds of total
welfare outlays. Federal-State-local spending by these programs totaled $69
billion. The programs were

l. AFDC -— cash for needy children (and their caretakers) whose fathers
are dead, incapacitated, continuously absent, or, in 21 States plus D.C. and
Guam, unemployed. By definition, "unemployment" includes part—time work of
fewer than 100 hours monthly. AFDC was launched by the Social Security Act
of 1935 as a program for widows and their children. Today only 2% of AFDC
children are paternal orphans; 86% have an able-bodied father, but he lives
away from home.

2. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) -- cash for needy aged, blind, or
disabled persons. The Federal Government sets basic eligibility rules and
pays a uniform basic benefit, which is supplemented by half the States.

3. Food stamps -- bonus food stamps for virtually all persons in needy
households, regardless of age or family structure.

4. Veterans‘ pensions -- cash for needy veterans (and their dependents)
who are aged or otherwise disabled by a condition unrelated to their military
service (also, for needy survivors of veterans whose death was not related to
their military service).

5. Earned income tax credit (work bonus) -- cash for workers with gross
annual income below $10,000 ($8,000 prior to l979) and a dependent child.

6. Medicaid -- free medical care for AFDC recipients, for SSI recipients
in 35 States, and for the "medically needy," as designated by States within
limits allowed by Federal law, in 32 states.

7. and 8. Public housing and Section 8 lower-income housing assistance --
subsidized rent (if units are available) for families, broadly defined, and
after preference for the elderly and handicapped, for a limited number of
single individuals.

9. General Assistance (GA) -- cash and in-kind aid, including medical
Vendor payments, for needy persons as determined by States and/or counties.
GA is financed without Federal aid.

As the above list shows, only one federally aided program offers cash help
to poor families with fully employed fathers, often called the "working
poor". This is the earned income tax credit, which offers a maximum of $500

CRS- 3 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

yearly per family, no matter how large the family. No Federal welfare cash
is available to help able—bodied non-aged singles or couples without
children. However, one Federal program is open to virtually all the needy,
and on uniform terms. It is the food stamp program, which guarantees all
Americans against hunger and has been called "disguised cash assistance."

CRS- 4 1377059 UPDATE-O5/12/82

The following table summarizes FY80 expenditures (including
administrative costs), recipient numbers, and average benefit
levels for the nine major programs:

TABLE 1.
Average monthly Estimated average
Billions no. of recipients FY80 benefits

(millions)

AFDC $13.4 10.5 $3,312 per family (2.9 persons)
SSI 8.4 4.2 $1,792 per recipient

Food stamps 9.6 21.1 $412 per recipient.

Veterans‘ pensions 3.6 3.l(est.) $2,367 per veteran's case

($1,209 per survivor's case)
Earned income

tax credit 2.0 2l.2(est.) $287 per family
Medicaid 25.8 9.2(FY79) $950 per recipient (FY79)
Public housing and

Sec. 8 housing 3.5 5.7(est.) $1,855 per occupied unit

General Assistance
Cash, non-medical

aid 1.4 0.9 $1,523 per recipient
Medical aid 1.1 (est.) N/A N/A
Total $68.8 Duplication prevents
totaling

The following table shows maximum benefits, funding details,
and participation rates for AFDC, SSI, and food stamps.

Maximum who sets who pays Estimated
benefits benefits? for participation
(monthly) benefits? rate of eligibles
AFDC Range: $96 per 3-person States U.S.--54% 90%
family in Mississippi to $506 in States--40% (FY79)
California and Localities-—6%
$571 in Alaska (March 1982). (Minimum Federal

share per State--50%)

SSI Federal floor: $264.70 Congress Of total: 60-70%
per individual, $397 per couple U.S.—-76% (Caution:
(July 1, 1981-June 30, 1982) States--24% reliable data
Range of State on eligibles
supplements L are scarce,
$10 per , especially for
individual living disabled)

independently in
Maine to $261 in Alaska and
$174 July '82) in California.

Food $233 for a 4-person U.S. U.S.—-100% 65-70%
stamps household Agriculture
$70 for one person. Department

(calendar 1981)

CRS- 5 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

Food stamp benefits are inversely scaled to income. Thus, food stamp
bonuses are larger for welfare families who live in States with low AFDC cash
benefits. Availability of food stamps has reduced the range in maximum
potential benefits for AFDC families.

Incidence Of welfare

In January 1980, an estimated unduplicated total of 28.7 million persons,
13% of the U.S. population, received aid from AFDC, SSI, food‘ stamps,
Medicaid, or General Assistance. Some of these persons also received
veterans‘ pensions, and many were eligible for the earned income tax credit.
Former HEW Secretary Joseph Califano estimated that at some time during 1977
a total of 30 million persons received aid from AFDC, SSI, and/or food
stamps. The number at a given time was smaller because people move in and
out of eligibility as their income and family circumstances change.

Most welfare recipients are enrolled in more than one program. A staff
analysis prepared for a welfare reform consulting group established in
February 1977 by Secretary Califano found that 18% of recipients got benefits
from five or more different programs. Eligibility for cash welfare confers
the fringe benefit of eligibility for specified in—kind aid. For instance,
AFDC families automatically are eligible for Medicaid, and Emergency jobs
under Title VI of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA).

The number of U.S. children on AFDC climbed from 5.2% of the number of
U.S. children under 18 in 1967 to 10.7% in 1971 and reached an estimated
11.9% in July 1976, but dropped to 11.3% in 1979. It was above 15% in
California, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, and New York, and above 36% in
D.C. in 1976. The estimated number of fatherless families (without a natural
or adoptive father at home) enrolled in AFDC now equals two-thirds of the
number of all female-headed families with their own children under 18. It is
estimated that 10.6% of Americans over 65 years old receive SSI; for most of
whom (70%) this benefit is a supplement to regular Social Security checks.

About a quarter of all AFDC recipients live in six cities: New York,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, and Detroit. More than 24% of
the recipients of AFDC and SSI live in two States, New York and California,
which together account for 18% of the total U.S. population.

welfare and "Employables"

Both the food stamp program and AFDC require designated able-bodied
persons to register for work or training as a condition of eligibility.
Mothers are subject to the work registration rule once their youngest child
reaches school age. According to studies by the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) and the Agriculture Department, about 16% of AFDC
families, 2.7% of SSI recipients, and 25% of food stamp households have
earnings in a given sample month. However, over the course of a year the
proportion is significantly higher, as many recipients have irregular work.
The Census Bureau reports that 59% of AFDC families had earnings at some time
during 1975 and that 28% of AFDC families had no income that year other than
public assistance. Food stamps and SSI reward work by deducting only a
portion of earnings from "countable" income used to offset the welfare
benefit. until passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981
(P.L. 97-35), AFDC also provided a work incentive bonus but the new law

CRS- 6 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82

restricts the bonus to the first 4 months of a job and imposes an overriding
gross income test, as well. See Issue Brief 81051.

Of total recipients of AFDC and SSI cash in January 1978, almost 80% were
estimated to be children, or aged, blind, or disabled persons. AFDC mothers
accounted for 18.8% and fathers (chiefly incapacitated or unemployed and
job—hunting) for 1.8% of total recipients.

All in all, it appears that about 15-18% of recipients of six major
welfare programs are "employable" by reason of physical condition, age, age
of children, or job history, and that about two-thirds of these persons
worked in early 1976, some full time, some part time. (The six programs are
the eight major programs listed in the first table above, minus the earned
income credit, which goes only to families with earnings, and public
housing.)

Welfare and Poverty

Some maintain that an appropriate objective of welfare is to eliminate

poverty. However, the welfare system is not designed directly for this goal.
First, millions of poor persons, such as working poor families and
able-bodied childless couples, are excluded from Federal cash welfare (other
than the earned income credit) because they are considered employable.
Second, cash programs do not decide eligibility on the basis of the official
poverty index calculated by the Census Bureau ($8,410 in 1980 for a nonfarm
family of four), although the revised food stamp program and some manpower
programs, such as the Job Corps, do use the poverty index and some other
programs, such as free school lunches, use a multiple of it (125%). Third,
payment levels of major welfare programs generally are below the official
poverty cutoffs. Indeed, maximum combined food stamp-AFDC benefits for a
family of three as of November 1981 were below the Census Bureau's 1981 U.S.

poverty threshold of $7,250 in all States except Alaska, Hawaii and New York
(Suffolk County).

On the other hand, a staff paper prepared by the Califano welfare reform
group (Paper #4, Critical Analysis of the Welfare System) found that 42% of
persons eligible for AFDC and 57% of persons eligible for SSI were not "poor"
by the official Census definition. The analysis indicated that 18% of AFDC
benefits, 20% of medicaid benefits, and 25% of food stamp benefits go to the
non-poor.

A sizable part of welfare benefits "leak" to the non-poor not because of
abuse, but because food stamps, public housing, and SSI (but not Medicaid)
are designed to encourage recipients to supplement welfare with wages. As a
result of work incentive provisions, for example, as SSI aged recipient with
no unearned income remains eligible for a declining benefit check until gross
earnings reach at least $7,373, 54% above the 1980 poverty threshold for such
a person (the limit is higher in a State that supplements the Federal" SSI
income floor).

From 1968 to 1978, a period of sharply rising welfare outlays, the
proportion of officially "poor" Americans, as measured by money income needed
to maintain a relatively fixed standard of living, dropped from 12.8% to
11.4%, and then rose in 1979 to 11.6% and in 1980 to 13% in 1980, according
to the Census Bureau. However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has
estimated that if the value of in-kind benefits, other than medicaid and

CRS- 7 IB77069 UPDATEfO5/l2/82

medicare, were counted as income, the proportion of poor would drop below
10%, and would have reached 8.l% in 1976 (Background Paper no. 17 Revised).
In a subsequent study, a CBO analyst found that the incidence of poverty in
l98O dropped to 7.35%, measured by cash income and in-kind transfers other
than medicare and medicaid. Both figures are before taxes.

Problems in the Welfare System

Various studies and critics have identified these problems in the welfare
system, among others

l. Wide variations in benefit levels, ranging from meager to generous.
2. Exclusion of millions of needy persons from eligibility.

3. Unintended potential penalties against marriage and family stability;
erosion of family responsibility. -

4. Work disincentives resulting from simultaneous enrollment in more than
one benefit program. Participation in multiple programs can discourage work
both (a) by yielding a high level of guaranteed income and (2) by causing
reduction in several benefits whenever earnings rise.

5. Penalties against full-time work.

6. Lack_of coordination among the numerous programs.

7. High error rates.

8. Administrative complexity.

9. High costs.

l0. Federal-State tension over welfare policy and rules.
ll. Harsh treatment of some recipients.

At a press briefing on May 2, l977, President Carter complained that the
array of separate programs could stifle work incentives and he urged
replacement of some by a single cash program. He said that if an AFDC mother
earning the minimum wage and living in public housing received an increase of
$100 in earnings, the family would lose, on the average, $94.82 of welfare
benefits ($66.67 in AFDC payments, $10 in earned income tax credit. $9.90 in
bonus food stamps, and $8.25 in housing aid). "So you can see there is very
little incentive to work your way off welfare," said Mr. Carter.

However, some persons would dispute the View that multiple programs of
cash and in-kind aid are undesirable. They point out that specific programs
were established to give specified aid to particular groups. Some persons
feel that no single cash program could be enacted to provide benefits equal
to those of existing programs. One welfare student has observed that the set
of disparate programs may be a boon to the poor because it "hides the size of
the transfer."

Past Reform Proposals

CRS- 8 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82

In l968, President Lyndon Johnson named a commission to study income
maintenance programs and, after his election, President-elect Richard Nixon
named a task force to study welfare and poverty. In August 1974, 10 days
after taking office, President Gerald Ford instructed HEW Secretary Caspar
weinberger to develop a welfare reform proposal. In early 1977, shortly
after taking office, President Jimmy Carter instructed HEW Secretary Joseph
Califano to develop a welfare reform proposal.

In addition, Congress authorized a comprehensive study of public welfare
in l97l-74 by the Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy of the Joint Economic
Committee. ' A

fter study, President Johnson's Commission on Income Maintenance
Programs, President Nixon, the Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy, HEw  Secretary
Weinberger, and HEW Secretary Califano all recommended that AFDC be replaced
by income-tested cash grants, federally financed and administered, and that
eligibility be extended to two-parent poor families with jobs. Their plans
sought to encourage recipients to start or to continue work by permitting
them to add to benefits a portion of earnings.

The House three times has voted for a cash income floor for needy families
with children, most recently on Nov. 7, 1979, when it approved an amended
version of President Carter's 1979 plan, H.R. 4904. Earlier it approved a
Federal cash guarantee for children by passing President Nixon's Family
Assistance Plan (FAP) in l970 and again in l97l, but that measure died in the
Senate in October 1972. Because both FAP and the Carter plan would have
raised benefit levels in the poorest states and expanded the pool of
eligibles, those committed to smaller welfare rolls and costs maintained that
they were the wrong kind of "reform." On the other hand, some felt that the
income floors of these plans were too far below the poverty threshold. Some
other opponents feared that an income guarantee for children of able-bodied
fathers would tempt low-paid fathers to stop or reduce work.

The issue of welfare reform has been divisive and difficult. Studies and
analysis have demonstrated the complexity of the problem and the danger of
creating new inequities in attempts to solve old ones. There is disagreement
over the basic purpose of welfare and the related question of who should
receive aid.

Brief History of President Carter's Welfare Proposals

After defeat of FAP, the first major welfare reform plan to win a
congressional hearing was the l977 proposal of President Carter, although
several other measures were introduced in the intervening 5 years. President
Carter in 1977 proposed abolition of three major welfare programs, AFDC,
Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and food stamps. In their place he
recommended a "Better Jobs and Income" program that would have provided a
cash income floor, at least 90% federally funded in each State, for all
Americans deemed unable to work; 1.4 million jobs and training slots for
those parents who "can and should work;" cash supplements for workers; and an
expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low- and moderate-income working
parents. A special House Subcommittee received the bill, held hearings, and
eventually approved an amended version.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill's net Federal cost in
its first year at $20.2 billion, of which $2.2 billion was fiscal relief for
States and local governments.

CRS- 9 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82

In 1979 President Carter submitted a scaled-down welfare plan that would
have built upon AFDC and food stamps, establishing an income floor for
families with children at 65% of the poverty threshold, payable in AFDC cash

’and food stamps. The 1979 cash measure, called "Social Welfare Reform

Amendments of 1979," abandoned the effort to establish a cash-guarantee for
non-aged childless persons. A companion measure, the "Work and Training
Opportunities Act of 1979," proposed to provide about 600,000 jobs and
training positions for principal earners for families eligible for AFDC.

The House passed an amended version of the cash bill , H.R. 4904, on Nov.
7, 1979, but the Senate failed to act on the proposal; and neither House
acted on the jobs bill. CBO estimated the net Federal cost of H.R. 4904 at
$3.5 billion, of which $1 billion was fiscal relief to States and localities.

1981 Changes and 1982 Proposals

On Feb. 18, 1981 and Mar. 10, 1981, President Reagan proposed several
changes in AFDC and food stamps that would reduce outlays, including
variations of AFDC proposals in the final, plus a lower gross income limit
for food stamps, imposition of a gross income limit for AFDC, a change in the
treatment of earnings by AFDC families. All of these concepts were embodied
in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, although some were enacted
in modified form.

President Reagan's FY83 budget contains additional AFDC budget—cutting
proposalsi more stringent work rules, use of other potential income, new
categorical eligibility limits, and others (CRS Mini Brief 82206). The new
budget proposes to reduce the terms of the food stamp income guarantee and to

.cut food stamp benefits for earners by repealing the earnings exemption rule

(Mini Brief 82210). The SSI proposals would deliberalize disability terms
and reduce benefits by changing rules for calculation and repealing the $20
monthly disregard of virtually any income for new recipients (Mini Brief
82219).

LEGISLATION

P.L. 97-34, H.R. 4242

Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Ends the WIN job credit and makes
AFDC recipients and WIN registrants eligible for the targeted jobs tax
credit. Enacted Aug. 13, 1981. '

P.L. 97-35, H.R. 3982
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. Reduces AFDC benefits for

those with earnings or with stepparents. Ends eligibility for children
beyond high school. Authorizes States to require work as a condition of
eligibility. Makes numerous other changes. Enacted Aug. 13, 1981. For

details of new AFDC rules, see Issue Brief 81051.

P.L. 97-18 (H.R. 3991)

Food Stamps. Continues cash-out of food stamps for‘ California SSI
recipients through August 1981 and increases authorization for food stamp
FY81 appropriations. Introduced and passed on June 23, 1981. Signed into

law on June 30, 1981 (P.L. 97-18).

CRS-10 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82
HIR. 64 (Albosta)
SSI.) Permits retention of child's disability insurance benefits if person

marries an SSI recipient. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981, referred to Committee on
ways and Means.

H.R. 123 (Bennett)

§§I. Establishes a 5-year U.S. residency requirement in the SSI program
for aliens. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and
Means. Related bills are H.R. 442 (guillen), introduced Jan. 5, 1981, and
H.R. 1680 (Young of Florida), introduced Feb. 4, 1981.

H.R. 136 (Biaggi)

AFDC and Medicaid. Provides that the United States will gradually
assume all financing of AFDC and medicaid. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred
jointly to Committees on ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce. See also
S. 853 and S. 855.

H.R. 145 (Brodhead)

SSI. Establishes a time limit for negotiability of SSI benefit checks.
Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 192 (Duncan)

Housing. Requires certain housing subsidy programs to disregard as
income social security benefit increases occurring after May 1981.
Introduced Jan. 5 1981; referred to Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban
Affairs.

H.R. 241 (Fuqua)

SSI. Provides for payment of SSI benefits due to a person who dies
without eligible spouse to person or ‘persons paying for burial and last
illness. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 250 (Culver)

Food Stamps. Permits pharmacies to accept food stamps in exchange for
food supplements for cancer patients. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to
Committee on Agriculture.

H.R. 268 (Albosta)

AFDC, Food Stamps, Public Housing. Requires each State to establish a
"jobfare" program and to require participation therein by recipients of AFDC,
food stamps, and public housing benefits as a condition of State eligibility
for Federal funding. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to Committees on
Agriculture; Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs; Education and Labor; and
Ways and Means. Similar bills: H.R. 269 (Findley et al){ introduced also on
Jan. 5, 1981; H.R. 971 (Guyer), introduced Jan..20, 1981. On Feb. 25, 1981,
41 cosponsors were added to H.R. 269. See also H.R. 1767 (Rudd), introduced
Feb. 5, 1981.

H.R. 498 (Roe)

All "Welfare." Provides for 100% Federal funding of Federal, State, and
local welfare costs. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways

CRS—11 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82
and Means .
H.R. 510 (Roe)

SSI. Disregards income and resources of the parents of a disabled child
in some cases where SSI benefits are needed to maintain him in the home.
Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means. Related
bills: H.R. 1194 (solarz), introduced Jan. 22, 1981, and H.R. 2102
(Courter), introduced Feb. 25, 1981.

H.R. 590 (Roybal)

SSI. Provides a special housing allowance to SSI recipients whose
housing expenses exceed 25% of income. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to
Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 593 (Roybal)

AFDC, SSI, Social Services. Disregards increases in social security
benefits received by recipients of these programs. Also, for SSI recipients
only, disregards cost—of-living increases in other public retirement
benefits. Introduced Jan. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on ways and Means.
Similar bills are H.R. 1566 (Addabbo), introduced Feb. 3, 1981, H.R. 1750
(Mitchell of N.Y.), for SSI recipients only, introduced Feb. 5, 1981; H.R.
2096 (Bouguard), introduced Feb. 25, 1981.

H.R. 537 (walker)

Food Stamps. Authorizes States to establish eligibility rules and
benefit levels, both of which now are set by Congress. Introduced Jan. 5,
1981; referred to Committee on Agriculture.

H.R. 908 (Richmond et al.)

SSI. Extends SSI program to Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Guam ‘on
same basis as in States. Introduced Jan. 19, 1980; referred to Committee on
Ways and Means. Similar bill: H.R. 4754 (Corrada et a1) introduced Oct. 15,
1981.

H.R. 940 (Weiss et al.)

SSI. Continues SSI benefits for 3 months when person is
institutionalized, provides for monitoring work period provisions, provides
benefits for mental disabilities, and makes clear that benefits may be paid
on the basis of presumptive disability. Introduced Jan. 19, 1981; referred
to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 941 (Weiss et al.)

Social Services. Increases Title XX payments to  States for aid in
relocating persons from institutions. Introduced Jan. 19, 1981; referred to
Committee on ways and Means.

H.R. 1011 (Brodhead)

SSI. Increases from $25 to $50 the monthly allowance for persons in
medicaid institutions, and provides for annual cost-of—living adjustments in
the sum. Introduced Jan. 22, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 1061 (Goldwater)

Privacy. Provides for privacy of certain public assistance and social
service records maintained under federally subsidized programs. Introduced
Jan. 22, 1981; referred to Committes on Agriculture; Energy and Commerce; and

CRS-l2 IB77069. UPDATE-O5/l2/82
Ways and Means.

H.R. 1322 (Gradison)

AFDC. Establishes a block grant program to encourage States to create
alternative programs to AFDC. Introduced Jan. 27, 1981; referred to
Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 1365 (Corrada)

Medicaid. Increases the dollar limits and the medicaid matching rate for
the medicaid programs of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam. Introduced
Jan. 28, 1981; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce. A related bill,
H.R. 5339, by Representative Corrada, extends these provisions to the
Northern Mariana Islands also.

H.R. 1368 (Corrada)
AFDC and Social Services. Treats Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and

Guam as States under AFDC, Title XX and child welfare programs. Introduced
Jan. 28, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 1432 (Petri)

AFDC. Expands the work requirement by requiring mothers with no child
younger than 3 to register with WIN. Introduced Jan. 28, 1981; referred to
Committee on Ways and Means. (First introduced in the 96th Congress).

H.R. 1750 (Mitchell of New York)

ggl. Provides that support and maintenance furnished a mentally retarded
person living in another's household shall not constitute income to him for
SSI benefit purposes. Introduced Feb. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways
and Means. Related bills are H.R. 1761 and H.R. 2046, also introduced by Mr.
Mitchell.

H.R. 1754 (Mitchell of New York)

AFDC. Establishes a minimum AFDC benefit and increases Federal funding
for States with low benefits. The AFDC floor would be the sum that, combined
with food stamps, would equal 65% of the OMB poverty threshold. Introduced
Feb. 5, 1981; referred to the Committee on ways and Means.

H.R. 1761 (Mitchell of New York)

ggg. Liberalizes SSI treatment of mentally retarded recipients by
excluding from "income" all or part of support and maintenance provided them
under various circumstances. Also excludes Section 8 housing benefits from
income counted by the .program. Introduced Feb. 5, 1981; referred to
Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 1766 (Oakar)

SSI. Eliminates the one-third benefit reduction for those who live in
another's household and receive support from him and continues benefits for 3
months after institutionalization. Introduced Feb. 5, 1981; referred to
Committee on ways and Means.

H.R. 1767 (Rudd)

Food Stamps. Restores the purchase requirement for all recipients other
than those over 60, blind, or disabled; requires States to develop workfare

cns-13 IB77059 UPDATE-05/l2/82
programs. Introduced Feb. 5, 1981; referred to Committee on Agriculture.
H.R. 1925 (seiberling)
Food Stamps. Excludes certain educational benefits received by AFDC

recipients from income counted by the food stamp program. Introduced Feb.
18, 1981; referred to Committee on Agriculture.

H.R. 2046 (Mitchell of New York)

SSI. Excludes fI‘OIl’l countable income Of a mentally retarded adult, payment‘

of tuition, fees or other costs attending a school for the retarded.
Introduced Feb. 24, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 2151 (Marlenee)

AFDC, SSI, Medicaid, Food Stamps. Provides for minimum fines for fraud
in these programs. Introduced Feb. 25, 1981; referred jointly to Committees
on Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and ways and Means.

H.R. 2222 (Young of Florida) .

SSI and Medicaid. Excludes burial plot or crypt from resources counted
by these programs. Introduced Feb. 26, 1981; referred to Committee on ways
and Means. Similar bills are H.R. 4901 (Stark), H.R. 5638 (Glickman), and
H.R. 5911 (Stark et al.)

H.R. 2368 (Jeffords et al.)

Food Stamps. Provides for recoupment of food stamp benefits at end of
taxable year from those with annual countable income, including unemployment
insurance, more than 75% above the poverty level. Introduced Mar. 9, 1981;
referred to Committees on Agriculture and ways and Means.

H.R. 2429 (Solomon)

AFDC Substitutes block grants for open-ended Federal matching in AFDC and
authorizes a 5-year demonstration project in which eight States could require
work as a condition of eligibility. Introduced Mar. 10, 1981; referred to
Committee on Ways and Means.

S. 45 (Sasser et al)

Federal Assistance Reform Act of 1981. Revises laws relating to grant
programs and seeks to promote consolidation of them. Introduced Jan. 5,
1981; referred to Committee on Governmental Affairs.

H.R. 2853 (Rangel)

Earned Income Credit. Increases the earned income credit from 10% to 15%
of the first $5,000 in earnings, phased out by 15% of earnings above $8,000,
thus increasing the income limit for the credit from $10,000 to $13,000.
Introduced Mar. 25, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 3004 (Rousselot et a1.)

AFDC. Family Welfare Improvement Act. Converts AFDC into a block grant
program, providing States their base period (FY79) Federal AFDC dollars plus
a share (based on population) of $1 billion, plus, for the 15 States with
lowest benefits, a share of $400 million, the latter conditioned upon raising
benefits. Block grant amounts would be adjusted for changes in the Consumer

CRS-14 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

Price Index (CPI), population shifts, and high unemployment. Permits
spending of block grant funds for "social welfare purposes" other than AFDC
benefits. Authorizes States to impose work requirements as a condition of
AFDC eligibility. Establishes, in 10 States, a 5-year pilot test of States‘
ability to develop alternate welfare programs free of all AFDC rules.
Introduced Apr. 2, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means. (First
introduced, in somewhat different form, in the 96th Congress.)

H.R. 3052 (Blanchard)

ggl. Provides for exclusion from United States of aliens who are
determined by the Attorney General as likely to receive SSI benefits within 6
months of their entry. Introduced Apr. 7, 1981; referred jointly to
Committees on Judiciary, and Ways and Means.

H.R. 3189 (Guarini)

(SSI). Permits States to replace supplementary cash payments with vendor
payments on behalf of residents of domiciliary or personal care facilities.
(Provision adopted by House in 1979 as part of H.R. 4904). Introduced Apr.
9, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 3394 (Pepper et a1.)

ggl. Comprehensive Supplemental Security Income Amendments of 1981.
Raises SSI income floor to the poverty threshold, repeals the assets test,
doubles the exemption for unearned income. Introduced May 1, 1981; referred
to Committee on ways and Means.

H.R. 3483 (Ashbrook)
Social Services. Consolidates grants to States for social services

Introduced May 7, 1981; referred jointly to Committees on Education and
Labor, Energy and Commerce, and ways and Means.

H.R. 3570 (Biaggi) See S. 986.
H.R. 4198 (Hammerschmidt)

§§I. Eliminates penalty of SSI benefit cut for recipients in certain
long-term care institutions that fail to meet State standards, authorizes
Federal funds to train and pay inspectors of such institutions. Introduced
July 17, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means. '

H.R. 4771 (Traxler)

AFDC. Permits AFDC payments in the form of housing vouchers for shelter
and related expenses. Introduced Oct. 15, 1981; referred to Committee on
ways and Means.

H.R. 4819 (Frank)

SSI and Medicaid. Requires that a States's Medicaid income limits for
SSI-related medically needy persons be the same as those for recipients of
SSI cash aid. This provision would increase the spend-down requirement (sum
required to be spent on one's own medical expenses) for Medicaid eligibility
Introduced Oct. 22, 1981; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 4839 (Aspin)

CRS-l5 IB77069 UPDATE-05/l2/82

SSI. Permits the award of attorneys’ fees in appeals concerning SSI
claims on the same basis as applies to social security appeals. Introduced
Oct. 27, l98l; referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 4945 (Heckler)

Energy aid. Low-Income Energy Assistance Trust Fund Act of l98l.
Provides that petroleum company overcharges payable to the United States
shall be available for low—income energy aid and weatherization. Introduced

Nov. l2, l98l, referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 4985 (Siljander)

AFDC. Comprehensive AFDC Improvements Act of l98l -- Part I. Reduces
AFDC benefits payable to working recipients by lowering the work expense
deduction and repealing the disregard of a child's earnings; requires States
to count as income a family's food stamp benefits and any housing or rent
subsidy; makes ineligible persons who dispose of assets that would put them
over the eligibility limit for less than fair market value, in preceding l2
months; prohibits AFDC for an unborn child; makes an absent parent liable for
administrative costs of child support collection from him; requires States to
impose liens on homes of AFDC families. Various other provisions.
Introduced Nov. l6, 1981; referred to Committee on Ways and Means. See also
H.R. 4986.

H.R. 4986 (Siljander)

AFDC. Comprehensive AFDC Improvements Act of 1981 -- Part II. Reduces
the child care expense deduction for working recipients; prohibits
eligibility for those whose gross earnings exceed l00% of the State need
standard; prohibits AFDC for non-citizens, for mothers‘ AFDC for a

non—citizen, for a parent separated from his spouse but living "in a sexual
relationship" with another person, for a mother who fails a test in English
(unless enrolled in an approved English class); prohibits payments smaller
than $25 monthly; requires high school students to work at least half time
once they reach age l6 in order to continue receiving AFDC; requires
unemployed fathers to submit at least 15 letters of job rejections from
potential employers each week in order to receive benefits. Introduced Nov.
l6, l98l; referred to Committee on ways and Means.

H.R. 5024 (Rosenthal)

Housing. Repeals the limit on the number of families with incomes between
50% and 80% of median income eligible for low-rent public housing.
Introduced Nov. l8, 1981; referred to Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban
Affairs.

H.R. 5093 (Waxman et al.)

SSI and Medicaid. Requires medicaid coverage for home care of disabled
SSI children who otherwise would be entitled to medicaid only if in an

institution. Introduced Nov. 2l, 1981; referred to Committee on Energy and

Commerce .

H.R. 5l99 (Waxman et al.)

AFDC and Medicaid. Medicaid work Incentive Amendments of 1981. Permits
States to provide Medicaid to families made ineligible for AFDC cash by the
new rules of P.L. 97-35 concerning treatment of earnings and by its gross
income limit. Introduced Dec. ll, I981, referred to Committee on Energy and
Commerce.

CRS-16 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82

H.R. 5226 (Gradison)

AFDC and Medicaid. Authorizes States to use AFDC matching funds to make
private health insurance "reasonably available" to AFDC families whose income
disqualifies them for Medicaid. Introduced Dec. 15, 1981; referred to
Committee on Ways and Means. Hearing held Mar. 25, 1982.

H.R. 5509 (Brodhead)

SSI. Limits the rate at which overpayments of SSI benefits may be
recovered when the overpayment was not the fault of the recipient.
Introduced Feb. 10, 1982; referred to the Committee on ways and Means.

H.R. 5574 (Sunia)

Medicaid. Permits American Samoa to establish a Medicaid program.
Introduced Feb. 23, 1982; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 5610 (Paul)
All welfare. Imposes U.S. citizenship requirement for eligibility for

benefits wholly or partly paid with Federal funds. Introduced Feb. 24, 1982;
referred to Committee on Government Operations.

H.R. 5791 (Ford of Tennessee)

AFDC, Energy Assistance, and Social Services. Public Assistance
Amendments of 1982. Restores permanent but revised work incentive bonus to
AFDC (disregard of one-third of earnings left after subtraction of dependent
care cost allowance and an increased allowance for work expenses). Also
increases annual allotments for Title XX social services and authorizations
for appropriations for low-income energy assistance. The increased AFDC
allowance for work expenses consists of the first $50 earned monthly plus 20%
of gross earnings, up to a maximum of $175. The bill repeals the gross
income ceiling of 150% of a State's need standard. Instead, its disregard
formula results in a gross earnings limit for most States equal to 187.5% of
the State payment standard plus 125% of child care costs (up to ceiling of
$160 per child) plus $43. However, in relatively high benefit States a lower
limit applies: 150% of the payment standard plus child care costs (up to
ceiling) plus $210. Introduced Mar. 10, 1982; referred jointly to the
Committees on Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce. Hearing concluded
Apr. 21, 1982. AFDC provisions approved by Public Assistance subcommittee on
May 12, 1982. .

H.R. 5871 (Matsui)

AFDC, Medicaid and Title XX Social Services. Authorizes States to
determine timing of Federal payments to States under these programs.

Introduced Mar. 17, 1982; referred jointly to Committees on Ways and Means,
and Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 5961 (chappell)
Housing. Requires verification of income data provided by recipients of

housing assistance. Introduced Mar. 25, 1982; referred to Committee on
Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs.

CRS—l7 0 IB77069 UPDATE-05/l2/82
H.R. 5976 (Corcoran‘et al.)

Energy Assistance. Energy Equity Act of l982. Provides ~funding for
low-income home energy assistance and weatherization through an additional
fee on awards of financial assistance provided by the Synthetic Fuels Corp.
Introduced Mar. 29, I982; referred jointly to Committees on Banking, Finance
and Urban Affairs; and Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 60l5 (Roybal et al.)

Housing. Shared Housing Residence Assistance Act. Allows use of Section
8 rental subsidy in shared housing arrangements. Introduced Mar. 31, 1982;
referred to Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs.

H.R. 6266 (Petri)
All welfare. Provides for collection of information concerning fraud,

waste or abuse in spending Federal funds. Introduced May 4, 1982; referred
to Committee on Government Operations.

H.R. 6291 (Waxman)

SSI. Disregards Holocaust reparations from the German government as
income for SSI purposes. Introduced May 5, I982; referred to Committee on
Ways and Means.

H.R. 6322 (Roybal)
Food stamps. Provides that elderly or disabled persons in certain group

living arrangements shall be treated as individual households by food stamps.
Introduced May 6, 1982; referred to Committee on Agriculture.

S. 641 (Inouye)

AFDC. Authorizes each State to establish work expense deductions, which
may vary by locality; provides also for disregard of a standard $70 monthly
from remaining income, and for 20.5% of that remainder. Prohibits these
disregards for persons in community work experience programs or public
service employment under WIN. Introduced Mar. 6, l98l; referred to Committee
on Finance.

8. 660 (Boren)

AFDC Family Welfare Demonstration Program Act. Establishes a period of
5 years during which States could either continue under AFDC or elect to
conduct a block-grant demonstration project subject to only one Federal rule,
namely, that they provide help which they feel will most effectively benefit
and promote the social welfare of children and families with children.
Introduced Mar. l0, l98l; referred to Committee on Finance. First introduced
in the 96th Congress. See also H.R. 3004.

S. 7l8 (Proxmire) .

AFDC Provides that States require AFDC recipients to participate in
community work programs "if they are able to do so." Introduced Mar. 17,
l98l; referred to Committee on Finance.

S. 771 (Moynihan)

Child Care Credit. Makes refundable the dependent and child care credit
in the income tax code and increases the credit from 20% to a maximum of 50%

CRS-18 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82

(for those with adjusted gross income no greater than $10,000). Introduced
Mar. 23, 1981; referred to Committee on Finance.

S. 853 (Moynihan) _

AFDC and Medicaid. Welfare and Medicaid Fiscal Assistance Program Act
of 1981. Provides that the Federal Government will gradually increase its
funding share of State AFDC benefits (and Medicaid costs) from its current
averages of 54-56% to a uniform rate of 90% in FY85, provided the States pay
AFDC benefits that in combination with food stamp benefits equal at least 75%
of the OMB nonfarm poverty threshold. Introduced Apr. 1, 1981; referred to
Committee on Finance.

S. 855 (Moynihan)

AFDC and Medicaid. Medicaid Formula Modernization Act of 1981. Changes
the average Federal Medicaid matching rate (also used for AFDC) from 55% to
65%, provides for adjusting State per capita income in the formula for
differences in BLS budgets, and excludes need-based cash benefits from per
capita income. Conditions the higher Federal funding share upon States‘
providing AFDC benefits that in combination with food stamp benefits equal
75% of OMB poverty thresholds. Introduced Apr. 1, 1981; referred to
Committee on Finance.

S. 1762 (Moynihan)

AFDC. Reinstates a permanent but revised work incentive bonus into
AFDC, providing that after the first 4 months on a job, the bonus would drop
from $30 plus one-third of remaining earnings to $30 plus one-fifth of
earnings (instead of being eliminated). Introduced Oct. 22, 1981; and
referred to Committee on Finance.

S. 1987 (Cranston)

SSI. Provides general revenue funding for successful programs providing
rehabilitative service to disabled recipients of SSI (and Social Security
disability insurance). Introduced Dec. 10, 1981; referred to Committee on
Finance.

S. 2184 (Quayle and Hatch)

Job Training. Job Training Act of 1982. Provides job training programs
for welfare recipients, economically disadvantaged out-of-school youths, and
some others. Introduced Mar. 9, 1982; referred to Committee on Labor and
Human Resources.

S. 2352 (Helms)

Food Stamps. Food Stamp Act Amendments of 1982. Lowers the gross
income limit, requires each State to implement a workfare program, lowers the
earned income deduction from 18% to 15% of earnings, increases the

benefit-reduction rate from 30% to 33.3%, and makes numerous other changes,
including authorization for States to operate their own food assistance
programs, be means of block grant funding. Introduced Apr. 1, 1982; referred
to Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Related bills are S.
2480 (Hayakawa) and S. 2493 (Dole et al). Administration bill is S. 2392.

S. 2392 (Helms, by request)

Food Stamps. Food Stamp Amendments of 1982 (Administration bill).
Increases the benefit-reduction rate from 30% to 35% of counted income,
abolishes the earned income disregard, counts energy assistance as income,
permits housing subsidy programs to count food stamps as income, and makes

CRS-19 IB77069 UPDATE-05/12/82

numerous other changes. Introduced Apr. 15, 1982; referred to Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Companion House bill is H.R. 6194
(Hansen of Idaho) introduced by request on Apr. 28, 1982, and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture.

S. 2415 (Melcher)

Food Stamps. Provides that COLA increases in cash benefits will not be
counted for food stamp purposes until the next periodic adjustment in food
stamp benefits takes effect. Introduced Apr. 21, 1982; referred to Committee
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

S. 2437 (wallop)

Child Support. Amends AFDC law and the income tax code to establish a
child support tax on absent parents. Introduced Apr. 21, 1982; referred to
Committee on Finance.

S.Res. 325 (Dixon et a1.)
WIN. Expresses the sense of the Senate that a supplemental appropriation

should be enacted to rstore full funding of WIN. Introduced Feb. 25, 1982;
referred to Committee on Appropriations.

HEARINGS

--—-- Welfare reform legislation. Hearings on H.R. 4122, H.R. 4321,
and H.R. 4460, 96th Congress, lst session. June 15, 18, 20, 22,
26, and 27, 1979. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1979. 654 p.

U.S. Congress. House. Welfare Reform Subcommittee of the Committees

on Agriculture, Education and Labor, and Ways and Means.

Joint hearings on H.R. 9030, a bill to replace the

existing Federal welfare programs, 95th Congress, 1st

session. In 9 parts (Sept. 19, 1977-Nov. 23, 1977).

Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1977. 5565 p.

U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Finance. Subcommittee
on Public Assistance. How to think about welfare reform for
the 1980's. Hearings, 96th Congress, 2d session. Feb. 6 - 7,
1980. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1980. 449 p.

--—-- Welfare block grant fiscal relief proposal. Hearings,
95th Congress, 2d session. Sept. 12, 1978. Washington,
U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1978. 102 p.

--—-- Welfare reform proposals. Hearings, 95th Congress, 2d
session. 5 parts. Feb. 7 and 9; Apr. 17-18,
25-26; May 1-2, and 4, 1978. Washington,
U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1978. 1377 p.

--—-- Welfare research and experimentation. Hearings, 95th Congress,
2d session. Nov. 15-17. 1978. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off.,
1978. 426 p.

REPORTS

CR8-20 IB77069 UPDATE-05/12/82

AND CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS

U.S.

Congress. House. Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981; conference
report to accompany H.R. 3982. Book 2. Washington, U.S. Govt.
Print. Off., 1981. (97th Congress, lst session. House. Report
no. 97-208).

Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means. Background
material and data on major programs within the jurisdiction
of the Committee on Ways and Means. Washington, U.S.
Government Printing Office. Feb. 18, 1982. 447 p.

At head of title: Committee print. WMCP: 97-29.

Description of the Administration's legislative
recommendations under the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means
Committee. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1981. 77 p.

At head of title: 97th Congress, 1st session. Committee
print WMCP: 97-5.

Description of the Administration's legislative recommendations
under the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee.
Mar. 9, 1982. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1982.

At head of title: 97th Congress, 2d session. Committee
print. WMCP: 97-31.

163 p.

Social Security amendments of 1971;
report on H.R. 1. Washington, U.S. Govt.
Print. Off., 1971. 386 p. (92d Congress,
House. Report no. 92-231).

lst session.

Social Welfare Reform Amendments of 1979; report to accompany
H.R. 4904. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1979. 281 p.
(96th Congress, 1st session. House. Report no. 96-451)

Congress. House. Welfare Reform Subcommittee of the
Committees on Agriculture, Education and Labor, and
Ways and Means. Explanatory material to accompany
H.R. 10950, Better Jobs and Income Act. Washington,
U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1978. 61 p.

At head of title: 95th Congress,
Committee print.

2nd session.

Joint Economic Committee. Subcommittee on Fiscal
Concepts in welfare program design. Studies in Public
Paper No. 9 (Part 1). Washington, U.S. Govt. Print.

1973. 128 p.

Congress.
Policy.
Welfare.
0ff.,

Income security for.Americans:
welfare study; final report.
1974. 262 p.

recommendations of the public
Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. 0ff.,

Congress. Senate. Committee on the Budget. Omnibus
Reconciliation Act of 1981; report to accompany S. 1377.
Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1981. 1,034 p.

(97th Congress, 1st session. Senate. Report no. 97-139).

CRS-2l IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

05/03/82

04/21/82

04/14/82

03/02/82

02/08/82

02/05/82

01/26/82

01/19/82

08/13/81

07/31/81

06/01/81

The Social Security Administration issued an interim
rule permitting disclosure of information about AFDC
applicants and recipients to any government entity
authorized to conduct public audits or similar activity.

The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public

Assistance concluded hearings on the Administration's
FY83 budget proposals and on measures to modify.
earlier cuts, including bills to provide Federal
funding for Medicaid to families who lost AFDC
eligibility because of new income rules and to
restore the work incentive bonus to AFDC.

The Office of Child Support issued a regulation
authorizing State child support agencies to use
the full IRS collection process for families not
receiving AFDC. Implements provision of 1980 law.

The Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways

and Means Subcommittee, in votes regarding the Mar.
15 budget resolution, failed to act on Reagan's
FY83 welfare proposals. The Senate committee
committed itself to not increasing the deficit;

the House subcommittee said it was assuming
continuation of current law spending levels pending
study.

The President submitted his FY83 budget, recommending
additional AFDC cuts in FY82 as well as FY83,

new cuts in food stamps and housing aid, plus
deliberalization of SSI.

DHHS published final regulations implementing
AFDC changes enacted in 1981 (P.L. 97-35). Interim
regulations had been issued Sept. 21, 1981.

In his State of the Union message, President Reagan
proposed, in l984, a Federal takeover of Medicaid
in exchange for State assumption of AFDC and food
stamps.

The full Ways and Means Committee ended a series
of field hearings that started on Nov. 14.

on the impact of budget cuts on cash welfare and
other programs under its jurisdiction.

HORO

3982 was signed into law as P.L. 97-35.

House and Senate passed the Conference Report on the

FY82 Omnibus Reconciliation Act, H.R. 3982.

The Senate passed 8. lOO7, the food stamp reform bill of 1981.

05/08/81

11/24/80

04/14/80

03/28/80

02/06/80

ll/O7/79

09/25/79

07/23/79

05/25/79

05/23/79

02/22/79

12/15/78

ll/17/78

ll/15/78

CRS-22 IB77069 UPDATE-05/l2/82
The Department of Health and Human Services announced that
the AFDC national payment error rate declined by 1.2
percentage points from April—September 1979 to

October 1979-March 1980.

HHS reported that the SSI payment error rate rose
slightly from 4.9% to 4% during the 6 months ending
Mar. 31, 1980.

The U.S. Supreme Court held that some welfare
applicants have a right to a hearing when their
welfare applicants are rejected.

HEW issued regulations governing issuance of joint
payee AFDC checks, issued to an AFDC child's caretaker
and the vendor of a service.

Senate Finance Public Assistance Subcommittee held
a 2-day hearing on "How to think
about welfare reform for the 1980's."

The House passed H.R. 4904, Social Welfare Reform
Amendments of 1979.

HEW issued proposed regulations amending the

AFDC and Medicaid quality control standards to
implement a Congressional directive forbidding

Federal funding, after FY82, for erroneous expenditures
that exceed 4% of total payments.

Ways and Means Subcommittee's version of Administration's
cash welfare bill was introduced (H.R. 4904).

U.S. Supreme Court ruled that States offering AFDC to
unemployed fathers also must offer it to unemployed
mothers (Califano v. wescott).

President Carter sent a welfare reform program to
Congress in two bills: the Social Welfare Reform
Amendments of 1979 and the Work and Training
Opportunities Act of 1979 (later introduced as H.R. 4321/
S. 1290 and H.R. 4425/S. 1312).

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (Miller v. Youakim) that
a State could not deny AFDC foster care to needy children
because they live with relatives.

HEW issued notice that, effective Jan. 14, 1979, it
would establish a "National Recipient System" of
data on current AFDC applicatns and recipients

as an antifraud measure.

HEW issued final regulations, effective immediately,
governing State demonstration projects for public
service employment and training of AFDC recipients.

The Senate Finance Public Assistance Subcommittee
began 3 days of hearings on social experimentation

10/14/78

02/08/78

09/12/77

08/06/77

05/24/77

03/29/75

12/05/74
08/10/73

10/17/72

08/08/69

CRS-23 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

and welfare reform.

In passing the Revenue Act of 1978, Congress revised
and liberalized the earned income tax credit and the
WIN jobs credit.

The Welfare Reform Subcommittee of the Committees on
Agriculture, Education and Labor, and ways and Means,
after narrowly defeating a substitute bill

(H.R. lO7ll) proposed by ways and Means Chairman

Al Ullman, ordered reported the

Better Jobs and Income Act, as amended by the
Subcommittee (subsequently introduced as H.R. lO950).

The Carter Administration welfare bill, the Better
Jobs and Income Act (H.R. 9030/S. 2084), was
introduced in Congress.

The President sent a message to Congress providing
details of his welfare reform proposal.

The Senate voted to eliminate the purchase price for
food stamps and, to the extent feasible, to require
identical application forms for AFDC, food stamps,
and SSI (S. 275).

President Ford signed the Tax Reduction Act of 1975
(P.L. 94-12), which established the earned income tax
credit for low-income workers with children, effective
only in 1975. Extended~by later laws.

The Joint Economic Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy issued
recommendations of its 1971-74 public welfare study.

President Nixon signed P.L. 93-86, requiring all counties
to offer food stamps by July 1, 1974.

Congress passed H.R. l (P.L. 92-603), minus the Family
Assistance Plan, but including Supplemental Security
Income.

President Nixon proposed a Family Assistance Plan to
guarantee a minimum cash income to all families with
children. He also asked that States be required to pay
a federally prescribed minimum sum to aged, blind,

and disabled persons on welfare rolls.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE SOURCES

Anderson,

Barth, Michael C.

Martin.
Stanford University.

Welfare. Stanford, California. Hoover Institution,

[1978] 251 p. (HV95.A 755)

Welfare reform agenda: near and long term.

Journal of the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies, v. 5,

no.

Autumn 1980: 38-49.

Barth, Michael, George J. Carcagno, and John L. Palmer.

CRS-24 1977059 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

Toward an effective income support system: problems, prospects,
and choices. Madison, wis., Institute for Research on Poverty
[1974] 189 p. (HCllO.l5B37)

Bethell, Tom. Real welfare reform. Journal of the Institute for
Socioeconomic Studies, v. 5, no. 3, Autumn 1980: 29-37.

Bernstein, Blanche. What is this thing called the welfare mess?
New York affairs, Spring 1977: 33-41. (LRS77-5631)

Bowler, H. Kenneth. The Nixon guaranteed income proposal:
substance and process in policy change. Cambridge, Ballinger
[1974] 224 p. (HV95.B66)

Browning, Edgar K. Redistribution and the welfare system.
Washington, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy
Research [1975] 131 p. (HCllO.l5B74)

Burke, Vincent J., and Vee Burke. NiXOI'1'S good deed: welfare reform.
New York, Columbia University [1974] 244 p. (HV95.B77 1974)

Carleson, Robert B. The Reagan welfare reforms. Journal of the
Institute for Socioeconomic Studies, v. 5, no. 2, Summer
1980: 1-13.

Doolittle, Frederick, Frank Levy, and Michael Wiseman. The mirage
of welfare reform. Public interest, Spring 1977: 62-87.
(LRS77-6518)

Friedgut, Jac. The case for comprehensive reform. In Approaches
to welfare reform: two views. City Almanac. Center for New York
City Affairs of the New School for Social Research, V. ll,
no. 4, December I976: l-8. (LRS76-l9728)

Garfinkel, Irwin. Welfare reform: a new and old view. Journal of
the institute for socioeconomic studies, v. IV, (Winter 1979):
58-72.

Hoffman, Wayne Lee. Work incentives and implicit tax rates
in the Carter welfare reform plan, with a comparison
to current policy. Welfare reform policy analysis
series: no. 2. Washington, The Urban Institute,
1977. 46 p. ‘

----- The earned income tax credit: welfare reform or tax
relief? An analysis of alternative proposals. Welfare
reform policy analysis series: no. 5. Washington, The Urban
Institute, 1978. 52 p.

Kotz, Nick. The politics of welfare reform. The New republic,
May l4, 1977: 16-21. (LRS77-4921)

Levy, Frank. What Reagan can teach the U.S. about welfare reform.
Urban institute policy and research report, v. 10,
Summer 1980: ll-14.

Moynihan, Daniel P. The politics of a guaranteed income. New York,
Vintage [1973] 579 p. (paperback ed.) (HClOO.l5M65 1973p)

CRS-25 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

Nathan, Richard P. The case for incrementalism. In Approaches
to welfare reform: two views. City Almanac. Center for
New York City Affairs of the New School for Social Research,
v. ll, no. 4, Dec. l976: 1-8. (LRS76-l9728)

Rein, Martin, and Lee Rainwater. How large is the welfare
class? Challenge, September—October 1977: 20-23.
(LRS77-ll286)

Steiner, Gilbert Y. Reform follows reality: the growth of welfare.
Public interest, Winter l974: 47-65.

Stockman, David A. Welfare is the problem. Journal of the institute
for socioeconomic studies, V. 3, Autumn I978: 39-50.

Storey, James R., Robert Harris, Frank Levy, Alan Fechter,
and Richard C. Michel. The Better Jobs and Income
Plan. A guide to President Carter's welfare reform
proposal and major issues. Welfare reform policy
analysis series: no. l. Washington, The Urban
Institute, 1978. 97 p.

Sulvetta, Margaret B. The impact of welfare reform on benefits
for the poor. Welfare reform policy analysis series:
no. 3. Washington: The Urban Institute, l978. 52 p.

Swoap, David B. A hard line helps the genuinely needy. Humanist,
March—April l977: 3l-34.

U.S. Congressional Budget Office. The administration's welfare
reform proposal: an analysis of the Program for Better
Jobs and Income. Budget issue paper for fiscal year 1979.
Washington, l978. l7l p.

—-——- Poverty status of families under alternative definitions of
income. Background paper No. 17. Washington, January
l977. Revised edition June 1977. 35 p. (HCllO.P6U54 l977)

—---- Welfare reform: issues, objectives, and approaches
[by] John Korbel and G. William Hoagland. Background
paper. Washington, I977. 175 p. (LRS77-9169)

U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare. Office of Income
Security Policy. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning
and Evaluation. Critical analysis of the welfare system.
Briefing paper No. 4. Welfare reform analysis series.
[Washington, 1977] [Reprinted in HEW's Report on the 1977
Welfare Reform Study, v. 2, supplement l, p. 298].

--—-- Income security system: purposes, criteria, and choices.
Briefing paper No. 2. Welfare reform analysis series.
[Washington] February 1977. [Reprinted in HEW's Report on the
Welfare Reform Study, v. 2, supplement 1, p. 227].

----- Income supplement program. 1974 HEW welfare replacement proposal.
(Technical analysis paper No. ll). l976.

CRS-26 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/12/82
Leading welfare reform options. Briefing paper No. 5.

Welfare reform analysis series. [Washington] April 1977.
[Reprinted in HEW's Report on the 1977 Welfare Reform Study,

v. 2, supplement 1, p. 330].

what we know about it. A statistical
3. Welfare reform analysis
[Reprinted in HEW's Report on the

2, supplement 1, p. 241].

The low income population;
profile. Briefing paper No.
series. [Washington, 1977]
1977 Welfare Reform Study, v.

An overview of the income security system. Briefing paper.
Welfare reform analysis series. [Washington] February 1977.
[Reprinted in HEW's Report on the 1977 Welfare Reform Study,
v. 2, supplement 1, p. 191].

General Accounting Office. Income maintenance experiments:
need to summarize results and communicate the lessons
learned; Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General
of the United States. Report HRD-81-46. Washington, U.S.
Govt. Print. Off., Apr. 17, 1981. 80 p.

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

Aid to families with dependent children: structural

change [by] Vee Burke. [Washington] 1974. (Issue brief 74013)
Regularly updated.

Budget cuts and financial work incentives for welfare
recipients [by] Vee Burke. Washington, Mar. 26, 1982.
CRS white paper.

14 p.

Budget cuts in AFDC
Children) [by]
81051)

Regularly updated.

(Aid to Families with Dependent
Vee Burke. [Washington] 1981. (Issue brief

The Food stamp budget: reductions proposed [by]
Joe Richardson. [Washington] 1981. (Mini brief 81215)
Regularly updated.

Cash and non-cash benefits for persons with limited income:
eligibility rules, recipient and expenditure data. FY 1977-79
[by] Vee Burke. Washington, 1981. 153 p.

CRS Report 81-44 EPW

Changes in the program of Aid to Families with Dependent
Children proposed by the Family Protection Act of 1979

(H.R. 4122/S. 965), the Family Welfare Improvement Act
(H.R. 4460/S. 1382), and the Family Welfare Demonstration
Program Act (S. 1579) [by] Vee Burke. Washington 1979.

CRS Report 79-179 EPW

Effects of increases in Social Security benefits on some
other income benefits. [by] Vee Burke. Washington, 1980.
52 p.

CRS Report 80-177 EPW

The impact on welfare families of the Reagan Administration's
proposed treatment of earnings (selected cities) [by] Carmen

CRS-27 IB77069 UPDATE-O5/l2/82

D. Solomon. Washington, 1981.
CRS Report 81-136 EPW.

----- Need and payment levels in the program of Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (AFDC): legislative history and current State
practices [by] Carmen D. Solomon. Washington, 1981.

CRS Report 81-149 EPW.

----— The President's 1979 welfare reform program compared with
current law: changes proposed by the Social Welfare Reform
Amendments of 1979 (H.R. 4321/s. 1290) and the Work and
Training Opportunities Act of 1979 (H.R. 4425/S. 1312)

[by] Vee Burke and Richard Hobbie. Washington 1979.
CRS Report 79-180 EPW

-—-—- Two versions of the President's 1979 welfare reform program
compared with current law: the original and House-passed
Social Welfare Reform Amendments of 1979 (H.R. 4321/S. 1290
and H.R. 4904), and the Work and Training Opportunities Act
of 1979 (H.R. 4425/S. 1312) [by] Vee Burke and Richard Hobbie.
Washington 1980.

CRS Report 80-24 EPW.

—---- welfare background paper: description of selected major programs
[by] six members of the Education and Public Welfare
Division. Washington, 1981. 120 p.
CRS Report 81-124 EPW

----— Work disincentives in income-tested programs [by] Vee Burke.
Washington, 1980. 92 p.
CRS Report 80-158 EPW

U.S. President's Commission on Income Maintenance. Poverty amid
plenty, the American paradox. Report. Washington, U.S. Govt.
Print. Off., 1969. 155 p.

Weil, Gordon. The welfare debate of 1978. White Plains,
N.Y., The Institute for Socio-Economic Studies, 1978.
134 p.

wiseman, Michael. A welfare surprise. Is Carter in the Reagan camp?
Taxing and spending, v. 2, 1979: 65-77.

Worthington, Mark D., and Laurence E. Lynn, Jr. Incremental
welfare reform: a strategy.whose time has passed. Public
policy, winter 1977. (LRS77-8983)

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OF

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