Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 1, 1995 TAG: 9508010073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BURLINGTON, VT. LENGTH: Long
In competing addresses to the National Governors' Association, Clinton and Dole both said successful welfare reform had to include broad flexibility for governors to experiment with work requirements, time limits and other changes.
But while Dole, the Senate majority leader, advocated giving states virtually unlimited leeway in spending federal money, Clinton said restrictions are necessary to make sure children aren't punished if the economy turns sour.
Clinton's speech was an effort to regain the initiative on the welfare issue and to make the case that he is delivering welfare reform while Republicans in Congress haggle.
He also gave four states new waivers for welfare experiments, bringing to 32 the number he has approved since taking office in 1993. And he promised approval within 30 days if states seek additional waivers for a handful of selected reforms, including work requirements, time limits and converting food stamp money into subsidies for private employers who hire welfare recipients.
``All of these are designed to promote work and responsibility without being stifled by Washington's `one size fits all' rules,'' Clinton said.
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democrat, called Clinton's offer ``astonishing,'' saying it would allow states to quickly get permission to copy successful reforms under way in other states.
But Republicans said it was too little and too late - tinkering at a time when they are determined to shrink the size and reach of the federal government. ``The answer is not more waivers,'' Dole said. ``I believe America's historical detour into bureaucracy and centralization is over.''
Clinton, however, said the Republicans are not motivated by any philosophical commitment to empower states but instead are looking to shift costs as they search for ways to balance the budget.
``I am opposed to welfare reform that is really just a mask for congressional budget cutting,'' Clinton said.
Welfare reform long has been a dominant topic of governors' meetings; Clinton himself was a leading force on the issue during his 12 years as Arkansas governor. But efforts to draft recommendations for this year's congressional debate were stymied by the same partisan divisions that kept Clinton and Dole far apart. It was much the same on Medicaid, as governors all but gave up hope of any bipartisan agreement on a spending formula.
Dole got a boost from Republican governors, who warmly embraced the plan he promised to bring to the Senate floor late this week, even though he conceded he might be short votes.
And in Washington, four Republican Sun Belt senators said they had resolved a rift in the Senate over the formula for dividing federal welfare dollars among the states under a block grant. They said that would enhance chances welfare will pass this year.
That backing gave Dole leverage against conservatives who wanted to deny cash benefits to teen-agers who have children out of wedlock, and to deny additional benefits to mothers who have more children while on welfare.
Dole said governors should make those decisions, and that he personally worried that such restrictions would lead to more abortions. Dole presidential rival Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas was among those advocating the tough restrictions, and he called Dole's approach ``token welfare reform.''
In a flash of bipartisanship, Clinton applauded Dole for resisting ``the extreme right wing'' of his party on that issue. Clinton said teen-age mothers should be required to live at home and attend school but that he, too, worried that denying them benefits would lead to more abortions.
But there was no common ground on the biggest disagreement in the debate: whether welfare should be maintained as an individual entitlement - meaning anyone who met federal eligibility rules was guaranteed benefits - or converted into a block grant under which states would decide who was eligible and set benefits and requirements.
Making his case, Dole said three decades of welfare being managed by Washington had only made the problem worse, encouraging illegitimacy and discouraging welfare recipients from going to work. ``The truth is only our states can be trusted with these things,'' Dole said.
Dole's plan would convert Aid to Families with Dependent Children and some federal child care and job training programs into block grants. It also would give states the option of taking their food stamp money as a block grant if they wanted to.
But if children were not guaranteed protection, Clinton predicted dire consequences if the economy turned sour and better organized interests lobbied for scarce state resources. ``My experience is that the poor children's lobby is a poor match'' against well-heeled interests, Clinton said.
Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles said absent federal regulations making welfare an entitlement, he was worried that his legislature might try to channel money meant for welfare to prison construction and other politically popular initiatives.
Republican governors, however, chafed at Clinton's concern that poor children would get lost in the shuffle. ``I felt insulted at his suggestion that governors couldn't stand the pressure and take care of children,'' said GOP Gov. Jim Edgar of Illinois.
by CNB