HR1218 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1218 LRB097 22790 KTG 71575 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In 1996 President Bill Clinton signed bipartisan welfare reforms which sought to reduce welfare dependence by encouraging welfare recipients to move from welfare to work; and

WHEREAS, The 1996 reform created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program which made promoting work a central focus of each state's efforts to assist low-income parents in achieving self-sufficiency; and

WHEREAS, The 1996 reform resulted in a reduction in child poverty, a reduction in welfare dependency, and an increase in the employment and earnings of single mothers; and

WHEREAS, On July 12, 2012 the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it is willing to waive federal work requirements for recipients of aid under the TANF program; and

WHEREAS, The decision to offer states waiver opportunities was made without any prior Obama Administration legislative proposal or consultation with Congress; and

WHEREAS, Legislation has been introduced in Congress to repeal the actions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and to make it clear that states do not have the authority to seek, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services does not have the authority to grant, waivers of work requirements under the TANF program; and

WHEREAS, Illinois law requires the Department of Human Services to advise every applicant for and recipient of aid under the TANF program of the requirement that all recipients move toward self-sufficiency and the value and benefits of employment; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Administrative Code establishes specific work requirements for TANF recipients; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we oppose any efforts to weaken the TANF work requirements; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor and the Secretary of the Department of Human Services to not seek a waiver of the TANF work requirements from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Governor and the Secretary of the Department of Human Services.