TANF Reauthorization Update

In May 2002, the House of Representatives passed a TANF reauthorization bill that is similar to the President’s proposal (H.R. 4735).  The House bill includes stricter work requirements. While this provision is likely to increase demand for child care, no additional funding for child care is included.  The Senate Finance Committee passed a reauthorization bill, the Work, Opportunity, and Responsibility for Kids (WORK) Act of 2002 (H.R. 4737).  The WORK Act maintains the current 30-hour per week work requirement and includes provisions that allow more opportunities for education and training.  The Senate version also contains additional child care funds, $5.5 billion in mandatory spending. 

Information on both pieces of legislation can be found on-line at http://thomas.loc.gov/.  In addition, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Center for Law and Social Policy released a new report "One Step Forward or Two Steps Back? Why the Bipartisan Senate Finance Bill Reflects a Better Approach to TANF Reauthorization than the House Bill" that compares the WORK Act recently passed by the Senate Finance Committee with the welfare reform bill passed by the House. It is available online at http://www.cbpp.org or http://www.clasp.org.

The WORK Act was not debated by the full Senate prior to the August recess.  A full calendar and limited time may mean that the TANF reauthorization debate and vote will not take place in the Senate.  This delay could result in either the legislation being temporarily extended until action can be concluded after the November election, or it being extended for one year and dealt with sometime next year.