New Democrat Update

Welfare Reform - The Next Steps

The agreement between Governor Romer and the legislature on welfare reform has proven that bipartisan governance can succeed. The legislation represents great progress in overhauling a failed system.

Under the new plan, counties will develop “individual responsibility contracts” with welfare recipients requiring them to work or attend training/education programs. Failure to meet the contract will result in sanctions, including immediate discontinuation of benefits. All recipients face the federal requirements of finding a job within two years and lifetime benefits capped at five years.

The Governor was right to draw a line in the sand to keep statewide minimum benefits in place. Otherwise, the system would have been promoting the wrong incentive - look for the county with the highest cash grants, rather than work.

Now that they have been given wide latitude in implementing new innovations, counties should focus on what really works, job readiness, placement, and support services - not education activities. Job-training programs - the emphasis of past failed welfare reform efforts - do not move people into the workplace. Rather, county systems should link welfare recipients to private labor markets through job placement firms and nonprofit organizations in competition with government agencies.

The state's performance contracts with counties should have real teeth to ensure that job placement and retention goals are met or exceeded. Meaningful incentives for achieving positive results, as well as penalties for falling short, should be in place and enforced.

Finally, the state should create one integrated program to assist all dislocated and disadvantaged workers. While targeted funding for different populations makes sense, there is no reason to have a separate, parallel employment system for welfare recipients.

Colorado state government must be a partner with counties to ensure that welfare reform is about building a bridge to private-sector jobs, and making those jobs pay for recipients. If you would like a copy of the DLC's proposal - "Work First: A Progressive Strategy to Replace Welfare with a Competitive Employment System," please send us an e-mail.

Coming Up...

Next month's New Democrat Update takes a look at labor unions adapting to the Information Age and more. See the New Democrat Update for July.