WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The House Education & the Workforce Committee today approved the Working Toward Independence Act (H.R. 4092) by a vote of 25-20. Authored by 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the bill renews the landmark 1996 welfare reform law, which is set to expire this year. After the Ways & Means Committee approves a companion bill (H.R. 4090), the House will likely consider the measure later this month.

     “Reauthorizing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation that this Congress will have the privilege to support,” McKeon said.

     “About two million families continue to rely on government assistance,” McKeon continued. “The Working Towards Independence Act serves to empower these families to lead self-sufficient lives.”

     H.R. 4092 increases work requirements for participants in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, asking welfare families to work a full, 40-hour week. Within that 40-hour requirement, the bill gives recipients the freedom to pursue other constructive activities, such as college or job training, for 16 hours a week.

     The Committee approved an amendment offered by Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) to increase the bill’s authorization for discretionary Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funding from $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion in FY 2003. The amendment also increases the amount that states must devote to improving child care quality from four percent to six percent of annual CCDBG funding.

     “Adequate and reliable child-care are vital components of welfare reform,” McKeon noted.

     “With welfare caseloads cut in half since the welfare reform law was enacted, states will be able to devote significantly more money to expand access to quality child care,” said Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH).

     The bill incorporates key elements of President Bush’s Good Start, Grow Smart early childhood education plan. As McKeon noted, it “encourages states to increase the supply of quality child-care by developing partnerships with public and private entities such as Head Start, Early Reading First and Even Start.”

     H.R. 4092 also includes a demonstration project that gives states broader waiver authority for states to integrate certain welfare and workforce development programs. “With broadened waiver authority,” Boehner said, “states will be able to continue the kind of innovation that has proven so successful over the last five years.”

     The Committee approved an amendment by Chairman McKeon that allows welfare recipients to attend school full-time for four months of a two-year period; the underlying bill allowed for three months of full-time education. It also adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Marge Roukema (R-NJ) that asks states to assess the needs of welfare families as they develop self-sufficiency plans.

     “This bill is a top priority for this Committee, this Congress, and for President Bush,” Boehner said.

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