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Wyden Hold Helps Win Reprieve for Oregon Welfare Waiver, Saves Millions of Oregon Budget Dollars
As deadline nears to extend “Temporary Assistance to Needy Families,” Health and Human Services Dept. won’t force costly changes on Oregon program

June 26, 2003

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today announced that he will lift his objection to legislation that would have forced costly, inefficient changes in Oregon’s “Temporary Assistance to Needy Families” (TANF) program, following the receipt of a letter from the Department of Housing and Human Services (HHS) confirming that Oregon’s ability to operate the state’s cost-effective TANF programs will not be curtailed by the expiration of the state’s current Federal TANF waiver. H.R. 2350, the House legislation to which Wyden has objected, extends TANF without reauthorizing Oregon’s waiver in the program. Wyden stated his intention to block the legislation on June 12, after Oregon’s Department of Human Services estimated that it would cost the economically strapped state $42 million additional dollars to operate a non-waiver TANF program for two years.

Wyden obtained a commitment from HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson in the letter that Oregon will not be subject to any penalties for operating welfare programs outside Federal guidelines once the waiver expires on Monday. The ability to continue welfare services as they are, uninterrupted, will also allow Oregon to avoid tens of millions of dollars in additional cost that would have been incurred to convert to a less efficient welfare system.

“Oregonians are simply facing too much economic hurt to take another massive budget blow and lose a successful jobs program as well,” said Wyden. “I’ve long been a supporter of welfare-to-work programs, but I felt compelled to place a ‘hold’ on the TANF extension until I could be sure this program would continue to work for Oregon families and Oregon’s budget.”

Under its TANF waiver, Oregon’s JOBS program and other initiatives have slashed welfare rolls by 60 percent since 1994 – far above the national average for comparable programs. The flexibility to run a successful TANF program is particularly critical to Oregon at present, because the state has the nation’s highest unemployment rate. Welfare rolls have increased from 15,887 to 19,176 families in less than a year even as benefits have declined.

Wyden says he will withdraw his formal objection to H.R 2350 after final consultation with state welfare authorities. Wyden placed a statement in the Congressional Record two weeks ago to inform his fellow Senators of his intention to object to the House bill, in keeping with his practice of publicly announcing any “hold” on legislation.

 

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