Jeb Bush on Welfare & Poverty

Replace AFDC with limited temporary assistance

Jeb Bush decided to run for governor in 1994, vanquishing competition in the Republican primary and leading in polls during most of the fall. He called for fewer appeals for death row inmates and speedier executions, said Florida should withdraw from Aid to Families with Dependent Children and replace it with limited temporary assistance. There was a rigid tone to Bush’s campaign; when one black man asked him what he would do to help him, Bush replied, “Probably nothing.” Source: National Journal, the Almanac of American Politics Jan 28, 2000

Limit welfare benefits; supports welfare-to-work

Maintain the four-year limit on welfare benefits.
Require that able-bodied recipients participate in work-related activities in order to receive benefits.
Limit benefits given to recipients if they have additional children while on welfare.

Source: Vote-smart 1998 Florida NPAT Jul 2, 1998

Help welfare recipients into workforce

Increase employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
Provide tax incentives to businesses that hire welfare recipients.
Provide child care for welfare recipients who work.
Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.

Source: Vote-smart 1998 Florida NPAT Jul 2, 1998

Maintain federal Social Services Block Grant funding.

signed the National Governors Association position paper:

The Issue

Despite an ongoing need to provide social services to families, the elderly, and the disabled, federal funding for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) has been cut dramatically over the past few years, indicating a weakening of the h Further cuts will be difficult for state and local governments to absorb and will cause a disruption in the delivery of the most critical human services. Governors believe that funding for SSBG should be restored to $2.38 billion, and transferability sho Source: National Governors Association "Issues / Positions" 01-NGA14 on Sep 7, 2001

Maintain flexibility & funding levels for TANF block grants.

signed the National Governors Association position paper:

The Issue

The 1996 welfare reform law, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, needs to be reauthorized before September 30, 2002.

NGA's Position

Maintain investment. States are provided with $16.5 billion each year in federal TANF funds, which together with the required state maintenance-of-effort funds, finance welfare reform. Some will argue t Source: National Governors Association "Issues / Positions" 01-NGA17 on Sep 21, 2001

More federal funding for Low-income energy assistance.

signed the Southern Governors' Association resolution:

Whereas, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), created to assist low-income households in meeting their cooling and heating needs, provides less than 20 percent of the Nation’s eligible applicants with assistance and is distributed based on a formula that is weighted toward cold weather, with only 2.8 percent in FY95 being used for cooling needs;
Whereas, the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), a program designed to provide low-income households with energy efficient improvements, is underfunded and provides 10 times more funding to states with more heating assistance needs than states that have more cooling needs;
Whereas, sixteen southern states account for 43 percent of the low-income households in the United States and the majority of the southern states receive significantly less than the national average in the LIHEAP state gross allotments and WAP funding;
Resolved, that the Southern Governors’ Association urges Congress and the President to provide in any national energy policy increased funding for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to include a larger proportion of eligible low-income households while equitably addressing both cooling and heating needs.

Source: Resolution of Southern Governor's Assn. on Energy Policy 01-SGA12 on Sep 9, 2001

Supports TANF grants to states.

signed the Southern Governors' Association resolution:

Whereas, Congress reformed public assistance in 1996 with the creation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program;
Whereas, included in this program were modest supplemental grants for 17 relatively poor or rapidly growing states;
Whereas, nine of the 17 qualifying states are from the South and receive 78.6% of the funding totaling $251 million;
Whereas, these grants that help southern states provide important services, such as child care, job training and placement, and transportation to low-income families; and
Whereas, authorization for these grants is set to expire at the end of the 2001 federal fiscal year; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that the southern governors call upon Congress to extend for one year the TANF supplemental grants to the 17 identified states:
Resolved, that Congress should include in its 2002 TANF reauthorization bill provisions that will continue the supplemental grants for poor and fast growing states and use information from the 2000 census to identify any new states that meet the eligibility criteria; and
Resolved, that Congress should provide adequate funding if new states are identified as being eligible for the supplemental grants.

Source: Resolution of Southern Governor's Assn. on TANF 01-SGA9 on Aug 7, 2001

Click here for definitions & background information on Welfare & Poverty. Click here for policy papers on Welfare & Poverty. Click here for a profile of Jeb Bush. Click here for VoteMatch responses by Jeb Bush. Agree? Disagree? Voice your opinions on Welfare & Poverty or about Jeb Bush in The Forum.
*Other candidates on Welfare & Poverty:*	*Jeb Bush on other issues:*
John Ashcroft Pat Buchanan George W. Bush Dick Cheney Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton (D,NY) Elizabeth Dole Steve Forbes Rudy Giuliani (R,NYC) Al Gore Alan Keyes John McCain (R,AZ) Ralph Nader Ross Perot Colin Powell Jesse Ventura (I,MN) *Party Platforms:* Democratic Platform Green Platform Libertarian Platform Republican Platform	Abortion Budget/Economy China Civil Rights Crime Defense Drugs Education Environment Families Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Immigration Labor Principles School Choice Social Security Tax Reform Technology War & Peace Welfare