.Mjg5OA.Mjg5OA

r__ -- - - - -·· N E WS from The Urban Coalition Action Council .1819 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 202-223-9500 August 14, 1969 (Tom Mathews) FOR RELEASE FRIDAY AM, AUGUST 15, 1969 URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL . STATES VIEWS ON ADMINISTRATION'S WELFARE PROPOSALS The following statement was issued on behalf of the Urban Coalition Action Council today by John W. Gardner, Council Chairman, following a meeting of the Council's Executive Committee in Washington, D.C.: Pi·esident Nixon has taken the initiative to reform America's outmoded welfare system. The Urban Coalition Action Council welcomes this major departure and commends the President for moving to correct the serious deficiencies of the current system. The President's proposals are significant on several counts: (a) They will provide assistance to .the millions of working poor who are totally ignoreq by the present system . . (b) They will provide income to unemployed parents who are seeking work or training, thereby keeping families together. (In most states today unemployed fathers have to desert their families to make the fam~lies eligible for aid. ) • r �··--· , . J -2- (c) They remove the powerful barrier to work which is a gro~s defect of the present system, and introduce a positive incentive for the individual to enter the job market. (d) Though the leve-1 of support is modest, they take the enormously important step of accepting federal responsibility to place a floor under the income of those eligible for assistance. (e) They will provide national eligibility standards for those receiving federal assistance under the new program. We have strongly advocated such measure s and we will _do all that we can to make them a . legislative reality. If that is to come about, all who are concerned for the n a tion's future must work together to ensure that the best program we can devise is finally written into law. To assure the ultimate success of the program; it must be strengthene d in eve ry way possible during the public d e bate and the l e gislati v e de liberations to come . He re are s ome o f th e wa ys i n whi c h streng t h eni n g could be accomplished: 1. The· Admi nistr ation p r op os a ls could be fur ther s t rengthened by rais ing the leve l o f f unding i n order t o inc r ease the level of minimum income, to a f ford r e lief f o r tho se s t ates and municipa li ties which are being crushed by the spiraling we l f are burde n and to include s ingle pers ons and childless couples wh o are no t now covered. \ �-3- 2. The plan proposed by the Fresident exempts mothers of pre-school chil~ren from the provision requiring recipients of assistance to register for work and training. This is a step forward over the present law and should be retained. But the plan could be strengthened f~rther if it recognized that even mothers of children- over six might serve the society best by staying home and doing a good · job of bringing up their children. It is a decision for the mother, not the government, to make. All evidence indicates that the number of mothers who want .to wo r k.ex cee ds our capabil i ty to . provide jobs and daycare facilities. ~ 3. The Administration propos~ls · can be _effectively stre ngthe ned by the fo rmula tion o f expl i ci t fede r a l s tandards governing wo rk r e f erral a nd wa g es to b e . p a i d , a nd b y provis ions to assure that present welfare recipients do not e nd up with a lower leve l of b e nef its th a n they pres ent ly _r ece ive. 4. The proposal s could b e ma de more effec tive if t h ey · were suppleme nted by a job c r eation program. The r e is a dange r tha t the new training opportunitie s prop os e d by the P resident wi l l s i mp l y b e c ome a revolving doo r . throu gh whi c h potential emplo yees pass without obtaining employment. The Coalition has l ong advo cated a p ub l ic s e rvi ce emp loymen t pro gram which would solve the problem. 5. Finally, the prorosal should assure that the food stamp program only be phased out as cash payments approach the · minimum necessary to lif± a family out of poverty. �6 - I • -4- The Urban Coalition Action Council look.s forward to joining with other concerned citizens in the monumental task we now face of winning the public and political support necessary to assure enactment of constructive measures to meet these problems.

* *

\ �