Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)
WASHINGTON Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) says he wants people on public assistance to become more independent and he’s introducing a bill that will help in that effort.
This week the Corning Republican who represents Chautauqua County in Congress said he will introduce the HAND UP (Helping Americans in Need Develop their Ultimate Potential) Act this week with three goals to help individuals out of poverty:
- encourage new ways to promote self-sufficiency;
- increase work and earnings;
- reduce welfare dependency.
The bill would allow states to apply for five-year demonstration projects to test social welfare programs best suited for individual states.
Reed said There are more Americans living in poverty today than ever before – about 46 million – and the country have a responsibility to care for them and help them out of poverty. However, he added that the current system forces many individuals into a ‘poverty trap’ which may make maintaining benefits more attractive than working more or even getting a job. He said that it is not fair to simply provide a check with no opportunities for recipients to get ahead and the Country can do better than that.
Reed says the HAND UP Act will help to establish a pathway out of poverty for millions of Americans. The bill allows states to apply for and carry out demonstration projects for up to five years and share in 50 percent of the savings if successful.
Why is it I have a sneaking suspicion that “encouraging new ways to promote self-sufficiency”, “increasing work and earnings” and “reducing welfare dependency” will basically boil down to throwing millions of families off welfare and slashing aid to the poor by billions of dollars?