THE FEDERAL government calls its principal program of cash aid to the poor Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a product of the welfare reform enacted under President Bill Clinton in 1996. The word “temporary” referred to the program’s goal of moving recipients into jobs as opposed to permitting long-term dependency. Yet over the years, it has acquired a second, ironic meaning: The law itself is temporary. Congress has not enacted a full-blown TANF reauthorization statute since 2005, and since that one expired in 2010, the program has been surviving on a series of short-term extensions. Consequently, long-standing concerns about its operation — held by Republicans and Democrats — have been allowed to persist.Read full article >>
