Welfare Reform

Chairman Grassley and Members of the Finance Committee:

My name is Ron Haskins. I am a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC and a Senior Consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore. In the past, I have been a welfare staffer for the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives and an advisor to President Bush for welfare policy. My testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bush Administration. I thank you for the opportunity to appear before your important Committee to testify on reauthorization of the 1996 welfare reform law.

My testimony addresses two issues: what has the 1996 welfare reform legislation, crafted in significant part by members of this Committee, achieved; and what measures should Congress take in this year?s reauthorization bill to strengthen welfare reform.