ABSTRACT
On August 23,1996, President Clinton signed HR 3437, the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996”(PRWOA). This bipartisan welfare “reform” bill abolished Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), ending sixty years of federal income guarantees to the nation’s poorest children. In place of AFDC, HR 3437 substituted block grants to the states known as TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families). The level of appropriations for these TANF grants will reduce federal funding to poor families by $55 billion by the year 2002. These savings will primarily come from the denial of benefits to legal immigrants and from reductions in the food stamp program. The bill also imposes severe restrictions on how states may use TANF monies.
