Paul Ryan Unveils New Anti-Poverty Plan

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) unveiled a new 73-page anti-poverty plan on Thursday.

Ryan is proposing consolidating federal programs like housing subsidies, food stamps and cash welfare into a single-grant program for states. Ryan pitched the plan for what he calls “opportunity grants” at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

“The idea would be to let states try different ways of providing aid, and then to test the results — in short, more flexibility in exchange for more accountability,” said Ryan.

Ken Taylor, the executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Children and Families, said that while he likes some elements of Ryan’s proposal — like expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit program to more childless workers — he also has some serious reservations about the opportunity grants.”

“Our experience in block grants is that it sounds great on the flexibility … but all of the block grants that we’ve seen so far end up resulting in significant cuts to important programs that help low-income families,” said Taylor.

Ryan said the opportunity grants would start as an experimental pilot program and that participation by states would be voluntary.