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.
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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.
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