Today the Governor held a press conference in the wake of last night's meltdown on the state budget. I have attached the link to his press conference so you can judge his comments for your selves. http://msmedia.dot.ca.gov/governor/20090701_press.asf
Today's comments are the first time we have heard the Governor publicly state his position on CalWORKs and they are consistent with the disturbing second hand reports we have heard for the past two years. WCLP and other organizations will be mounting a serious attempt in the Capitol and in the media to challenge the Governor.
At today’s press conference Governor Schwarzenegger stated that the CalWORKs program is full of “massive waste, fraud and abuse.” This statement, offered without a shred of evidence, is nothing more than an attack on poor people. It repeats the BIG Lie that all people on assistance are cheating and reinforces an offensive stereotype about poor people that is not acceptable. We demand that the Governor retract his statement that there is “massive, waste, fraud and abuse” or provide evidence that it is true.
The Governor has not always been such an ardent opponent of the state program. Last September, the state sent a letter (attached) to the feds asking for relief from certain federal rules. On page 2 of the second page the CalWORKs program is described quite differently.
“Our state has achieved notable success over the years in moving families from welfare to work. In fact, our caseload has declined by almost 50 percent since the beginning of TANF and the original promulgation of the rules. Since TANF Reauthorization, however, states are provided no further recognition of past success and federal rules have become more restrictive. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult for states, like California, to meet the federal work participation rate. We have implemented numerous efforts and policy changes focused at engagement and work participation. These efforts are continual; however, achieving outcomes takes time, and in some cases years, to fully benefit persons still on the welfare rolls.”
Yet today the program is full of waste, fraud and abuse. Was the Governor misleading the public today or was the state misleading the federal government last fall?