California spends 20 percent less in real dollars now than we did 15 years ago on welfare. California has not increased its General Fund (GF) spending on CalWORKs since the program began in 1998. In fact over the past decade CW has contributed over $12 billion to the GF, about $1 billion a year.

As the Administration knows and has documented in a series of letters, the real culprit in work participation is a badly drafted law by the prior Congress that the Bush Administration interpreted so narrowly that it was nearly impossible for states to meet the new federal requirements. DSS, to their credit, organized more than two years of intensive work groups to devise creative solutions to the new federal rules only to have the Bush Administration undermine them. Even with these impediments and the worse economy in 75 years, there has been improvement in our work rate.  Los Angeles County, where 40 percent of the caseload resides, reports that 40 percent of CalWOPRKs participants are meeting federal requirements. 

One of the most disappointing things about the Governor’s statements is that this is all well known. The Governor’s staff is well aware of all this data that Frank and I have presentedthe counties and I have presented. The Legislature has held hearing after hearing on these issues in recent years and there is a good reason why the Governor’s proposals haven’t gone anywhere. They won’t work. His own DSS estimated that 78% of the families would fail under the Gov’s approach. That is not a safety net, it is a trap door.

Second, the Governor is connecting the word fraud to families which don’t work enough. This is a red herring. Fraud is a serious criminal offense like collecting aid in more than one county or using a fictious name. But it is not fraud if your boss only schedules you for 26 hours in a week instead of 32 hours due to the economy. It is not fraud if your child care provider quits or your car breaks down. But if you listen to the Governor you would think welfare recipients are crooks. The Governor’s comments reinforce the negative stereotypes of welfare recipients and are an attempt to scapegoat families for the failures of this Administration. This is wrong and the Governor ought to immediately stop using the word fraud in connection to families not meeting work rates. It is not fraud.

Third, I remember when the Governor first came into office he talked so optimistically about the state, how everybody would have a “great job”.  But lately the Governor’s behavior is that of a bully who resorts to threats and put downs of struggling families when he doesn’t get his way. This behavior is unbecoming of a chief executive. Many of the families in CalWORKs are survivors of domestic violence and may receive supportive services to rebuild their self-esteem. The last thing these families need is to have a powerful public figure accuse them of fraud, accuse them of not trying and propose a plan to “prioritize” funds for those who are worthy of assistance. The whole point of the CalWORKs program is to help families in crisis redeem their lives, rebuild their self-confidence and put them on the road to self-sufficiency. The Governor’s words undermine the basic goal of the CalWORKs program and hurt California’s effort to move families to self-sufficiency.