They would also restore SSI and Medicaid for immigrants who became disabled after arriving in the U.S., maintain assistance for legal immigrant children, and delay food stamp cut off for legal immigrants to allow more time to acquire citizenship. The administration's proposal would allow children who lose SSI to retain eligibility for Medicaid. Finally, the President has proposed subsidies and tax credits to promote jobs for welfare recipients. It remains to be seen if Congress will act on some or all of these proposals, however, they do indicate serious weaknesses in the original legislation. Advocates may want to work with their states to find ways to make up for the lost benefits for immigrants and children and for the increases in homelessness likely to follow from denying food stamps to able-bodied individuals.
States face a wide range of issues in designing their new plans.
As we have noted in our earlier analysis of welfare reform, states can choose whether or not to continue waivers that have already been approved by HHS and can decide eligibility and work requirements in many cases. Furthermore, states may choose to apply different eligibility and work requirements to individuals who receive funds from the federal TANF grant from those whose benefits are funded by state money. States will also need to find ways to insure that the link between Medicaid and welfare benefits is maintained, if people are truly going to be able to afford to work. Finally, housing and community development needs were not considered at all in Congress' welfare reform legislation last year. While this absence suggests that Congress fails to understand the root causes of poverty and homelessness, it also leaves open the possibility that communities and states can redesign welfare plans to include resources for housing and community development.