document: While there is agreement in virtually every quarter that something needs to be done about welfare , disagreement remains over exactly what to do . The White House has a formula for welfare reform , as do Sens. Moynihan and Kennedy . Now the nation 's governors are asking Washington to adopt their plan . Meeting this week in Washington , the governors said they want to transform the current welfare system -- largely an income-maintenance system -- into more of a job-support system . They would require all able-bodied welfare recipients -LRB- except mothers with children under 3 years of age -RRB- to work in exchange for their benefits . Those who do would be eligible for help with education and training , day care and transportation . Many states already have launched work-for-welfare experiments . The results in Massachusetts , California , Illinois , Pennsylvania and Utah have been promising . Substantial numbers of welfare recipients have moved into jobs and off the public rolls . These successes have encouraged the governors of New York , New Jersey , Washington and Missouri to undertake their own reform programs . The leaders of the National Governors Association came away from a White House meeting this past Tuesday pleasantly surprised that they were able to reach an accord with the president on many points . The conference 's chairman , Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas , even backed off earlier criticism of the administration 's welfare plan , saying after the White House meeting , `` I feel better about the prospects of welfare reform than I did yesterday . '' That is not to say the president agreed with the governors on every count . One item on the governors ' agenda that Mr. Reagan did n't go for was a national minimum level for an individual recipients 's welfare benefits . By endorsing a federal welfare standard , the administration would undercut its own proposal to give the states wider latitude to set their own welfare criteria and standards , tailored to their populations . The most unattractive feature of the governors ' welfare plan is its price tag -- up to $ 2 billion a year on top of the $ 100 billion-plus already devoted to assorted anti-poverty programs . However committed the administration and Congress may be to reform , they 're unlikely to endorse a plan that increases the deficit . The governors argue that by spending the extra $ 2 billion a year , the federal government would be making an investment . By setting aside more money for job training , day care and other support , they say , taxpayers would ultimately realize savings as welfare recipients are weaned from the public rolls . But taxpayers can be forgiven if they view this part of the governors ' argument with skepticism . After all , Americans have spent more than $ 1 trillion over the past two decades to alleviate poverty and curb dependency without seeing evidence of an appreciable return on their substantial investment . An extra $ 2 billion a year added to the present anti-poverty programs -LRB- which , as we have mentioned before , if simply handed out in cash would be enough to lift every poor household in America above poverty -RRB- is unlikely to accomplish all that the governors promise . Oversold political programs and promises are largely what got us into this mess . Nonetheless there is merit in the governors ' plan , as there is in the administration 's reform proposals , and in the reform bills under consideration in the Senate . Most important , the governors would require that welfare recipients do something productive in exchange for their benefits , be it completing school , receiving vocational training or holding a job . Only by requiring individual initiative and productivity can welfare recipients ever achieve self-sufficiency . The degree of consensus forming around welfare reform is unusual . All the important players -- the president , the governors and congressional leaders -- agree that the goal of such reform is to transform the welfare system into one that enables poor families to achieve , in the president 's words , `` real and lasting emancipation '' from welfare dependency . On this point , at least , there does n't seem to be much conflict . Since all of the principals agree on the ultimate goal of welfare reform , it seems reasonable to expect that they can achieve a plan of action .
extractive_keyphrases: welfare reform welfare system welfare recipients reform programs
abstractive_keyphrases: president reagan reform consensus