Court Opinion

ID: 9690365
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 19:09:00.225036+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:52:13.787997
License: Public Domain

CASSIBRY, District Judge
(dissenting) :
Waving the banner of “cooperative federalism,” with the accent on states’ rights, and adopting an interpretation of section 402(a) (23) of the Social Security Act of 1935 that stresses the precise words of the statute to the exclusion of Congress’ clear purpose in enacting it; that emasculates the meaning of the statute to the extent that it is rendered an absurdity, a nonentity, a futile exercise of the legislative will; and, most significantly, that ignores the urgent need for increased assistance payments which Congress sought to meet, this court casts aside plaintiffs’ contention that section 402(a) (23) requires Louisiana to increase ADC grants. I must dissent.
The question for the court is what Congress meant when it added section 402(a) (23) to the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 602(a) (23) (Supp.1969), which requires that any state plan for Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) must:
provide that by July 1, 1969, the amounts used by the State to determine the needs of individuals will have been adjusted to reflect fully changes in living costs since such amounts were established, and any máximums that the State imposes on the amount of aid paid to families will have been proportionately adjusted.
In my dissenting opinion in Lampton v. Bonin, 299 F.Supp. 336, (E.D.La.1969) (hereinafter referred to as Lampton I), I found it necessary to consider this question and, after reviewing the language of the statute and the legislative history, concluded that Congress intended to require the states to increase ADC payments by the change in the cost of living since the existing level of payments was established. Nothing the majority say has made me change my mind; in fact, their inability to provide the statute some reasonable meaning only enhances my belief in the correctness of my original interpretation of the statute, not to mention its acceptance and refinement by Judge Weinstein in Rosado v. Wyman,1 *1391304 F.Supp. 1356, (E.D.N.Y.1969), and the subsequent adherence of the three-judge district court in Jefferson v. Hackney, 304 F.Supp. 1332 (N.D.Texas 1969). But before restating the position taken in my previous dissent, I should first like to delineate the errors inherent in the majority’s analysis of section 402 (a) (23), and dispel any notion that Congress primarily meant what the majority purport to find in the statute.
I. SUGGESTED EFFECTS OF SECTION 402(a) (23)
The majority contend that section 402 (a) (23) is not meaningless, and has three possible effects apart from the increased payments contended for by plaintiffs.

A. Increase the Standard of Need

One such effect is to increase the standard of need by the change in the cost of living so as to make additional persons (those with marginal incomes) eligible for ADC payments and concomitant social welfare services. This is certainly a laudable objective, well within the power of Congress, obviously an incidental side effect of section 402(a) (23), but cannot be what Congress principally had in mind when it enacted this particular amendment. This is amply evidenced by the majority’s unsuccessful attempt to find support in the legislative history for some indication that Congress intended expanded eligibility as the purpose of the statute.
In support of this contention, the majority rely upon the other provisions enacted along with section 402(a) (23), and argue that inasmuch as these were meant to provide ancillary services in order to strengthen family life, section 402(a) (23) must do likewise. From this the majority conclude, without giving due consideration to the independent legislative history of section 402(a) (23), that Congress intended section 402 (a) (23) “to make additional persons eligible for AFDC payments as well as for concomitant services.” This argument must be rejected.
Section 402(a) (23) has a legislative history of its own, separate and apart from that of other provisions of the 1967 Social Security Amendments, and so long as its purpose, as revealed by this history, is not inconsistent with the other provisions and in need of reconciliation therewith, it must be judged alone. Further, because section 402(a) includes numerous unrelated ADC program requirements which states must fulfill if they are to be entitled to receive federal financial assistance, no basis exists for limiting the scope or intent of one such requirement by another unless they are in potential conflict with or overlap each other, which has clearly not been shown to be the case here.
In discussing the legislative history in order to find support for their position, the majority fail to consider that Congress enacted at the same time as section 402(a) (23), and in the very same bill, a limitation on federal matching funds, 1a only recently repealed, whose intended effect was to induce the states to tighten their eligibility standards and reduce the number of individuals receiving ADC payments — the exact opposite of the intent which the majority seek to attribute to Congress by its passage of section 402 (a) (23). See Lampton I, supra 299 F.Supp. at 355, note 19; H.Rep.No. 544, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., at 110 (1967). Are we to assume, then, as the majority would have it, that Congress engaged in a tug-of-war with itself? Or are we to conclude, as is certainly more reasonable, that Congress did not legislate section 402(a) (23) in order to expand eligibility for ADC?
Finally, by suggesting that increased eligibility was one of Congress’ primary concerns when it enacted section 402(a) (23), the majority go beyond the position maintained by HEW in support of the *1392defendants’ position. For although HEW initially propounded this argument in its brief amicus curiae filed in connection with Lampton I, it was later dropped from its brief submitted in Jefferson v. Hackney, supra, and for the very good reason that Texas, following HEW’s interpretation of the statute in 45 C.F.R. § 233.20(a) (ii), 34 Fed.Reg. 1394 (1969), applied its ratable reduction to the standard of need, rather than the budgetary deficit as in Louisiana, and thus reduced the number of persons eligible for ADC grants. That Louisiana chose to follow a different procedure, thus spreading its limited funds among a greater number of needy families, is of course immaterial to discerning Congress’ intent regarding section 402(a) (23). What is material is that a state, consistent with this provision, may if it chooses, reduce the number of persons eligible for ADC payments.
In sum, we must conclude that while an increase in the standard of need would in most cases lead to an increase in the number of persons eligible to participate in the ADC program, this was not the sole or principal intent of Congress when it enacted section 402(a) (23).

B. Elimination of Máximums

As a second intended effect of section 402(a) (23), the majority suggest that Congress hoped to induce the states to eliminate the use of arbitrary dollar máximums restricting the size of assistance grants and to substitute other, more equitable forms of holding down welfare expenditures which effect all families proportionately, such as a ratable reduction system. To effectuate this purpose, the majority say Congress required in section 402(a) (23) that dollar máximums be increased proportionately to the change in living costs. Thus, according to their logic, a state is confronted with the choice of either increasing its máximums, and hence its payments, or abandoning its máximums and shifting to a system of ratable reductions.
No legislative history is cited in support of this proposition, because none exists. At no time during consideration and passage of the 1967 Amendments did Congress ever express any interest in doing away with máximums, not even those discriminating against large families, which are the most objectionable, and have since been declared unconstitutional by several federal courts. See Westberry v. Fisher, 297 F.Supp. 1109 (D.Me.1969); Dews v. Henry, 297 F.Supp. 587 (D.Ariz.1969); Williams v. Dandridge, 297 F.Supp. 450 (D.Md.1968). Moreover, if Congress did wish to encourage the states to eliminate máximums, we must seriously question whether it would “have so beclouded its intent” by being so subtle in method, Lampton I, supra, at 355.
Finally, by combining two unrelated objectives — expanding eligibility and eliminating máximums — in one amendment to section 402(a), the majority’s position is necessarily inconsistent with the internal structure of that provision, which consists of over twenty single-purpose state plan requirements.
Clearly, then, lacking any support in the legislative history or the structure of the pertinent section of the Social Security Act, this second proposed purpose cannot be said to have been what Congress had in mind when it legislated section 402(a) (23).
* * *
Before passing to the third and final effect of the statute advanced by the majority, I feel compelled to comment at this time upon my brethren’s “credit[ing the Louisiana Department of Public Welfare] with having eliminated its máximums because of serious doubt as to their validity and not as a backhanded way of avoiding the necessity of increasing the máximums (payments) to reflect the rise in cost of living.” Such praise is inappropriate.
At least since October 1968 it has been public knowledge that Louisiana was having difficulty financing its ADC program. This lawsuit as initially brought manifested that problem. But an unexpected windfall in June 1969 of federal funds enabled the state to maintain its *1393level of ADC payments for the remainder of that fiscal year. With no such windfall now in sight, and with an appropriation for ADC for the current fiscal year 1969-1970 of only $9,043,000 out of a requested $17,320,000, over $400,000 less than the appropriation for the year before, Louisiana, as both the written interrogatories and oral testimony reveal, had to reduce ADC grants by approximately twelve percent.
In order for the state to make this cut and still comply with requirements of the Social Security Act as interpreted by HEW and now by this court, a ratable reduction system was adopted. Consistent with this change, all máximums were eliminated as no longer necessary, not just the “family maximum,” which treats families with six or more dependent children less favorably than families with a lesser number of dependent children, and which is the only kind of maximum yet attacked by the courts.
To praise Louisiana’s action as respect for an impending constitutional mandate, and thus place a constitutional rather than a political imprint upon the act, is therefore not only to belie the scope of the mandate itself, which is limited to family máximums, but also to disregard what has been readily apparent for months, that Louisiana must somehow reduce its ADC outlays.

C. Emphasize Disparity Between Need and Payment

For Congress’ third possible purpose in enacting section 402(a) (23), the majority indicate that if this provision “does nothing else, it spotlights the difference between the amount a state has determined to be the need of its dependent children and the amount its legislature has appropriated to meet the need along with federal funds.”
In response, no more need be said than to ask: Were this provision in fact meant to be so ineffectual as to the states, why were they given eighteen months in which to implement it, and why did the Senate-House Conference Committee find it so important to delete the requirement that the cost of living adjustment be made annually ? See Conf. Rep. No. 1030, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. (1967), U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News, pp. 3179, 3209 (1967).
* «• *
If the aforementioned three purposes for Congress’ enactment of section 402 (a) (23) constitute the most forceful attempt possible to give meaning to the statute apart from that for which plaintiffs contend, this effort itself calls into question the viability of the majority’s interpretation of the statute. Also indicative of the unreasonableness of their position are the plain meaning of the language of section 402(a) (23) and the clear course of its legislative history, to which the discussion now turns.
II. MEANING AND INTENT OF SECTION 402(a) (23)

A. Plain Meaning

In presenting the question for decision, my brethren misconceive the statute by dividing it into two separate and independent Congressional mandates, notwithstanding Congress’ consideration and enactment of the provision as a unified whole.2 As they see it, the issue before the court is “whether the second clause of section 402(a) (23) * * prohibits the State from decreasing its ADC payments to reflect fully the changes in living costs * (Emphasis added.)
*1394Obviously, this seriously misconstrues the statute and misstates the issue, for we are not deciding the effect of solely the first clause or solely the second clause of section 402(a) (23), but the effect of the statute as a whole. And when read as a unified provision, as Congress must certainly have intended— it would not have joined in one amendment such disparate elements as the standard of need and máximums if they were not to be related to a single purpose —it is clear that section 402(a) (23) requires the states to increase the level of ADC payments.
The logic of this position is simple, and requires only a basic understanding of the procedures outlined in the margin which the states use to determine the appropriate amount of ADC recipient grants.3
Since we all agree that section 402 (a) (23) requires an increase in the standard of need commensurate with the change in the cost of living,4
"[t]o determine the purpose served by this mandate * * *, we need only refer to the universal use of the standard of need as the base for computing the level of ADC recipient grants, and the remaining language of section 402 (a) (23), which provides that along with the necessary cost of living changes in need standards, ‘any máximums that the State imposes on the amount of aid paid to families will have been proportionately adjusted.’ ADC payments in all states are predicated upon the need standard; if this standard is increased, as section 402 (a) (23) requires, the budgetary deficit must also increase accordingly. In those states paying the budgetary deficit in full, as well as in those states that pay only a percentage of the budgetary deficit (or the standard of need), section 402(a) (23) necessarily requires increased ADC grants corresponding to the increase in the standard of need, for a percentage maximum (100 percent or less) kept *1395constant automatically translates increased need into an increased payment. Similarly, in those states imposing an arbitrary dollar maximum on the size of the assistance grant, section 402(a) (23), by requiring that the máximums imposed be adjusted in accordance with the change in the cost of living, insures increased grants for all recipients. Regardless of which system of computing ADC payments the state follows, section 402 (a) (23) is therefore designed to effectuate increased ADC recipient grants. The language of the statute could not be any clearer.” Lampton I, supra, 299 F.Supp. at 350.
This, I submit, is the most reasonable way to read the statute, and the only analysis which respects both the language used and the intent expressed.

B. Legislative History

Should any doubts remain regarding the propriety of this interpretation, they are certainly dispelled by the clear course of the legislative history, as surveyed in the following excerpt from my dissenting opinion in Lampton I, supra 299 F.Supp. at 351-352 (all footnotes have been renumbered):
“Section 402(a) (23) had its genesis before the Senate Committee on Finance as a proposed amendment by HEW to H.R. 12080, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. (1967), the Social Security Amendments as passed by the House of Representatives. The amendment called for the states to meet need in full as they determined it, and required that the states update their need standards to reflect current prices, and review these standards annually and modify them in accordance with significant changes occurring in the cost of living.5 Hearings on H.R. 12080 before the Senate Committee on Finance, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., pt. 1, at 635 (1967) [hereinafter Hearings]. Like provisions were suggested for the adult categorical assistance programs.6 Hearings, pt. 1, at 634-37. These amendments were designed to meet the problem of inadequate and unrealistic assistance payments by compelling increases in the level of payments in all categories.7
“Although the Committee extensively modified the far-reaching HEW proposals, the provisions reported out and adopted by the Senate, which were discussed in the Section-by-Section Analysis contained in the Senate Report under the heading Increasing Income of Recipients of Public As*1396sistance, were doubtless intended to ameliorate, though to a lesser degree, the same problem — the low level of assistance grants — in the same manner — requiring the states to increase payments. S.Rep.No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. (1967), U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News, 2834, 3132 (1967).
“The Committee bill rejected the HEW recommendation that the states meet needs in full as they determine them. But it did incorporate the annual cost of living adjustment for the ADC program,8 and substitute in the adult programs a one-time mandatory average increase of $7.50 per month in the amount of assistance,9 S.Rep.No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. (1967), U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News, pp. 2834, 3132 (1967), a change designed to assure that all non-ADC recipients would benefit from the increases.10 The Senate passed these provisions without amendment,11 and sent the bill to a Senate-House Conference Committee to iron out the differences. In the Conference Committee the mandatory $7.50 increase for the adult categories was replaced by a $7.50 disregard of income provision discretionary with the states. (This allows a state, if it chooses, to disregard $7.50 of income when computing the *1397budgetary deficit. The previous figure was $5.00 per month.) Conf.Rep. No. 1030, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. (1967), U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News, 3179, 3208-09 (1967). No similar change was made in the ADC provision; it remained mandatory upon the states. But the Conference Committee did not leave the Senate provision requiring increases unscathed, for the annual cost of living adjustment was deleted, thus leaving only a one-time cost of living adjustment before July 1, 1969. Id.
“Notwithstanding these Conference Committee modifications, it is manifest that the intendment of the Finance Committee and the Senate survived at least with respect to the ADC provision, and that Congress undoubtedly meant what it said in section 402 (a) (23) when it required the states to raise ADC payments. Clearly the course of the provision from its inception before the Senate Committee on Finance until its final passage by Congress allows no other conclusion.”

C. HEW Regulation

Both the majority and HEW reject the foregoing analysis of the language and history of section 402(a) (23). They argue that the provision does not require increased ADC payments because Congress has intentionally “left open” a method whereby the states can avoid the ostensible effect of the statute to raise payments. This method is set forth in section 233.20(a) (2) (ii) of the HEW Regulations, 45 C.F.R. § 233.20(a) (2) (ii), 34 Fed.Reg. 1394 (1969). The Regulation requires that a state plan for ADC must:
“ * * * provide that by July 1, 1969, the State’s standard of assistance for the AFDC program will have been adjusted to reflect fully changes in living costs since such standards were established, and any máximums that the State imposes on the amount of aid paid to families will have been proportionately adjusted. In such adjustment a consolidation of the standard (i. e., combining of items) may not result in a reduction in the content of the standard. In the event the State is not able to meet need in full under the adjusted standard, the State may make ratable reductions in accordance with subparagraph (3) (viii) of this paragraph [adjustments must be uniform statewide]. Nevertheless, if a State maintains a system of dollar máximums, these máximums must be proportionately adjusted in relation to the updated standards.” 45 C.F.R. § 233.20(a) (2) (ii), 34 Fed.Reg. 1394 (1969) (emphasis supplied).
In discussing this Regulation, I again draw upon my dissent in Lampton I,12 supra 299 F.Supp. at 353-354 (all footnotes have been renumbered).
“HEW promulgated this regulation on January 28, 1969, to guide the states in their compliance with section 402 (a) (23) and to ‘make it clear that while States must update their standards, if the States do not have the money to pay according to such standards they may make a ratable reduction * * *.’ 34 Fed.Reg. 1394 (January 29, 1969).13 By a ratable *1398reduction HEW means that a state may reduce the need standard [or the budgetary deficit] by whatever percentage it chooses, and then compute the level of ADC grants from this reduced basis, which necessarily leads to a lower grant than that resulting from the application of the provisions of section 402(a) (23). For example, states formerly paying 100 percent of need (usually up to an arbitrary maximum) could add the cost of living increase required by section 402(a) (23) to the standard of need (and [eliminate or] adjust their máximums accordingly), and then change and pay a lesser percentage of the increased need [or budgetary deficit], while states paying less than 100 percent of need could make the necessary cost of living adjustment and then pay a still lesser percentage. Thus, while the standard of need and dollar máximums14 remain at the increased levels mandated by Congress, a state, by following the percentage reduction procedure, could avoid in part or obliterate completely the otherwise necessary and inexorable effect of section 402(a) (23) to raise the level of recipient grants.15
“[Both the majority and HEW contend] that Congress having devoted so little attention to section 402(a) (23), it should be interpreted literally to mean no more than its words themselves provide. Accordingly, since the provision commands adjustment only in the standard of need and dollar máximums, and does not refer to the percentage reductions permitted in the regulation, it should not be read to preclude them.16 In other words, [they seek] to infer a Congressional sanction of percentage reductions from the failure to mention them in section 402(a) (23). However, because a percentage maximum kept constant automatically transfers the increase in the standard of need into an increased payment, it is not at all surprising that Congress did not refer to percentage reductions in section 402 (a) (23); there simply was no need to in order to achieve the desired increases. Therefore, to translate this omission into an implied Congressional sanction of percentage reductions is unwarranted.”
In addition, I no longer find any reason to restrict the statutory language “any máximums that the State imposes on the amount of aid paid” solely to dollar máximums. (I did so limit the term in my dissent in Lamption I, supra 299 F.Supp. at 354 note 17, but further reflection has convinced me that a broader reading is consistent with the intent of Congress.) As Judge Weinstein has pointed out, “Section 402(a) *1399(23) speaks of ‘any maximum,’ not just dollar máximums.” Rosado v. Wyman, supra at 1377. Inasmuch as a percentage reduction system results in a dollar maximum on the amount of aid given, it is also encompassed by the command of section 402(a) (23). The proportionate adjustment is not, however, made in “the number representing the percentage reduction but, rather, the dollar figure resulting from the application of the percentage to a family’s need as determined by the State’s standard of need.” Rosado v. Wyman, supra.
Thus Louisiana, notwithstanding its elimination of dollar máximums, by now paying less than the 100 percent of need it formerly paid, has reduced the dollar figure resulting from the application of the percentage to a family’s need, and therefore has reduced its máximums in violation of section 402(a) (23).
“Furthermore, a percentage reduction [in the standard of need or the budgetary deficit] reduces the necessary effect of [an increase in] the standard of need as effectively as a dollar reduction [in the standard of need], which HEW admits ‘would fly in the face of the statutory requirement [to update the standard of need], and cannot be accepted.’ By both methods the result is a decreased standard of need [or budgetary deficit] which leads to a decreased assistance payment. Ever mindful that ‘That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet,’17 I must therefore conclude that if a dollar reduction in the standard of need is precluded by implication by section 402 (a) (23), a percentage reduction [of either the standard of need or the budgetary deficit] likewise is prohibited.
“Finally, the HEW interpretation of section 402(a) (23) cannot be accepted for it nullifies the effectiveness of the provision, and a court will ‘not suppose that Congress intended to enact unnecessary statutory amendments,’ Uptagrafft v. United States, 315 F.2d 200, 204 (4th Cir. 1963), or presume ‘that the legislature intended any part of a statute to be without meaning.’ General Motors Acceptance Corporation v. Whisnant, 387 F.2d 774, 778 (5th Cir. 1968). * * *
“It is clear, therefore, that the HEW regulation permitting a ratable reduction in the standard of need is violative of the controlling federal statute, and consequently is invalid. King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 333, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 2141, 20 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968). While I am fully cognizant that the views of an administrative agency should be given due deference when issues of statutory interpretation arise, Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1, 16, 85 S.Ct. 792, 801, 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965), ‘[t]he administrative ruling in this case was no sooner made than challenged. We cannot be certain how far it was determined by the considerations advanced * * * in its defense in this case. It has hardly seasoned or broadened into a settled administrative practice. * * * [And I] do not think it should over-weigh the considerations * * * set forth as to the proper construction of the statute.’ Davies Warehouse Co. v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 144, 156, 64 S.Ct. 474, 481, 88 L.Ed. 635 (1944).”

D. Summary

Stressing that the Social Security Act is an example of “cooperative federalism,” and that the states previously have determined the level of ADC benefits by the amount of funds devoted to the program, my brethren apparently do not feel warranted in saddling Louisiana with the financial burden of increased ADC expenditures “without clear statutory language supported by unmistakable legislative history.” What most seems to concern the majority is that any bill having this significant an effect upon state expenditures would have been a “burning issue” in Congress. Finding *1400few charred remains in the legislative history, they feel compelled to conclude that “no great cost effect was anticipated.” Yet, as summarized by Judge Weinstein, “[t]he language of the basic requirements of 402(a) (23) remained virtually unchanged throughout its legislative evolution. There is no hint from either committee 'that it intended to change the purpose of the section as expressed by Administrative spokesmen. Hence, there is no reason to believe that Congress failed to appreciate the import and plain meaning of the language in 402(a) (23).” Rosado v. Wyman, supra at 1376.
And as I stated in my dissent in Lampton I, supra 299 F.Supp. at 352-353:
“That this abrupt shift in Congressional policy, which for approximately thirty-five years had allowed the states complete freedom to determine the level of assistance grants, was unaccompanied by extensive committee reports, floor debates, and cost estimates is immaterial when, as here, the Congressional purpose to make such a shift is otherwise clearly discernible. ‘A restrictive interpretation should not be given a statute merely because Congress has chosen to depart from custom * * *.’ United States v. Sullivan, 332 U.S. 689, 693, 68 S.Ct. 331, 334, 92 L.Ed. 297 (1948). However significant the departure may be, the duty of the court ‘to search out and follow the true intent of the legislature, and to adopt that sense of the words, which harmonizes best with the context, and promotes in the fullest manner the apparent policy and objects of the legislature’ remains the same. United States v. Winn, 28 Fed.Cas. pp. 733, 734 (No. 16,740) (C.C.D.Mass.1838) (Story, J.), quoted approvingly in Johnson v. Southern Pacific Company, 196 U.S. 1, 18, 25 S.Ct. 158, 162, 49 L.Ed. 363 (1904).”
* * *
We must not be influenced in deciding this ease by Louisiana’s threatened withdrawal from the ADC program should plaintiffs be successful in this suit. While this would prove catastrophic for those thousands of families who depend upon this program for food and shelter, it is a necessary risk of the very cooperative federalism relied upon by the majority in support of their position.
Meaningful and effective programs of federal-state cooperation require that, in return for federal financial assistance, the states comply with certain minimum standards established by Congress. Only in this way can Congress be assured its policy objectives are carried out.
Through such cooperative programs Congress has fostered the construction of a uniform interstate highway system connecting all parts of the country. If under a threat of non-participation federal construction standards had been relaxed to meet the needs of individual states, it is certain that no such uniform system would now exist. Similarly, but more importantly, desegregation of schools and hospitals and other federally-funded services has been facilitated by previous strict enforcement of federal desegregation guidelines under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d, 2000d-l, which allows for the cutoff of federal funds when the aforementioned guidelines are not being met. Despite the hardship the cutoff of funds often causes for those very persons whom the procedure is" designed to assist, it is clear today that without such strict enforcement the level of desegregation would be considerably less than at present.
Federal welfare standards are no less deserving of enforcement. To have it otherwise would seriously jeopardize the cooperative aspect of these programs, not to mention their objectives. If the standards imposed are too strict or too burdensome upon the states, their avenue of redress should be through Congress, not through a restrictive interpretation of these standards by the courts.
*1401III. CONCLUSION
Louisiana’s proposed ratable reduction system, which will result in payments to families receiving ADC which are smaller than the amounts received in June 1969, as adjusted to reflect the change in the cost of living, is inconsistent with the terms and conditions imposed by the federal government upon those states voluntarily participating in this federally-funded program, and consequently is invalid.18
I would immediately enjoin implementation of this system, and order that Louisiana comply with section 402(a) (23), which requires that by July 1, 1969 ADC payments be increased by the change in the cost of living since the standard of need was last established. King v. Smith, supra; Solman v. Shapiro, 300 F.Supp. 409 (D.Conn.1969); Williams v. Dandridge, supra.

. June 6, 1969, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, stayed the District Court’s preliminary injunction restraining New York’s Commissioner of Social Services from implementing and putting into effect reductions in ADC payments pending disposition of an appeal from Judge Weinstein’s decision. June 23, 1969, the Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari before judgment. 395 U.S. 826, 89 S.Ct. 2134, 23 L.Ed.2d 739. Inasmuch as jurisdietional questions complicate Rosado, the grounds for the stay are uncertain, and until publication of a written opinion, its issuance cannot be viewed as having any reflection on the merits,

. See section 208(b) of the 1967 Social Security Amendments, which added section 603(d) (1) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 603(d) (1) (Supp. 1969). See also Pub.L. 90-364, 82 Stat. 273 (1968), which delayed the effective date of the limitation until July 1, 1969.

. The majority quote the text of section 402(a) (23) in this manner.
“A state plan for aid and services to needy families with children must * * * provide that by July 1, 1969,  the amounts used by the State to determine the needs of individuals will have been adjusted to reflect fully changes in living costs since such amounts were established, and [2] any máximums that the State imposes on the amount of aid paid to families will have been proportionately adjusted.”
It must be noted, however, that it is they, not Congress, who inserted the numbers dividing into two separate parts the compound sentence comprising the statute.

. “Each state estimates its standard of need or assistance, which is the minimum monthly amounts required by its needy citizens for food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities. From this low-income budget, which varies according to the size of the family and is different in different states, each state deducts the income of the recipient, subject to allowable exemptions, leaving what is known as a budgetary deficit. In theory the budgetary deficit is the amount of the assistance payment, but in practice many states pay less by imposing arbitrary dollar máximums on the amount of aid paid, by paying only a fixed percentage of the budgetary deficit, or by a combination of both whereby a fixed percentage is paid but only up to a set dollar maximum. Of the fifty-four jurisdictions participating in the ADO program, twenty-four impose neither a percentage nor a dollar maximum, and pay the full budgetary deficit or 100 percent of need. Seven jurisdictions pay a percentage of the budgetary deficit, while four follow a variant and pay a percentage of the standard of need. Finally, twenty-six jurisdictions, including some which impose percentage reductions, place a legal or administrative dollar maximum on the amount that can be paid. Amounts are stipulated for each additional child, sometimes up to a family maximum expressed in a dollar amount, or cumulative amounts based on a given number of children are used, limited in terms of the number of children or a maximum payment.” Lampton, I, supra 299 F.Supp. at 349 (footnotes omitted).

. The majority are mistaken when they say: “We all also agree that the State may give less than 100 percent of the standard of need.” This was certainly true before enactment of section 402(a) (23) on January 2, 1968, and may well have been true before the July 1, 1969, deadline for compliance (compare the two opinions in Lampton I), but is now no longer the case. As will be shown infra at 1398-1399, those states paying full need (100 percent of the standard of need) on January 2, 1968, even if the ultimate payment was restricted by an arbitrary maximum as in Louisiana, must continue to do so or else violate section 402(a) (23). Only those states which previously provided less than 100 percent of need by way of a percentage reduction system may today pay less than 100 percent of need, but the percentage paid must not of course be reduced below that in existence on January 2, 1968.

. The text of the proposed amendment follows :
“[each state plan must provide] (A), effective July 1, 1969, for meeting (in conjunction with other income that is not disregarded, or set aside for future needs, under the plan and other resources) all the need, as determined in accordance with standards applicable under the plan for determining need, of individuals eligible to receive aid to families with dependent children (and such standards shall be no lower than the standards for determining need in effect on January 1, 1967) and (B), effective July 1, 1968, for an annual review of such standards and (to the extent prescribed by the Secretary) for updating such standards to take into account changes in living costs; # * * »
Hearings on H.K. 12080 before the Senate Comm, on Finance, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. pt. 1, at 635 (1967).

. These programs are: Old Age Assistance and Medical Assistance for the Aged, 42 U.S.C. §§ 301-306; Aid to the Blind, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1201-1206; Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1351-1355; Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled or for such Aid and Medical Assistance for the Aged, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1381-1385.

. Testifying in support of the proposed additions to the House bill, Secretary of HEW John W. Gardner and Undersecretary Wilbur J. Cohen documented the inadequacy of assistance payments, especially in the ADC program, and attributed this principally to the states’ desire to limit their financial responsibility. Hearings, pt. 1, at 216 (testimony of John W. Gardner); Hearings, pt. 1, at 255-59 (testimony of Wilbur J. Cohen).

. Tlie Committee provision required a state plan for ADC to provide that:
“by July 1, 1969, and at least annually thereafter, the amounts used by the State to determine the needs of individuals will have been adjusted to reflect fully changes in living costs since such amounts were established, and that any máximums that the State imposes on tlie amount of aid paid to families will have been proportionately adjusted.” (Emphasis added.)
Except for the emphasized language which was deleted by the Conference Committee, this provision parallels that enacted by Congress.

. Tlie Committee provision required that non-ADC plans must:
“provide that the standards used for determining the need of applicants and recipients for and the extent of sucli assistance under the plan, and any maximum on the amount of assistance, will have been so modified that an increase in the amount of assistance and other income will not be less than $7.50 tier month per individual * * * above such amount of assistance and other income available under the standards and maximum applicable under the plan on December 31, 1966.”

. Since many of the recipients of aid in the adult categories also receive social security benefits, had the cost of living mechanism been used, the intended increase in assistance payments would have been offset for those individuals who are dual beneficiaries by the increase in social security benefits provided by H.R. 12080. (Social security benefits are considered income and serve to reduce the budgetary deficit, which means a reduced assistance grant.) By assuring each recipient an increase of $7.50 per month in his total amount of assistance and other income, this provision avoids any such offsetting effects. Naturally, this device need not have been employed to assure increased grants in the ADO program, because most ADO recipients do not receive social security benefits. Thus, in this program, the cost of living adjustment proposed by HEW could be retained. S.Rep.No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. (1967), U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News, pp. 2834, 3006-07 (1967). See also 113 Cong.Rec.S. 16642 (daily ed. Nov. 16, 1967) remarks of Senator Ribicoff); 113 Cong.Rec.S. 17036 (daily ed. Nov. 22, 1967) (remarks of Senator Randolph).

. Senator McGovern proposed the only amendment to section 402(a) (23). It would have substituted a $4.00 per month per individual increase in ADC payments for the cost of living adjustment in need standards. The announced purpose of the amendment was to raise ADC jjayments, which are considerably lower than those in the adult programs, by the same percentage (eleven percent) as the $7.50 increase in the adult programs. 113 Cong.Rec.S. 16963 (daily ed. Nov. 21, 1967) (remarks of Senator Mansfield, who introduced the amendment on behalf of Senator McGovern). In other words, the amendment was designed to insure that in all states — even those where only marginal increases in the cost of living had occurred — ADC recipients obtained the same guaranteed eleven percent increase in their assistance payments as was provided for the adult recipients. The amendment was rejected. Id. at S. 16964.

. The considerable bracketed additions are principally necessitated by Louisiana’s having applied its percentage reduction to the budgetary deficit rather than to the standard of need. Although this course was not anticipated in my previous dissent, it does not affect the continued viability of my analysis. Whether the percentage reduction be applied to the standard of need or the budgetary deficit, the necessary effect is to decrease what would otherwise have been increased by the cost of living adjustment, and thus reduce the ultimate payment.

. The regulation dealing with section 402(a) (23) was first promulgated in the HEW Interim Policy Statement No. 4, 33 Fed.Reg. 10230 (July 17, 196S). In its initial form the regulation simply restated the statutory provision, thus giving no indication that the effect of the statutory command could be avoided by a ratable reduction.

. To emphasize that máximums must indeed be proportionately adjusted in relation to the repriced standard of assistance, and that they could not be adjusted and then reduced because of inadequate funds pursuant to section 233.20 (a) (3) (viii) of the Regulations, supra at 353, the last sentence was added to the regulation interpreting section 402 (a) (23). Thus, if funds were inadequate, ratable reductions could be made in relation to the standard of assistance only, not in relation to the máximums. Needless to say, the effect on the level of recipient grants is the same; they are reduced. But, according to HEW, the language of section 402(a) (23) permits one and prohibits the other.

. The Texas experience is instructive. From paying 100 percent of need for a family of four, up to a dollar maximum of $102.00, the state, in accordance with the HEW regulation, reevaluated the need standards and substituted a percentage maximum of fifty percent. Bee Texas Department of Public Welfare, Office Memorandum E-430 (Feb. 28, 1969) (effective May 1, 1969). A family of four with a typical calculated need of $180.00 will now receive a monthly payment of $90.00. Prior to imposition of the fifty percent maximum, the same family would have received $102.00. * * * [The Texas policy has been declared in violation of section 402(a) (23) in Jefferson v. Hackney, 304 F.Supp. 1332 (N.D.Tex.1969) (three-judge court).]

. [Footnote deleted.]

. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2.

. “There is of course no question that the Federal Government, unless barred by some controlling constitutional prohibition, may impose the terms and conditions upon which its money allotments to the States shall be disbursed, and that any state law or regulation inconsistent with such federal terms and conditions is to that extent invalid.” King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 333, n. 34, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 2141, n. 34 (1968).