New Earnfare program;
welfare as 'wages' for working

Faced with sluggish revenues resulting from a recessionary economy, many states, including Illinois, are cutting welfare programs to balance bleak budgets. Maryland, Michigan and Ohio have even eliminated welfare benefits for many adults deemed employable.

In his fiscal year 1993 budget, Gov. Jim Edgar proposed in April to eliminate benefits for an estimated 72,000 employable adults beginning July 1992. Welfare proponents in the General Assembly and advocacy groups lobbied to retain benefits for this population, comprised mostly of hard-core unemployed single men. A compromise was reached between the governor's office and legislators during the final days of the spring session that will allow employable adults to continue receiving benefits, but only if they work 61 hours a month for minimum wage.

The program, dubbed "Earnfare," will provide part-time jobs to 10,000 adults for a maximum of six months. Many employable adults had been receiving between $144 and $154 a month last fiscal year under the Transitional Assistance program, formerly known as General Assistance before that program was overhauled in July 1991. Those persons can now volunteer for a job with Earnfare and "earn" up to $154 a month and $111 in food stamps.

State officials hope the innovative program will help instill a work ethic in the troubled Transitional Assistance population. "I believe Earnfare will succeed by convincing participants that working for a living is better than accepting a monthly public aid check," Edgar said during a ceremony on Chicago's west side where he signed legislation (Senate Bill 1717/Public Act 87-893) creating the program. "Through a job, people gain self-confidence and experience that can be turned into better paying jobs down the road."

Earnfare will be available to single adults residing in Chicago, East St. Louis and 70 downstate local governments which currently participate in the Transitional Assistance program. Participants in the program will be required to work 61 hours a month at the minimum wage of $4.35 an hour. The first 25 hours of work will cover the $111 food stamp allotment, and the remaining work will be "wages" covered by the Earnfare paycheck. In Chicago, participants will receive a monthly Chicago Transit Authority pass to cover transportation costs, and downstate Earnfare clients will receive up to $25 for similar expenses.

"The Earnfare bill was a true compromise," said Linda Mills, supervising attorney for the Legal Assistance Foundation, a group that provides legal services to poor Chicago residents. "It's a long way from restoring General Assistance, but it's also a long way from completely eliminating benefits like the governor proposed." Those considered unemployable, such as persons age 55 and older with no sustained employment history, will receive a monthly Transitional Assistance check with no work-requirement strings attached.

Legislators passed Earnfare, but balked at funding it. Instead, the Department of Public Aid was instructed to allocate up to $25 million out of its existing fiscal year 1993 budget. The agency coughed up $10 million from its already bare-bones budget, and it will now develop jobs for Earnfare clients with local governments, private companies, not-for-profit groups, homeless shelters, nursing homes and others. The Department of Public Aid is contacting prospective employers to inform them about the program. "Earnfare combines the resources of the state with private business and nonprofit groups for the benefit of people who need jobs," said Public Aid Director Philip C. Bradley.

Earnfare received broad-based support in the General Assembly, and its sponsors ranged from downstate conservative Rep. Jerry Weller (R-85, Morris) to big city liberal Rep. Robert LeFlore Jr. (D-15, Chicago). Sen. Earlean Collins (D-9, Chicago), Senate sponsor and chief legislative negotiator of the Earnfare measure, said lawmakers reached a consensus that, given the state's fiscal woes, employable adults should be required to work for their public aid benefits. "There was no question Earnfare would pass. The question was whether or not we would get the money," she said. "I've always believed welfare ought to be temporary, a transitional period to help those in need become gainfully employed," she added. "While Earnfare

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does not create full-time employment, it does open a window of opportunity to the regular labor market."

During the past two fiscal years, Edgar has led the charge to chip away at Transitional Assistance. Under a budget-cutting agreement hammered out in summer 1991, an estimated 30,000 Transitional Assistance recipients lost benefits between April and June this year. The governor and legislative leaders tentatively agreed to reinstate those clients on the Transitional Assistance rolls for another six months this fiscal year (beginning July 1), but the seemingly intractable fiscal crisis spurred the governor and the legislature to eliminate benefits for all 72,000 clients. The cutback was projected to save the state about $76 million.

Douglas Dobmeyer, executive director of the Public Welfare Coalition, calls the allocation of $10 million for Earnfare "disappointing." The Chicago-based welfare advocacy group maintains that a full allocation of $25 million would provide an additional 17,000 jobs statewide for six months. Dobmeyer vows to keep pressuring the Department of Public Aid for full funding. "It's just not enough," he said. To garner support for increased funding, the Public Welfare Coalition is stressing that the loss of Transitional Assistance is not just a "Chicago problem." For example, due to cuts in the Transitional Assistance program, East St. Louis Township reported its rolls dropping from 4,600 this spring to 1,600. In Springfield, the Transitional Assistance rolls plummeted from 800 to less than 80 during the same period, according to Capital Township Supervisor Jim Bradford.

Dean Schott, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Aid, said the state's dire fiscal condition precluded finding the full $25 million within the cash-strapped agency's budget. The agency has already faced two consecutive fiscal years of administrative and program cuts, Schott said. In addition, almost 75 percent of the agency's $6.4 billion budget goes to medical care for the poor, dedicated funds that cannot be raided to support other programs.

Welfare advocates had also lobbied to attach job training or education components to Earnfare. Victor Jones, director of the West Side Survival Initiative in Chicago, a group of current and former Transitional Assistance clients, had proposed substituting 10 to 20 hours of work each month with GED or job training classes. The Department of Public Aid and the governor's office spurned all attempts to burden the program with such mandates. Schott counters that Earnfare is, in fact, a job training program in its own right. "People will be learning some work skills necessary for holding a job. To me, that's job training," he said.

Despite his concerns, Dobmeyer commended the governor and legislature for supporting the concept of Earnfare. Several states, including Michigan and Ohio in the Midwest, eliminated welfare benefits altogether for employable adults without providing them alternatives. "Unlike other states, Illinois did take steps to mollify a conservative agenda of cutting with no alternatives," he said. Dobmeyer said Earnfare will enable former Transitional Assistance clients to make up to $154 a month, money that most of them would otherwise not receive.

The legislation creating Earnfare also expanded the categories under which "chronically needy" clients may qualify for Transitional Assistance without working. "The bill fills the gaps in providing aid for those persons who have previously fallen through the cracks in the system," Edgar said when unveiling the program in August. The new categories include: persons with medical conditions, such as hypertension and insulin-dependent diabetes, that require ongoing maintenance medications; persons with no sustained employment history who cannot read above the 5.9 grade level and have no high school diploma; and teenagers through age 19 who are attending school full time. Schott of the Department of Public Aid said expanding eligibility will cost the state an additional $10 million in the current fiscal year, money the agency had to scrape together from its existing budget.

The Earnfare legislation also established a separate public service employment program under the auspices of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. The agency would offer grants to community organizations, local governments and private employers to create jobs in impoverished communities. But unlike Earnfare, monthly payments to participants would not be capped at $154. Two demonstration projects, one in Chicago and one in East St. Louis, were scheduled to begin July 1, but because the General Assembly declined to fund the program, the demonstration projects are on indefinite hold. Without state funding, the future of the program is grim, according to Dobmeyer.

Finally, the legislation creating Earnfare also continues the work of the Job Opportunities Advisory Council, which is developing a permanent jobs program for those eligible for Earnfare. The council, whose members include representatives from advocacy groups, state agencies and the business community, has been expanded to include the Chicago Urban League, Operation PUSH, the Illinois Coalition To End Homelessness and others. The council is required to develop a jobs program by January 1993.

Dobmeyer contends Earnfare is a stop-gap measure designed only to provide temporary support for Transitional Assistance clients. He hopes the program developed by the Jobs Opportunities Advisory Council will provide long-term assistance for this troubled population.

Bill Steinbacher-Kemp is a writer based in Springfield.

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