Options for Financing Welfare Reported

The Clinton Administration is considering financing its welfare proposals by taxing food stamps, welfare benefits and housing assistance, according to a newspaper report.

The White House also is considering restricting or eliminating aid to legal immigrants who are elderly and poor, the New York Times said in today’s editions.

No decisions have been made, but those are among options being considered by senior officials at the White House, Treasury Department and Department of Health and Human Services, the newspaper said.

The cuts being considered would be in addition to the $30 billion in proposed reductions included in the 1995 budget released last week.

Melissa Skolfield, an Administration spokeswoman, said the discussions were “very preliminary.” She said the pain of any cuts would be more than offset by expected improvements in the welfare program, which is intended to help poor women, its main recipients, find jobs.

The possible cuts represent the difficult options available to the Administration as it simultaneously pursues ambitious welfare and health care proposals while seeking to reduce the deficit.

Critics say the welfare proposal would hurt the people it seeks to help, namely the poor.