Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : GOP Revises Welfare Jobs Rule for States

Responding to pressure from Democrats and the Clinton Administration, House Republicans revised their welfare reform measure to force states to require more welfare recipients to hold jobs. The newest draft of the sweeping reform proposal, being considered by the Ways and Means Committee, requires that 50% of a state’s welfare population must hold jobs by the year 2003, instead of a 20% requirement in a different version approved by a subcommittee. The GOP also revised the formula for distributing funds to states in a way that would send California $130 million less for cash payments to poor families than the previous draft or current law.