House Votes to Approve Waivers for Wisconsin Welfare Reform Plan

Exacting a measure of political revenge on President Clinton, House Republicans on Thursday endorsed an aggressive welfare reform plan devised by the state of Wisconsin, even though the administration has the power to approve the plan and has said that it will do so.

Voting 289 to 136, the House agreed to waive 88 federal regulations so Wisconsin can implement a reform plan to move welfare recipients into the work force. The House measure must be passed by the Senate and signed by the president before it can become law.

Clinton has praised the Wisconsin reform plan offered by Republican Gov. Tommy G. Thompson. But the administration has not yet granted the waivers Thompson must have before he can implement the plan, which is scheduled to go into effect Oct. 1, 1997.

The waivers involve 83 federal regulations administered by the Department of Health and Human Services on Aid to Families With Dependent Children and Medicaid and five regulations administered by the Department of Agriculture on the federal food stamp program.

House Democrats, who tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to preserve administration oversight of state welfare plans that deviate from federal procedures, said that the legislation is not necessary and would only serve to embarrass the president.

Some, including Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), predicted that the legislation would collapse in the Senate under the weight of election-year politics.

“It is not real. It will not become law. It is simply a part of a political game tweaking the president of the United States,” Obey said.

“There is absolutely no reason for 435 people who don’t know their ear from second base about what’s in this package to actually vote on it,” he said.

Rep. Thomas M. Barrett (D-Wis.) accused Republicans of reacting spitefully to the president’s endorsement of Thompson’s ideas.

“What did the Republicans decide to do?” Barrett asked mockingly. “They said: ‘Let’s go and let’s try to embarrass the president. Let’s take the olive branch that he has extended and break it in half and shove it in his eye.’ ”

But Republicans argued that the legislation is necessary to guarantee that Wisconsin gets the authority to proceed and to signal to other state governments that local officials will have sole authority over welfare reform plans.

Typically, waivers of federal welfare regulations require investigation by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, including a 120-day review and a 30-day public comment period. Republicans said that such delays infringe on states’ rights to implement decisions that affect their residents.

By all accounts, the legislation was spurred on by presidential politics. Both sides differed on whether it was Clinton and the Democrats or House Republicans who were trying to score political points off Thompson’s “Wisconsin works” welfare reform initiative.

Thompson is often mentioned as a potential running mate for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Thompson’s statewide program, which was recently enacted into law, would limit state residents to five years of welfare aid and would require that all recipients seek job training or employment.

In a May 18 radio address, Clinton praised Thompson’s program as a model for the nation and pledged to make it a part of his reelection proposals. His comments upstaged Dole just before the Kansan’s campaign trip to Wisconsin to embrace Thompson and the state’s welfare reform program.

White House officials dismissed the House vote as election-year politics.

“This has nothing to do with speeding up welfare reform,” said White House spokesman Mike McCurry. “It’s clear we are examining this waiver request with the intent of proceeding with the experiment in Wisconsin.”