Feinstein Seeks Amendments to Welfare Reform

Shaking off warnings that the GOP leadership has no intention of tinkering with newly passed welfare reform, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said last week that she will work to amend the law next year to release California from federal requirements it cannot possibly meet.

“Hope springs eternal,” the senator said Thursday, mindful of the considerable odds against significantly revamping the GOP-drafted law as long as the Republicans control the Congress. “I think it’s a real mistake to think a bill of this magnitude is perfect and we are not going to look at any changes. I think Congress should have an open mind.”

At a breakfast session to outline her legislative agenda for the 105th Congress, Feinstein warned that some provisions of the new welfare law could have a devastating impact on the nation’s largest state unless they are revised.

Asked if she would make a bid for California governor in two years, Feinstein reiterated that she would not decide until 1998. “I have had three statewide campaigns in six years,” said Feinstein, who has run twice for senator and once for governor. “Right now, I am really interested in what I am trying to do here and I would like to be able to do it, and then we will see.” After interviews with welfare directors in 21 counties, Feinstein said, she and her staff determined that ambitious federal requirements--such as forcing recipients to find work within two years of signing up for welfare--cannot be accomplished in California.

“The mandate cannot be met. The numbers are too great in California and the mandates are too strong,” Feinstein said. She noted that the state would have to provide 160,000 jobs the first year the law takes effect, more than triple the number of new jobs it currently creates annually.

“How we produce these jobs, I don’t know,” Feinstein said.

Acknowledging that there is little hope of passing major philosophical changes to a law that removes the federal safety net for the first time in 60 years, Feinstein said she will attempt to fine tune it with a package of amendments, still being drafted.

A federal edict that 90% of all two-parent families on welfare be working by 2,002 might not be attainable under any circumstances, according to the senator, because some welfare recipients are simply not employable because of infirmities, lack of education or other deficiencies.

Those who are employable will be hampered by lack of jobs and child care services, she said, asserting that the current formula for providing child care funds will not meet the needs of California recipients who will be required to work. The plan lacks the flexibility necessary to accommodate areas of the state with high unemployment, she said.

Feinstein said she will also seek to provide federal benefits to elderly and disabled noncitizens already in the country before this year’s enactment of the bill, a provision that hits California hardest because 40% of the nation’s legal immigrant population resides in the state.

Other goals include doubling from six weeks to 12 the time allowed for recipients to search for a job, as well as providing federal matching funds for new computer systems to track shifting welfare caseloads. Existing equipment is not adequate in most counties, she said.

The senator could find herself at odds not only with congressional Republicans but with the Wilson administration, which agrees with many of the get-tough reform provisions Feinstein opposes. The senator’s staff has complained of difficultly gathering statistics on child care and other welfare-related issues from state agencies.

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Wilson representative Lisa Kalustian said Thursday that the administration has long held that the welfare reform law is a less-than-perfect first step. But she said it remains to be seen whether the governor and the state’s senior senator agree on what changes are necessary.

“We would need to see what it is Sen. Feinstein is talking about. We need to see the specifics,” Kalustian said.

Other issues Feinstein plans to address after Congress resumes Feb. 7 include:

* A balanced budget in seven years. Feinstein endorsed the idea of changing the way the consumer price index is calculated, which would scale back cost-of-living increases for social security beneficiaries. She supported the controversial plan only as part of a balanced budget package, however.

* Campaign finance reform. Feinstein supports voluntary spending restrictions, allowing spending caps to be lifted when one candidate decides to dip into personal money. Feinstein was nearly defeated in 1992 when her wealthy opponent, Mike Huffington, spent a record $28 million of his personal fortune on the campaign.

* Gang violence. With a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Feinstein plans to apply federal racketeering statutes to such gang activity as witness intimidation and drive-by shootings. The bill would also make it a federal crime to recruit minors into gangs. “More people are killed by gangs in a year than were killed by organized crime in the whole history of organized crime,” she said.

* Crime victims’ rights amendment. She will co-sponsor a constitutional amendment that recognizes the rights of crime victims to appear at court proceedings and be notified when an assailant is eligible for parole or release. Similar laws in 22 states now clash with federal provisions to the detriment of victims, she said.