Number: RL33157
Title: Welfare Reauthorization: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Current Law and Pending Welfare Reauthorization Proposals
Authors: Gene Falk, Melinda Gish, Carmen Solomon-Fears, and Emilie Stoltzfus, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: The 109th Congress is considering legislation to reauthorize and amend programs that were created or revised in the 1996 welfare reform law. Early in the 109th Congress, the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees approved and reported their welfare reauthorization legislation (respectively, S. 667 and S. 525). Neither bill has yet seen action in the full Senate. In the House, a welfare reauthorization proposal (H.R. 240), introduced by the House Republican Leadership, has also failed to reach the floor. On November 18, 2005, the House passed its budget reconciliation bill (S. 1932), which includes welfare reauthorization legislation similar to that which passed the House in 2002 and 2003. (The House-passed version of S. 1932 is H.R. 4241 as amended and approved by the House.) Welfare reauthorization legislation was not included in the Senate-passed reconciliation bill. This report compares the welfare reauthorization policies proposed in the Senate committee bills with those included in the House-passed budget reconciliation bill.
Pages: 128
Date: December 5, 2005