By Tarren Bragdon
Monday, December 11, 2017
While Washington remains in a political deadlock, unable
to solve the dependency problems that are threatening to cripple citizens
across the nation, state leaders are left with the burden. But some leaders
have turned the burden into an opportunity — a chance to face big problems
within their communities head-on.
In his 2011 inaugural address, Wisconsin governor Scott
Walker laid out a plan to return to limited government while increasing
prosperity through the creation of private-sector jobs. By January of this
year, Wisconsin had cut taxes by more $4.7 billion and more people were working
than ever before.
In 2015, Walker emphasized the value of work in reducing
government dependency by expanding upon the work requirements the state had
implemented in select areas during the prior year. Again, more people went back
to work.
Earlier in 2017, Walker went even farther in expanding
work requirements to free individuals and families from the welfare trap and
the cycle of dependency. Walker proposed a pilot program that would expand work
requirements to able-bodied adults on food stamps with school-age children. In
addition, his budget called for extending work requirements to childless adults
on Medicaid and pursuing a pilot program to implement them in public housing.
The reasoning was simple: Work is the most effective way
to get able-bodied individuals — with children or without — off welfare.
Individuals who returned to work after work requirements were implemented not
only increased their incomes but made enough to surpass their former incomes
and welfare benefits combined, leaving them better off than they had been on
welfare.
It’s the type of commonsense solution that millions of Americans
across the nation desperately need as they struggle to break free from the trap
of dependency. But as Washington remains embroiled in disagreements,
congressional representatives and the federal government aren’t giving them the
solutions they need. And in too many cases, neither are their state leaders —
even when they vowed to do so.
Things are different in Wisconsin, where Walker is
committed to making it easier for people to get back to work, empowering them
to experience the freedom of work. And Walker’s not the only state leader who
remains committed to improving the lives of his constituents through effective
policies.
In Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey has led the way in
eliminating government barriers to work by reducing excessive occupational-licensing
laws. Ducey’s policies have gotten the government out of the way of work and
have opened doors for Arizonans who want to regain their independence and
dignity through work. But that’s not all — in removing excessive regulations
that stifled competition and economic opportunity, Ducey has created an active
work force and a booming economy in Arizona.
State leaders such as Walker and Ducey are stepping up to
the plate when it matters most — not just during the campaign, but now, when
their constituents desperately need solutions. Still, two isn’t enough. The
number of people receiving welfare benefits — whether food stamps or Medicaid —
has skyrocketed over the past decade. State budgets are at their breaking
points, being squeezed for cash that they simply do not have.
The answer should be simple: leaders who don’t just
encourage work but implement smart policies that allow people to work. Leaders
who see government dependency as a growing concern — and enact commonsense
solutions to combat it. The answer should be simple, and it is: more state
leaders who back up their promises with effective policy.
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