Senate Holds Off On Welfare Overhaul
The Senate has temporarily shelved a bill to update welfare laws, after encountering the stark budgetary reality that it contains double the increase proposed in a similar measure that stalled last year, and nearly five times what was allotted under the Senate-passed FY06 budget resolution.

With delicate House-Senate budget negotiations under way, Senate Budget Chairman Gregg persuaded Senate Majority Leader Frist not to bring the welfare bill to the floor this week, which was shortened anyway because of the congressional delegation traveling to Rome for Pope John Paul II's funeral.

After slim passage of the budget blueprint, which would force painful cuts across a range of programs, it would have appeared inconsistent to bring up the budget-busting welfare bill, sources said.  Next week, the Senate is scheduled to take up an emergency FY05 supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan that already has some conservatives fuming. And it was clear the welfare measure could face a variety of hurdles unless changes are worked out in advance. "We're still looking at what it'll take to bring the welfare bill to the floor," a spokeswoman for Senate Finance Chairman Grassley said.

Last year's bill would have increased program funding by $4.7 billion over FY05-09. The new Senate Finance-reported bill would increase welfare spending, mostly for child care, by $10.2 billion over FY06-10, according to CBO, for a total of $112 billion, including about $2.9 billion in offsets from refundable tax credits and other revenues. "It's way more expensive than anybody dreamed it would be," a lobbyist said.

The proposal is almost five times the $2.7 billion increase envisioned by the Senate FY06 budget resolution. Backers acknowledged that its true costs were not fully realized when Finance approved the bill by voice vote March 17.

"The daycare money is excessive, unnecessary, and not the problem out there in America," said Senate Republican Conference Chairman Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. "If we're going to increase the work requirement, I'm for a similar increase in daycare funding, not a five-times increase in daycare funding."  By contrast, welfare legislation approved by a House Ways and Means subcommittee would increase child care spending by $1 billion over five years. Like the Senate bill it would provide level funding -- $16.6 billion annually -- for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grants.