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Our homestatesof Texas and Louisiana have a simple request ofCongress: Let us follow Utah’s lead.
For nearly 25 years, Utah has integrated federal workforce development and safety net programs, with an innovative model that quickly moves peoplefromwelfareto work. YetCongressbans otherstatesfromtaking this road, leading to more people onwelfareand workforce programs that don’t help people get better jobs.
In the next month,Congressshould free ourstatesto fixwelfareand workforce development – saving taxpayers money while transforming our economies.
Texas and Louisiana have a simple request of Congress: Let us follow Utah’s lead. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
We’re calling onCongressto reform the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which governs federal workforce development programs and is currently up for reauthorization. Since 1998, this law has forcedstatesinto a one-size-fits-all workforce development system that’s a synonym for failure.
BIDEN BROKE OUR WELFARE SYSTEM. HE NEEDS TO STOP PAYING PEOPLE FOR NOT WORKING
People who participate in federal programsoftenget worse-paying jobs, as aLouisiana state audit proved this fall. The programs also regularlymisrepresent their effectiveness, saying people got jobs when they didn’t actually seek help.
This failed system, which costnearly $4 billion in 2022, is meant to serve the same work-capable people who use the safety net. But it’s largely disconnectedfromwelfareprograms, which cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
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Utah shows a better way. Since 1997, the Beehive State created a novel system using federal workforce development funding.
To this day, if you’re a Utah resident applying for unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicaid or cashwelfare, you have to go through the state’s Department of Workforce Services. Your case worker helps you access the safety net while simultaneously developing a personalized plan of action to help you get back into a good-paying job as quickly as possible.
The system is purpose-built to help people movefromgovernment dependence to individual success.
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Utah’s model is a key part of its booming economy, which is the strongest in the country, according to everyonefromU.S. News and World Reportto theAmerican Legislative Exchange Council.
Utah has the lowest rate of residents onfood stampsand thesecond-lowest for Medicaid. It also has thehighest state labor force participation rate in the countryand a poverty rate of 8.6%, compared to 12.8% nationally.
And Utah recoveredfromthe pandemic faster than any other state,replacingnearly two jobs for every one that was lost – the best record in the nation. While Utah’s success also reflects smart policies and cultural values, its unique system of connectingwelfareand workforce development is a major factor.
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Congressgrandfathered Utah’s model in 1998, yet blocking state innovation clearly hasn’t worked, as ourstatescan attest. The Texas legislaturecalled onCongressto give it the same authority as Utah earlier this year, while Louisiana conducted its recent workforce development audit to prove the need for reform.
Last month, Utah Rep. Burgess Owensintroducedthe “One Door To Work Act,” which would free up to eightstatesfromfederal handcuffs, while the House Committee on Education and the Workforce has voted to let four smallstatesinnovate as they see fit.
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While that’s progress over the status quo, the best bet is to empower every state to use federal workforce funding as they see fit. Some would create a truly integrated one-stop shop like Utah’s. Others could design their own innovative system.
Burgess Owens testifies during a hearing held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on June 19, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
As Utah shows, when state officials – not federal bureaucrats – are in the driver’s seat, they can tailor their approach to their citizens’ unique needs. It helps to know the people you’re serving.
The nationwide opportunity is immense. More than 40 million Americans are on food stamps and 80 million are on Medicaid, yet hardly any are purposely connected with workforce development. Such separation ensures that millions of people stay onwelfare, when they could and should be guided toward work.
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IfCongressgrantsstatesthe freedom to innovate, they’ll save money for taxpayers by shrinkingwelfarerolls while expanding opportunity and creating booming economies.
Utah proves what’s possible. Louisiana and Texas are ready to prove they can do even better.
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Daniel J. Erspamer is CEO of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy. Their organizations are part of the Alliance for Opportunity.
Greg Sindelar is the CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.