MCPP Praises Passage of Welfare Reforms
“will help more Mississippians move from dependency to dignity, from poverty to prosperity, and from welfare to work.”
(JACKSON) – Mississippi Center for Public Policy President Forest Thigpen praised legislators for passing HB 1090, which will curb fraud and abuse in Medicaid and other welfare programs.
Thigpen said, “These reforms will help more Mississippians move from dependency to dignity, from poverty to prosperity, and from welfare to work by eliminating loopholes that are found in current welfare policy. Among other things, it will restore the work requirements that were a key to the success of welfare reforms enacted by President Bill Clinton twenty years ago, which have been gutted over the last few years.”
Thigpen said the bill will help focus key welfare programs on those who are truly eligible by removing people who have moved to other states and people who have died.
“Other states have saved hundreds of millions of dollars by implementing just some of the actions that will now be required of Medicaid and the Department of Human Services,” Thigpen said.
Among the provisions in HB 1090:
• Requires able-bodied adults without children to transition from welfare to work.
• Restores income and asset tests to the food stamp program (now known as SNAP).
• Tracks out-of-state spending to stop welfare fraud and abuse (for example, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card use at Disney World).
• Protects Medicaid and welfare for our state’s most vulnerable citizens by giving state employees new tools to identify and eliminate fraud.
• Saves Mississippi – and federal – taxpayers millions a year by removing fraudsters and identity thieves from our welfare rolls.
“The HOPE Act will help Mississippi lead the way in getting people back to work, saving tax dollars and eliminating welfare fraud,” said Dr. Jameson Taylor, vice president for policy at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
The Mississippi Center for Public Policy is an independent, non-profit organization based in Jackson. It works to advance the ideals of free markets, limited government, and strong traditional families. Its work is supported by voluntary, tax-deductible contributions. It receives no funds from government agencies for its operations. To learn more about MCPP, visit www.mspolicy.org.
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