Here & Now

Look Ahead: Johnson Responds To Walker Welfare Proposal

Frederica Freyberg:

For tonight’s look ahead, Governor Scott Walker’s welfare plan that he’ll detail in his next state budget early next month. He calls it “Wisconsin Works for Everyone,” taking off of former Governor Tommy Thompson’s “Wisconsin Works” program of the 1990s, which mandated work or employment training in return for a benefit check and child care. The new plan would require parents who receive FoodShare or food stamp benefits to work 80 hours a month. Governor Thompson toured the state with Scott Walker this week to announce the plan. Tommy Thompson joins us next week to discuss it. Tonight we’re joined by Milwaukee Democratic State Senator LaTonya Johnson who opposes the plan. Thanks very much for being here.

LaTonya Johnson:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is your opposition to requiring parents of school-aged children receiving FoodShare to work 80 hours a month?

LaTonya Johnson:

My objection to this is the sanctions. There is no way to impose a sanction or a decrease in benefits to the parents and not have that affect the family. And my biggest concern are those children. A sanction to the parents seems like it’s going to be a small deal, but it’s not. My concern is what does that look like for those children who are already living in poverty who have no control over who they’re born to or if their parents are going to get it right and be able to maintain the requirements that are required?

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, I understand that the maximum benefit of FoodShare for a family of four would be like $650. Any ideas on how that sanction would work? Let’s say it’s a family of four and they are receiving $650.

LaTonya Johnson:

From my understanding, if a parent is — if a family is receiving $650, say that that cut to benefits is a $150 cut. That means those benefits are decreased by $150. That is that parents — that family’s allotment for that month. And so there’s no way to isolate that parent who doesn’t participate in this welfare to work program from the benefits of the children. It decreases the entire allotment for the family.

Frederica Freyberg:

The 2013 law that required adults with no children to work in return for FoodShare resulted in 21,000 finding work and 64,000 losing their benefits. Would you expect to see a similar pattern with any new such requirement?

LaTonya Johnson:

Well, the part that concerns to me about those able-bodied individuals who didn’t have children is that 21,000 individuals found work. But there’s no distinction in how many of those individuals actually have real jobs and how many of those individuals were actually working for their benefit. Because that 21,000 number includes both parties. So it includes those who are required to work for their food stamp benefits. So the only payment that they’re getting is their food stamps, plus those individuals who found jobs. And for those 64,000 individuals who are no longer on the program, there’s no follow-through to find out where those individuals are, if they were able to find work or if they’re just living in poverty unable to feed themselves.

Frederica Freyberg:

The governor says that there are 7300 FoodShare households reporting no income and, again, recipients can either work or enroll in job training. Why isn’t that beneficial to unemployed recipients?

LaTonya Johnson:

We all want individuals to work and to find a job and to become economically self-sufficient. So requiring those individuals to work is not the issue. The issue is imposing sanction on those families that would result in those children sinking further into poverty. And that’s the concern. We want to make sure that those children do not lose meals because their parents are not participating in the program.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Very briefly, with less than 30 seconds left, another prong of the governor’s plan would require people receiving housing vouchers to work, and he believes these changes prevent people from settling into assistance. What do you think about that part of the plan?

LaTonya Johnson:

I think that that part of the plan, the housing authority has a wait list for low-income families who are eligible who can’t get on the system. I think what we see is a war on those individuals that are living in poverty. That somehow living in poverty in this state is your fault. So we’re taking a by any means necessary approach to punish those individuals who are low income rather than finding solutions that will work for everybody and will lead those families to economic self-sufficiency.

Frederica Freyberg:

Senator LaTonya Johnson, thanks very much for joining us.

LaTonya Johnson:

Thank you.