Poverty in America: A Q&A with Robert Doar

[Valin]

AEIdeas:

Natalie Scholl

July 31, 2014

 

On July 31, AEI released “Poverty in America–and what to do about it“–you can read the whole thing here. This is a compilation of AEI scholars’ work on why fighting for the poor is a moral imperative, and which policy proposals could enable the labor market, social safety net, and broader society to provide low-income Americans a better shot at success. In this Q&A, Robert Doar, a contributing scholar to the book, discusses Paul Ryan’s new plan, welfare fraud, the importance of earning success, and more.

 

Paul Ryan recently released a new set of policy reforms aimed at reducing poverty and increasing upward mobility. What do you think is the best suggestion in his plan?

 

The best thing about the plan is that he has joined the debate – Congressman Ryan, a major Republican leader, has offered thoughtful solutions to hard problems in a way that shows he has done his homework on issues that Republicans often ignore. As a former state administrator, I like that he is offering states, through his Opportunity Grant, greater flexibility and a way to combine funding streams to come up with solutions designed for the particular circumstances of the people we are trying to help. Too often our solutions are restricted by the particular demands of a narrow program designed in Washington. I also like that he states that while the funding will come in a block grant it will come with some very basic and very important requirements and one of those will be that states must require work or work-like activity for able-bodied adults seeking assistance. And I think it is important that we allow for approaches to be tested through state pilots before we make federally mandated national policy.

 

What would you add or change?

 

There is a lot of work to be done on the details – something Congressman Ryan showed that he understands when he said he was beginning a conversation. And probably even more important is that in order for the Opportunity Grant to succeed, it needs a committed and fully focused state partner. A lot of people in Washington think that policies or laws are what make change happen – I would say that in the world of social policy, the people who implement the solutions are the keys to the success.

 

(Snip)