PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2911 PRINTER'S NO. 3536
No. 517 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY THOMAS, BLACKWELL, BRENNAN, GEORGE, JAMES, MELIO,
MURT, PARKER, PASHINSKI, PAYTON, SHIMKUS, CONKLIN, SWANGER,
PETRONE AND YOUNGBLOOD, DECEMBER 3, 2007
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, APRIL 2, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States to amend the Personal
2 Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of
3 1996 to require INCLUDE OBTAINING a high school diploma or <--
4 general equivalency diploma as a condition of eligibility for <--
5 AN OPTION FOR MEETING WORK AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL <--
6 RECIPIENTS OF benefits under the Temporary Assistance for
7 Needy Families Program.
8 WHEREAS, The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
9 Reconciliation Act of 1996 established the Temporary Assistance
10 for Needy Families Program, also known as TANF; and
11 WHEREAS, TANF provides assistance and work opportunities to
12 families in need by providing block grants of Federal funds to
13 states and wide flexibility to develop and implement their own
14 welfare programs; and
15 WHEREAS, The main purposes of TANF are to assist needy
16 families so that their children can be cared for in their own
17 homes, to reduce the dependency of parents who are in need by
18 promoting job preparation, work and marriage, to prevent out-of-
19 wedlock pregnancies and to encourage the formation and
1 maintenance of two-parent families; and
2 WHEREAS, In order to receive assistance and benefits through
3 TANF, parents who are in need must comply with certain work
4 requirements; and
5 WHEREAS, Recipients of TANF can better retain jobs for the
6 long term if they are high school graduates or have a general
7 equivalency diploma, commonly known as a GED; and
8 WHEREAS, TANF does not require recipients to have a high
9 school diploma or GED; therefore be it
10 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
11 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
12 States to amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
13 Reconciliation Act of 1996 to require INCLUDE OBTAINING a high <--
14 school diploma or general equivalency diploma as a condition of <--
15 eligibility for AN OPTION FOR MEETING WORK AND EDUCATION <--
16 REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL RECIPIENTS OF benefits under the Temporary
17 Assistance for Needy Families Program; and be it further
18 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
19 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
20 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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