
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 26, 1994                   TAG: 9405260104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WELFARE MOMS MAY FACE CAPS

Ending months of intense debate within the administration, President Clinton will propose making it easier for states to deny additional benefits to women who have children while already on welfare, senior administration officials say.

The decision aligns Clinton with those inside and outside the administration who argue that government must intensify its efforts to discourage out-of-wedlock births, which constitute about 30 percent of all births in America. ``We think it is very important to discourage additional births on welfare,'' said one senior official. ``We are saying that states that want to try this approach should be able to try it.''

But the so-called ``family cap'' policy inspires even more intense opposition among liberals than the proposed two-year time limit on welfare that is at the center of Clinton's plan, which is now expected to be introduced shortly after he returns from commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day in Europe next month.

Given its potential to affect the most intimate decisions of millions of women, the family cap issue is certain to provoke a polarized struggle in Congress. Many moderate and conservative legislators see the family cap as a way to promote personal responsibility, while liberals largely denounce it as racist and sexist social engineering. No other proposal may more starkly demonstrate the difficulty of finding common ground between left and right on the emotional issues swirling through welfare reform.

``This is clearly one where there are very deep feelings on both sides of the issue, and apart from the families it directly affects, it has a large symbolic impact,'' said Mark Greenberg, an attorney with the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington.

In fact, although Clinton settled on the new policy at a Tuesday meeting, administration officials still appear divided over how closely to identify with the controversial idea. Some officials take pains to say the administration does not intend to push states to adopt family cap policies, merely to smooth the way for those interested in the idea. One agency official lukewarm to the policy insisted the decision left the administration ``neutral'' on the question of whether more states should adopt the caps.

But other senior officials acknowledge that by streamlining the approval process and signaling at least tacit federal support for the family cap, the administration plan will inevitably encourage more states to embrace the idea. Outside observers agree.

by CNB