THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511300001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Sharply curbing welfare payments and demanding that welfare recipients seek jobs is expected to whittle the numbers of Americans on public assistance. The great majority of Americans who foot the welfare bill - for not only aid to dependent children but also food stamps, school lunches, housing subsidies, Medicaid and other strands in the safety net - would welcome any reduction.
But significant happy change in welfare as we know it is uncertain.
The jobless rate is comparatively low, but household income for the mass of employed middle Americans continues to decline. The transfer of federal funds and responsibility for welfare from Washington to the states may well expand the population of poor, a disproportionate percentage of them children.
That would be bad for them and for state and local governments and charities confronted by enlarging demand for human services.
Maybe homelessness, panhandling, drug and alcohol abuse, prostitution and crime generally will not increase. Few could wish such ills to multiply. But Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the New York Democrat who detected the disintegration of poor inner-city families decades ago, foresees a social disaster worse than the one at hand. And conservative columnist George Will also is alarmed, in part because he fears a backlash against Republicans who are pushing welfare reform through Congress.
Baltimore's experience following Maryland's cancellation of $157 a month in cash assistance to indigents may point at the problems ahead for cities across the land. ``Within months (after canceling the program),'' reports the Los Angeles Times, ``homelessness in Baltimore had jumped 65 percent, panhandling soared and citizens voiced increased anxiety about going downtown to shop or visit tourist attractions.''
What we save on welfare we may pay out elsewhere - to combat further deterioration of the quality of urban life and to beef up police forces to clear the streets of the homeless, beggars and criminals. The payment burden is likely to fall heaviest on property owners who are the principal source of funds for local police and other municipal services. Meanwhile, businesses will suffer because what is happening in the streets will cause shoppers to steer clear.
The expectation in Congress is that shifting the welfare load to states and localities will somehow lighten it. Don't count on it. Odds are the load will become heavier, uglier, scarier. by CNB