Ryan unveils anti poverty agenda

Blog Post

Tuesday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled the House GOP plan to fight poverty in America – the first in a series of policy rollouts this month.

The House Republican’s anti-poverty plan is taken from a 35-page report by a task force Ryan created back in January. Similar policy rollouts are to take place this month on healthcare, national security, the economy, and tax reform.

The Ryan proposal calls for increasing work requirements for public assistance, such as welfare, food stamps and housing assistance. The plan also takes on the “welfare cliff” that keeps individuals from taking higher paying jobs for fear of losing benefits.

The proposal calls for additional school choice programs – a long time favorite of conservatives – as well as reducing regulations on small businesses to make it easier for them to offer 401k programs.

Most of the suggestions in the Ryan proposal are not new. Interestingly enough, some of the earlier GOP anti-poverty provisions that have been able to garner bipartisan support –like expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit– were left out of this proposal.

“This is how you fight poverty. This is how you create opportunity. This is how you help people move onward and upward,” Ryan said. “We wanted to start with poverty because we think this sums up our case. We want to build a confident American where no one is stuck, where no one settles, and where everyone can rise.”