Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3603 - Family Preservation Act of 1992

(House Rules)
(Downey (D) NY and 52 others)

H.R. 3603 embodies the irresponsible tax and spend policies this Administration has strenuously opposed. It raises taxes, spends more, and does not demand greater accountability from the system that deals with abused and neglected children. Accordingly, if H.R. 3603 were presented to the President in its current form, his senior advisers would recommend a veto.

The bill fails to make needed reforms in that it would:

—   Ignore the rapidly escalating cost of administering the foster care program. Administrative and training costs have increased by over 4.000 percent since 1981 from $30 million to $1.3 billion. The Administration's proposal provides a mechanism for controlling these costs without decreasing the amount of funding available to States to implement their programs.

—   Burden States with new categorical earmarks and reporting requirements. In contrast, the Administration bill would eliminate all categorical requirements for the use of new funds.

In addition, the H.R. 3603 would:

—   Interfere unnecessarily with State family law, requiring States to review and revise their own laws and priorities.

—   Establish an Advisory Commission on Children and Families that raises significant separation of powers concerns.

The Administration understands that an amendment may be offered on the House floor to include provisions of H.R. 1202, the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act. The Administration opposes this amendment, as it would add substantial increases in the cost of the Food Stamp program and lock in spending priorities for years to come.

In contrast, the President has made clear his commitment to our Nation's children and families through numerous actions, including legislative proposals currently pending in Congress. Administration proposals would create a comprehensive child welfare services program, strengthen child support enforcement, target child nutrition supplements to the neediest children, and expand funding for Head Start and the Women, Infants, and Children program. Through these and other reforms, the President has presented a strong, responsible agenda to aid American children and families.

The President's comprehensive child welfare services proposal (H.R. 5530) would reduce the regulatory burdens on the States, remove the incentive to "game" the matching system, thus, increasing State revenue without increasing services for children, and redirect expanding administrative costs to their appropriate role — services for children. Under the Administration proposal, comprehensive child welfare services would grow by $9 billion over the next five years, in accordance with amounts projected under the Budget Enforcement Act. The substitute that Reps. Johnson and Weldon may offer contains elements of the President's proposal; the Administration urges the Rules Committee to make it in order under the rule.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

H.R. 3603 would increase direct spending and receipts; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA).

OMB's preliminary scoring estimates for this bill are presented in the table below. Final scoring of this legislation may deviate from this estimate. If H.R. 3603 were enacted, final OMB scoring estimates would be published five days after enactment as required by OBRA. The cumulative effects of all enacted legislation on direct spending will be issued in monthly reports transmitted to Congress.

Estimates for Pay-As-You-Go
($ in millions)