The Mississippi Legislature ought to give serious consideration to a bill that proposes to give about 3,700 welfare recipients extra money with the goal of encouraging them to set up a savings account and ultimately get out of the government assistance program.
The bill, co-authored by a Democratic senator and a Republican one, is worth a try. It would provide the state’s poorest families, with net incomes below $10,000 a year, with a $2-for-$1 match of their welfare money. The extra cash would not affect their eligibility for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Financial literacy training would be required, and recipients could only spend the extra money on specific items, such as college education or buying a vehicle to get to work.
Senate skeptics asked if it’s wise to redistribute taxpayer money in this fashion. That may be debatable, but what should not be debated is that this state’s poorest people need more assistance, financial and otherwise, if they are to get out of our well-documented cycle of dependency.
One of the Senate sponsors said 40 other states are doing what this bill proposes, and those states are seeing people moved off their welfare rolls. This sounds like a reasonable idea.
