D.C.'s Welfare Waiver Draws Attack by Dole

President Clinton's decision to exempt the District of Columbia from the toughest provisions of a new welfare reform law came under attack yesterday from Republican presidential nominee Robert J. Dole, who accused Clinton of undercutting his promise to end welfare as we know it.

Clinton signed a landmark law yesterday that requires most states to cut off welfare payments to poor people after five years, but his administration decided Monday that the five-year limit would not apply to the District.

In a policy decision that the Department of Health and Human Services rammed through in less than a week, the District was given a waiver allowing it to continue welfare payments to city residents for as long as 15 years if they make a "good-faith effort" to find work. The District historically has offered an array of welfare benefits that is more generous than those in many states.

The administration also has granted waivers to several other states that spare them from the full impact of the welfare reform law; for example, officials say, the District's waiver is almost identical to one previously approved for Louisiana. But Dole and other senior Republicans contend that the District's provision in particular shows that Clinton is not sincere about scaling back public-assistance programs.

"President Clinton is already undermining this welfare reform bill by offering weak exemptions," Dole said yesterday in a statement. Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. (R-Fla.), the author of the welfare reform bill, accused Clinton of rushing through the District's waiver to "weaken welfare reform before it has a chance to even begin."

During his 1992 campaign, Clinton made a highly public commitment to overhaul welfare, but the law he signed yesterday pulls him in conflicting political directions. Its provisions encouraging welfare recipients to work and cutting off benefits after five years are popular with many voters but are detested by a number of key Democratic constituencies, including unions and minorities.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that Clinton is looking for ways to soften the impact of the bill to smooth relations with those groups. Dole said in his statement that Clinton is motivated by "election-year calculations" and that the District's waiver will prolong the payment of "cash welfare benefits to able-bodied Americans."

District officials decided months ago to apply for a federal waiver that would allow them to make changes in their welfare program, but they never completed the necessary paperwork. As the effective date of the law neared, federal officials helped the city fill out its forms and expedited action on the request, approving it in less than a week.

"We did not ask for special treatment for the District," said John Bayne, the administrator of the city's income maintenance administration. He said that his staff had had difficulty completing technical evaluations of its proposal but that, recently, "we found out we didn't need to spell out the level of detail we thought."

Melissa Scolfield, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said that other states have gotten treatment similar to the District's but that the city's financial crisis is a consideration. "We are, of course, sympathetic to the special situation of the District," she said.

The District has about 70,000 welfare recipients, according to the latest federal figures, more than its surrounding suburban counties combined.