When President Bill Clinton reluctantly signed the Personal Responsibility and .

             Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, he had an idea of what the .

             critical responses would be. The hope was to induce a program that would .

             bring significant benefits to the needy and hungery people of our country. .

             However, the response and criticisms are equivalent to what our president .

             expected, very negative. .

             Mary Jo Bane believes the new welfare law poses serious dangers to poor .

             children and families. As assistant secretary for children and families in .

             the Department of Health and Human services, she supported the .

             administration's efforts to refocus the welfare system on work and to increase .

             state flexibility through the waiver process. But in the course of reviewing .

             state welfare reform proposals, she became concerned that politics and .

             financial pressures were pushing states into a "race to the bottom"(Bane). As .

             long as the old law was in place the federal government could insist on .

             guaranteed assistance and protections for recipients. Her fears about what .

             would happen to poor children when states were no longer required to provide .

             the modest assurances and protections we insisted on in waiver demonstrations .

             led her to resign after President Clinton signed the welfare bill (Bane). .

             The reform takes away national level responsibilities and puts the money and .

             responsibility into the individual states. A good amount of flexibility is .

             provided, which may or may not result in a positive manner. For instance, .

             they money could be used on the work reform and job preparation, while others .

             could find loopholes in the laws, and while their purposes may not be .

             malicious, the money would not truly be carrying out the role intended. .

             "No longer will cash assistance to dependent children be guaranteed by the .

             federal government. Instead it will be provided, or not, by states using .

             block grants." (Bane) This is the basic premise of the new bill.