September 15, 2026
The Empty Threat That States Will Stop Operating SNAP
Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) gave states a choice: Either limit improper…
September 1, 2026
Did Fraud Drive Blue States’ Pandemic Unemployment Funds?
It’s a depressingly familiar story: taxpayers lost a massive amount of money to waste, fraud, and…
September 1, 2026
Welfare Reform at 30: Major Effects and Lessons for Additional Reform
Chairman LaHood, Ranking Member Davis, and members of the Subcommittee on Work and Welfare, thank you for holding this hearing on…
August 27, 2026
A Review of the Wide Variation Across States in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Benefit Funding
Abstract Federal lawmakers created major temporary unemployment benefit programs during the pandemic, which collectively distributed…
August 22, 2026
The Path Ahead for Welfare Reform
In the years since the landmark 1996 welfare reform law — which marks its 30th anniversary…
July 24, 2026
Lessons from the 1996 Welfare Reform Law Approaching Its 30th Anniversary
The actual effects of the law—especially in promoting more work and earnings and less poverty and welfare dependence—exceeded what even some of the law’s strongest advocates anticipated.
July 11, 2026
Trump Takes Dramatic Step Toward Curbing Rampant Fraud in State Unemployment Programs
The Trump administration is threatening to use “every available enforcement tool” to compel states to better protect unemployment benefits against fraud and abuse.
July 9, 2026
Americans Still Believe in Work. The AI Crowd Hasn’t Gotten the Memo
Promises of vast new work-free benefits seem somewhere between a believe-it-when-I-see-it vision and just the latest liberal plan to expand an already-bloated welfare state.
June 23, 2026
Are Big Families the Solution to Declining Fertility?
“Big families are like waterbed stores,” comedian and father of five Jim Gaffigan jokes. “They used…
June 1, 2026
Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Data Continue to Amaze—and Not in a Good Way
On May 18, or more than 1,700 days after an alphabet soup of temporary federal…
May 20, 2026
Bill Would Require States to Use Future Federal Funds to Repay Unemployment Loans First
Yesterday Rep. Vince Fong (R-CA) introduced H.R. 8892, the “Creating Accountability in Loan (CAL) Repayment…
May 15, 2026
When Washington Picks Up the States’ Tab, Waste and Fraud Follow
Congress has caught on that how welfare and related programs are funded, and who does the spending,…