Rep. Lloyd Doggett: 1990s welfare reform “became welfare for Republican governors”

I believe that we need to be working together to try to find genuine solutions and that working together is not just here in this House, in Congress, because the big problem here is that, when we voted in 1996–and I voted for it, for moving from welfare to work–we expected the States to be partners in that effort.
…
Unfortunately, while we did change fundamentally and end welfare as we know it, it became welfare for Republican Governors who wanted to use these Federal moneys not to assist the poor, but to assist their States fill various budget gaps.