Reduced Welfare Rolls

overnor Lawton Chiles changed the concept of welfare by limiting benefits, rewarding work, providing child care and job training and keeping families together.

The Chiles/MacKay team was among the first in the nation to aggressively target welfare rolls. Two pilot programs, one in Gainesville and one in Pensacola, limited the length of available benefits, required employment, eliminated penalties to two-parent families and provided tools to succeed. As citizens on welfare found jobs and gained self-respect, Florida taxpayers saved millions.

In 1996, the Florida Legislature expanded the Chiles/MacKay welfare reform plan statewide and it passed the landmark Work and Gain Economic Self-Sufficiency (WAGES) bill. Under the WAGES law, a public-private partnership was created using local, community-based coalitions of business and social service leaders to oversee and manage the reform. The success was immediate.

Between October 1, 1996, and June 1998, the monthly payments to welfare recipients dropped from $53.3 million to $26.7 million. By October 1, 1998, more than 146,000 participants had been assisted in finding employment, resulting in an 81 percent decrease in families receiving cash assistance. Moreover, those who found jobs did so in less time. In July 1996, the average welfare recipient spent 23 months on welfare. In 1998 it was only 13 months.

Since Chiles/MacKay tackled welfare, $100 million taxpayer dollars have been returned to the general revenue fund, another $250 million in federal dollars have been saved in a "rainy day" fund, and additional savings have been reinvested into activities such as job training, education and child care. The result is a welfare system where only 7 percent of recipients return within six months — a 94 percent success rate.

With these reforms, Florida has moved to the forefront of welfare reform and led the nation's largest states in caseload decline. As a result, the Chiles/MacKay plan served as a blueprint for national welfare-to-work efforts and has been copied by other states.


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	overnor Lawton Chiles changed the concept of welfare by limiting benefits, rewarding work, providing child care and job training and keeping families together. The Chiles/MacKay team was among the first in the nation to aggressively target welfare rolls. Two pilot programs, one in Gainesville and one in Pensacola, limited the length of available benefits, required employment, eliminated penalties to two-parent families and provided tools to succeed. As citizens on welfare found jobs and gained self-respect, Florida taxpayers saved millions. In 1996, the Florida Legislature expanded the Chiles/MacKay welfare reform plan statewide and it passed the landmark Work and Gain Economic Self-Sufficiency (WAGES) bill. Under the WAGES law, a public-private partnership was created using local, community-based coalitions of business and social service leaders to oversee and manage the reform. The success was immediate. Between October 1, 1996, and June 1998, the monthly payments to welfare recipients dropped from $53.3 million to $26.7 million. By October 1, 1998, more than 146,000 participants had been assisted in finding employment, resulting in an 81 percent decrease in families receiving cash assistance. Moreover, those who found jobs did so in less time. In July 1996, the average welfare recipient spent 23 months on welfare. In 1998 it was only 13 months. Since Chiles/MacKay tackled welfare, $100 million taxpayer dollars have been returned to the general revenue fund, another $250 million in federal dollars have been saved in a "rainy day" fund, and additional savings have been reinvested into activities such as job training, education and child care. The result is a welfare system where only 7 percent of recipients return within six months — a 94 percent success rate. With these reforms, Florida has moved to the forefront of welfare reform and led the nation's largest states in caseload decline. As a result, the Chiles/MacKay plan served as a blueprint for national welfare-to-work efforts and has been copied by other states.
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