Show v THE VOICE OF BUSINESS President Carters Carter's s domestic priorities Tax reform welfare reform and additional government reorganization measures willbe will willbe willbe be proposed by the Carter Administration by fall Call according ac as cording to the Presidents President's chief advisor on domestic affairs Stuart Eizenstat This initiatives were listed by Mr Eizenstat in the course of ot a 40 minute interview with him Inthe in inthe inthe the Executive Offices Our wide ranging discussion also alsot t touched on on White House staff stace operating methods Social Security financing energy policy regulatory reform and undocumented aliens I 1 will w report today Mr s II comments on welfare reform which were among mong the most detailed he made Space does not permit an adequate summation of the entire interview here but for those who would like to see seemore seemore more of it a longer account will appear in the August issue of nations Business magazine I and on our television program Enterprise Q Tell us a little more about the Administrations Administration's objectives in welfare reform A A. Our objectives first of all are arc to try to handle the crazy quilt quill of regulations and differences differences dif dif dif- from state to state The uniform payments for example to be financed partially par par- partially by the stales states and partially by the federal government would be an enormous benefit over the current differences between states For example Hawaii pays almost for a family of four on Mississippi pay in the 1500 range Those types of disparities are are really not conducive to the type of situation wed we'd like to have in inthis inthis inthis this country So uniformity is one Simplicity is a second Dicky because in our review of the welfare programs we have found lound that food stamps Medicaid SSI each have different different different dif dif- dif dif- ferent eligibility standards Some people qualify for some some for another Q That's an important point When you talk about welfare reform youre you're talking about all of those N t cort con l tZ tr Plus Plus unemployment tl in nt compensation Ix perhaps A A. To a degree but hut mostly the ones that Ive I've just mentioned Wed We'd like to build uniform eligibility standards in in A third thing that we would like to do is wed we'd like to put those people cs ho are on w welfare ellare and are arc able to work ork so that it would never be bemore bemore bemore more attractive and more financially beneficial to stay y on welfare e that it would be to work We c want people to have an incentive to work and weve we've geared eared a 1 system with our benefit reductions so that thai that can occur And then the last goal of ot our welfare system Is a goal that attempts to achieve a job for Cor as many people as possible but that stresses private employment employment em em- employment through a formula that we have devised that will make it more attractive to go into private jobs than to take public jobs so that there will always be a positive incentive to move from Crom public service job into the private sector work where the real permanent jobs that we want to create exist Q Those incentives dont don't seem to be here today toda v A A. A They are not nol Intact In fact just to the contrary Indeed one of oC the additional goals that I might mention in the welfare area is the goal of keeping families intact There is currently a disincentive in that regard Inmany Inmany in inmany many states Indeed fathers are often encouraged to leave their homes so that their families can get increased benefits So there arc all sorts of Improper Improper Im mi proper disincentives to family Camily stability to work to private sector jobs in the existing system and this is what were we're trying to alleviate |