Last month we highlighted one clear sign that Illinois’ welfare system is failing to provide adequate support to the state’s poorest families: Despite skyrocketing unemployment, 2008 saw an 8.1 percent enrollment decline in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF). And that comes on top of an 80 percent reduction in the six years before that.

Why are the rolls shrinking? For one, the ceiling on income eligibility for a family with young children has gradually fallen -- from 79 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) in 1973 to 27.6 percent in 2007 -- and therefore kept a growing number of needy families from even applying for the benefits. Another discouraging factor is the 45-day lag between applying and receiving any benefits, during which an “employability assessment” is performed.

Encouragingly, as the Heartland Alliance’s Doug Schenkelberg noted this week, a series of bills introduced by Democratic State Reps. Will Burns and Sara Feigenholtz could ease some of those barriers and ultimately draw more needy families into the program. The three measures -- summarized below -- all passed out of committee in the past week:

- HB2383 (Burns): Lifts the application threshold to 50 percent of the federal poverty index so a family of four earning $10,000 a year would qualify for benefits. Transitional job programs would count as employment. And, benefits would be doled out quicker and retroactively to the application date.

- HB2382 (Burns): Increases TANF benefits by 15 percent across the board.

- HB745 (Feigenholtz): Makes applying for benefits more accessible by expanding intake points to local Department of Human Services offices, rather than central county offices.

Anti-poverty advocates such as the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and the Heartland Alliance’s Mid-America Institute on Poverty are heralding the reforms as a model for reversing the decline of TANF. Until the governor details his budget next week, it remains to be seen if he shares their enthusiasm for these proposeds expansions, which carry an estimated price tag of $10 million

Citing the fact that Illinois would be in line for a $40 million federal match (via the $5 billion TANF provision in the federal stimulus bill), Schenkelberg makes a convincing case for why the expansion would be a good investment by the state:

The recovery package will pay for 80% of all new costs related to these changes, so for every $1 the state puts in, the feds will pick up the next $4.

These bills and changes add up to adjusting the program to make it work for those in need.

Furthermore, with TANF up for reauthorization in 2010, the bump in spending now could result in larger federal grants in the future.

We'll be keeping you updated on the bills' progress.