Super-Waiver Update - Federal Budget & Tax

Federal Budget & Tax: News Blog Background

Published: 05/07/2002

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Super-Waiver Update

The "super-waiver" has made its way through both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. The two bills will have to be joined in the Rules Committee and will likely be on the House floor the week of May 13. The current list of programs eligible for the super-waiver remains small but significant -- CCDBG, TANF, SSBG, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, Wagner-Peyser (Employment Services), and the Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals program ? and it is possible that other programs could be added.

OMB Watch believes that the "super-waiver" is the wrong tool for providing for state flexibility to mold a federal program to meet state-specific needs and conditions. If states require more flexibility for a specific program, the changes should be made in the authorizing legislation of that program. Overly-broad language that creates more uncertainty and could potentially undermine important protections for federal program participants is the wrong approach.

The bill is likely to be ready for full House consideration the week of May 13. For more information on the super-waiver and to contact your Representative about this issue, go to OMB Watch's Take Action page and enter your zip code.

More information is also available on OMB Watch's Federal Budget Page