83 FR 15941 - Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility

Executive Office of the President

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 72 (April 13, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 72 (Friday, April 13, 2018)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 15941-15944]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07874]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 72 / Friday, April 13, 2018 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 15941]]


                Executive Order 13828 of April 10, 2018

                
Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting 
                Opportunity and Economic Mobility

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, and to promote economic mobility, strong 
                social networks, and accountability to American 
                taxpayers, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Purpose. The United States and its 
                Constitution were founded on the principles of freedom 
                and equal opportunity for all. To ensure that all 
                Americans would be able to realize the benefits of 
                those principles, especially during hard times, the 
                Government established programs to help families with 
                basic unmet needs. Unfortunately, many of the programs 
                designed to help families have instead delayed economic 
                independence, perpetuated poverty, and weakened family 
                bonds. While bipartisan welfare reform enacted in 1996 
                was a step toward eliminating the economic stagnation 
                and social harm that can result from long-term 
                Government dependence, the welfare system still traps 
                many recipients, especially children, in poverty and is 
                in need of further reform and modernization in order to 
                increase self-sufficiency, well-being, and economic 
                mobility.

                Sec. 2. Policy. (a) In 2017, the Federal Government 
                spent more than $700 billion on low-income assistance. 
                Since its inception, the welfare system has grown into 
                a large bureaucracy that might be susceptible to 
                measuring success by how many people are enrolled in a 
                program rather than by how many have moved from poverty 
                into financial independence. This is not the type of 
                system that was envisioned when welfare programs were 
                instituted in this country. The Federal Government's 
                role is to clear paths to self-sufficiency, reserving 
                public assistance programs for those who are truly in 
                need. The Federal Government should do everything 
                within its authority to empower individuals by 
                providing opportunities for work, including by 
                investing in Federal programs that are effective at 
                moving people into the workforce and out of poverty. It 
                must examine Federal policies and programs to ensure 
                that they are consistent with principles that are 
                central to the American spirit--work, free enterprise, 
                and safeguarding human and economic resources. For 
                those policies or programs that are not succeeding in 
                those respects, it is our duty to either improve or 
                eliminate them.

                    (b) It shall be the policy of the Federal 
                Government to reform the welfare system of the United 
                States so that it empowers people in a manner that is 
                consistent with applicable law and the following 
                principles, which shall be known as the Principles of 
                Economic Mobility:

(i) Improve employment outcomes and economic independence (including by 
strengthening existing work requirements for work-capable people and 
introducing new work requirements when legally permissible);

(ii) Promote strong social networks as a way of sustainably escaping 
poverty (including through work and marriage);

(iii) Address the challenges of populations that may particularly struggle 
to find and maintain employment (including single parents, formerly 
incarcerated individuals, the homeless, substance abusers, individuals with 
disabilities, and disconnected youth);

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(iv) Balance flexibility and accountability both to ensure that State, 
local, and tribal governments, and other institutions, may tailor their 
public assistance programs to the unique needs of their communities and to 
ensure that welfare services and administering agencies can be held 
accountable for achieving outcomes (including by designing and tracking 
measures that assess whether programs help people escape poverty);

(v) Reduce the size of bureaucracy and streamline services to promote the 
effective use of resources;

(vi) Reserve benefits for people with low incomes and limited assets;

(vii) Reduce wasteful spending by consolidating or eliminating Federal 
programs that are duplicative or ineffective;

(viii) Create a system by which the Federal Government remains updated on 
State, local, and tribal successes and failures, and facilitates access to 
that information so that other States and localities can benefit from it; 
and

(ix) Empower the private sector, as well as local communities, to develop 
and apply locally based solutions to poverty.

                    (c) As part of our pledge to increase opportunities 
                for those in need, the Federal Government must first 
                enforce work requirements that are required by law. It 
                must also strengthen requirements that promote 
                obtaining and maintaining employment in order to move 
                people to independence. To support this focus on 
                employment, the Federal Government should:

(i) review current federally funded workforce development programs. If more 
than one executive department or agency (agency) administers programs that 
are similar in scope or population served, they should be consolidated, to 
the extent permitted by law, into the agency that is best equipped to 
fulfill the expectations of the programs, while ineffective programs should 
be eliminated; and

(ii) invest in effective workforce development programs and encourage, to 
the greatest extent possible, entities that have demonstrated success in 
equipping participants with skills necessary to obtain employment that 
enables them to financially support themselves and their families in 
today's economy.

                    (d) It is imperative to empower State, local, and 
                tribal governments and private-sector entities to 
                effectively administer and manage public assistance 
                programs. Federal policies should allow local entities 
                to develop and implement programs and strategies that 
                are best for their respective communities. 
                Specifically, policies should allow the private sector, 
                including community and faith-based organizations, to 
                create solutions that alleviate the need for welfare 
                assistance, promote personal responsibility, and reduce 
                reliance on government intervention and resources.

(i) To promote the proper scope and functioning of government, the Federal 
Government must afford State, local, and tribal governments the freedom to 
design and implement programs that better allocate limited resources to 
meet different community needs.

(ii) States and localities can use such flexibility to devise and evaluate 
innovative programs that serve diverse populations and families. States and 
localities can also model their own initiatives on the successful programs 
of others. To achieve the right balance, Federal leaders must continue to 
discuss opportunities to improve public assistance programs with State and 
local leaders, including our Nation's governors.

                    (e) The Federal Government owes it to Americans to 
                use taxpayer dollars for their intended purposes. 
                Relevant agencies should establish clear metrics that 
                measure outcomes so that agencies administering public 
                assistance programs can be held accountable. These 
                metrics should include assessments of whether programs 
                help individuals and families find employment, increase 
                earnings, escape poverty, and avoid long-term 
                dependence. Whenever possible, agencies should 
                harmonize their metrics to facilitate easier cross-

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                programmatic comparisons and to encourage further 
                integration of service delivery at the local level. 
                Agencies should also adopt policies to ensure that only 
                eligible persons receive benefits and enforce all 
                relevant laws providing that aliens who are not 
                otherwise qualified and eligible may not receive 
                benefits.

(i) All entities that receive funds should be required to guarantee the 
integrity of the programs they administer. Technology and innovation should 
drive initiatives that increase program integrity and reduce fraud, waste, 
and abuse in the current system.

(ii) The Federal Government must support State, local, and tribal partners 
by investing in tools to combat payment errors and verify eligibility for 
program participants. It must also work alongside public and private 
partners to assist recipients of welfare assistance to maximize access to 
services and benefits that support paths to self-sufficiency.

                Sec. 3. Review of Regulations and Guidance Documents. 
                (a) The Secretaries of the Treasury, Agriculture, 
                Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and 
                Urban Development, Transportation, and Education 
                (Secretaries) shall:

(i) review all regulations and guidance documents of their respective 
agencies relating to waivers, exemptions, or exceptions for public 
assistance program eligibility requirements to determine whether such 
documents are, to the extent permitted by law, consistent with the 
principles outlined in this order;

(ii) review any public assistance programs of their respective agencies 
that do not currently require work for receipt of benefits or services, and 
determine whether enforcement of a work requirement would be consistent 
with Federal law and the principles outlined in this order;

(iii) review any public assistance programs of their respective agencies 
that do currently require work for receipt of benefits or services, and 
determine whether the enforcement of such work requirements is consistent 
with Federal law and the principles outlined in this order;

(iv) within 90 days of the date of this order, and based on the reviews 
required by this section, submit to the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget and the Assistant to the President for Domestic 
Policy a list of recommended regulatory and policy changes and other 
actions to accomplish the principles outlined in this order; and

(v) not later than 90 days after submission of the recommendations required 
by section 3(a)(iv) of this order, and in consultation with the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget and the Assistant to the President for 
Domestic Policy, take steps to implement the recommended administrative 
actions.

                    (b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the 
                Secretaries shall each submit a report to the 
                President, through the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget and the Assistant to the 
                President for Domestic Policy, that:

(i) states how their respective agencies are complying with 8 U.S.C. 
1611(a), which provides that an alien who is not a ``qualified alien'' as 
defined by 8 U.S.C. 1641 is, subject to certain statutorily defined 
exceptions, not eligible for any Federal public benefit as defined by 8 
U.S.C. 1611(c);

(ii) provides a list of Federal benefit programs that their respective 
agencies administer that are restricted pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1611; and

(iii) provides a list of Federal benefit programs that their respective 
agencies administer that are not restricted pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1611.

                Sec. 4. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:

                    (a) the terms ``individuals,'' ``families,'' and 
                ``persons'' mean any United States citizen, lawful 
                permanent resident, or other lawfully present alien who 
                is qualified to or otherwise may receive public 
                benefits;

[[Page 15944]]

                    (b) the terms ``work'' and ``workforce'' include 
                unsubsidized employment, subsidized employment, job 
                training, apprenticeships, career and technical 
                education training, job searches, basic education, 
                education directly related to current or future 
                employment, and workfare; and
                    (c) the terms ``welfare'' and ``public assistance'' 
                include any program that provides means-tested 
                assistance, or other assistance that provides benefits 
                to people, households, or families that have low 
                incomes (i.e., those making less than twice the Federal 
                poverty level), the unemployed, or those out of the 
                labor force.

                Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    April 10, 2018.

[FR Doc. 2018-07874
Filed 4-12-18; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F8-P