With welfare rolls at a 30-year low, President Clinton on Monday proposed a package of welfare-to-work proposals meant to continue that decline. “It’s good for America to do this,” Clinton said. But Clinton also called for finding ways to reach those welfare recipients who have yet to leave the rolls, as new figures released Monday show that task may be getting tougher, at least in a handful of states where dramatic declines of recent years have begun to slow. In his upcoming budget, the president said he will ask Congress to extend and in some cases expand programs aimed at encouraging businesses to hire people off welfare and helping people get to those jobs. “This is not charity,” Clinton said. “It’s good for families, but it’s also good for the bottom line and good for the communities.” Meanwhile, the administration announced it will seek $1.3 billion over five years to restore health and disability benefits and food stamps for legal immigrants who lost coverage under the 1996 welfare overhaul. The proposals will be included in the budget Clinton sends to Congress Feb. 1. Under the 1996 law, hundreds of thousands of people lost benefits.
