The Marine Who Laid Siege to Welfare

SACRAMENTO — This will be Gov. Pete Wilson’s week on the welfare war front. Last week was the Democrats’. The Republican governor’s strategy, according to a lieutenant: “Cut ‘em off at the knees.”

Welfare moms can’t work because they’ve got little kids to care for? OK, Wilson will say, get them child care.

Look for the governor to dip into a brimming state treasury and offer $200 million-plus for baby-sitting while mothers work or job-hunt. This is on top of $642 million in state child care money he already proposed in January for the next budget. Last week, Democratic leaders proposed adding only an extra $61 million.

Wilson’s goal: To provide child care for practically every welfare mom who needs it.

“We’re going to take child care off the table,” says the aide. “There’ll be no excuses not to go out and look for a job.”

Can’t find a job opening? OK, Wilson will say, here’s $14 million-plus for 1,500 computers. Put some in every welfare office so job-seekers can log in on the Internet and call up help-wanted listings. And here’s $3 million-plus for more staffers to work with employers on listing their openings in the computer system, called Cal-Jobs.

Simi Valley and Ontario pioneered Cal-Jobs. Now the welfare office in Commerce is online, as are five in Northern California.

“It’s growing by leaps and bounds,” Wilson said in an interview. “Ultimately it has the potential of listing 300,000 jobs. And the jobs we’re talking about are not minimum wage. The average is $7.50. So it’s pretty exciting.”

Pete Wilson: an old Marine who chops off his enemy’s knees; also a compassionate conservative who gives away computers and provides child care.

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Today, Wilson will report the findings of a business group he created to recommend how best to move able-bodied welfare recipients--mostly moms--into work.

This task may be less herculean than once thought. New administration figures show there are roughly 600,000 recipients who need jobs, not the 700,000-plus number that has been bandied about. Welfare caseloads have dropped roughly 10%. The economy is booming.

The business execs will assert that job skills aren’t nearly as important as a good attitude. “The so-called soft skills--that’s what employers are looking for,” Wilson said. “They say, ‘Listen, we don’t expect them to know our business. We’ll teach them. They just need to get to work on time, not fight with co-workers, be decently groomed if they’ll be meeting people.’ ”

Democrats last week proposed an extra $150 million for job training. Said the governor: “The best way to teach people about working is to have them work.”

Still, even in a healthy economy, only 374,000 new jobs have been created in the last 12 months. To provide enough work, Democrats suggested creating community service jobs.

Wilson’s response is that able-bodied recipients should “earn their keep” all right--”making themselves useful for maintenance, picking up litter, painting over graffiti”--while they’re looking for a real job. But government should not be creating new jobs for welfare recipients.

“If you’re making an honest effort, you ought to be able to find a job in a year in this growing economy,” the governor said. If somebody can’t find a job near home, he suggested, she should move. “Maybe you can’t spend the rest of your life in Modesto. Maybe you’ve got to go to San Diego. . . .

“Let’s not over-complicate it. I mean, there are a lot of people upstairs [in the Legislature] who want to do everything through government, create a whole raft of new programs and micro-manage everybody’s life. They think if you’re a welfare recipient, you’re helpless. . . .”

“That’s not going to be well met.” Meaning, he’ll veto such bills.

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Wilson can’t get off welfare, the issue. It’s ingrained into his governorship, in boom times and bad. Long before President Clinton signed federal “reform,” Wilson was paring California’s welfare. It will be one of this governor’s legacies.

Under him, family grants have been cut by an average of 20%. A welfare mother who has another child doesn’t get more money. But if she goes to work, she can keep her health and child care benefits for up to two years. There are financial rewards for a teen mom who stays in school--and penalties if she doesn’t.

Now the really colossal changes are coming, including welfare time limits. Wilson has proposed one year; the Democrats three. It’s a no-brainer: They’ll settle on two.

In this war, the advantage is Wilson’s--especially when he’s on the side of child care. Democrats cannot afford to be seen as the perpetual party of welfare. If they are, it won’t be just their knees that are cut off. Voters may cut off their jobs.