House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled a policy plan to tackle poverty at a charity that tackles homelessness and drug addiction in Washington D.C. today.
At the House of Help — City of Hope, where Ryan has been involved for several years, he detailed the first batch of a set of policy ideas entitled “A Better Way” to provide a more effective approach to poverty alleviation than the current welfare system. The ideas include a customized approach based on individual need, rather than a one-size-fits-all method, as well as rewarding work, improving schools, and helping individuals save for their own retirement.
“These are the people who are fighting poverty on the front lines, and they’re winning,” he said of the House of Help. “If we want people to contribute to our society, then we need to reward those contributions.”
Ryan also proposed an increase in accountability, and said that funding should be tied to results. Last year, the government made $10 billion worth of incorrect payments in welfare, school lunch, and rental assistance programs, a figure that amounts to nearly 24 percent of spending in certain programs.
Ryan’s commitment to the issue of poverty stems from his commitment to making the American idea — the notion that the condition of your birth doesn’t determine the outcome of your life — accessible for everyone which he explained in an episode of “Comeback,” a series produced by Opportunity Lives.
Ryan’s latest efforts are part of a larger goal to get the Republican Party to address poverty, which he has been pushing his colleagues to do for several years.
On Thursday, Ryan is scheduled to unveil plans to improve national security.
