THE US administration has given the go-ahead for pilot plans to reform welfare benefits in Wisconsin and Georgia that could serve as experiments for the broader overhaul of the welfare system promised by President Bill Clinton. The Wisconsin plan would cut off cash payments under the principal welfare programme, known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, after two years, although it would continue to provide food stamps and health coverage. The pilot scheme will be started in two counties in 1995. Republican Governor Tommy Thompson has made Wisconsin a pioneer in welfare reform, with experiments such as Schoolfare, which cuts welfare payments to teenage mothers who do not go to school. In Georgia, the state does not plan a time limit on benefits, but wants to reduce welfare payments to able-bodied adults who refuse offers of work and deny increases in payments to families on long-term welfare who have more children. The federal government, which has to grant waivers to states wishing to depart from normal US welfare rules, is also considering proposals from Florida and Vermont for time limits on welfare benefits, and White House officials have said that a two-year limit will be a central feature of Mr Clinton's own welfare reform plans. The promise to 'end welfare as we know it' was an important theme in Mr Clinton's election campaign. Although he named a welfare reform task force in June, the reform has been held up by delays in passing the budget and is now expected to be delayed until the ambitious reform of the healthcare system has passed Congress.
Two states, Wisconsin and Georgia, have received permission to reform their welfare systems. Beginning in 1995, two Wisconsin counties will cut off welfare payments after two years, although families will continue to receive food stamps and Medicare. Georgia's plan would reduce payments to able-bodied recipients who decline offers of work and refuse increases to families on long-term welfare who have more children. Vermont and Florida have proposed a plan to put time limits on welfare benefits and await federal approval. Mr. Clinton's welfare reform plan, a central theme of his campaign, features a two-year limit; the plan has so far been delayed.