01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, May 22, 2004

IN CHALLENGING budgetary times, it is critical that spending and revenue decisions be based on fact, not rhetoric. The May 10 column on this page by Tom Coyne purports to provide facts, but really rehashes myths about the state's Family Independence Program. The headline, penned by The Journal, "R.I.: A welfare magnet destroying itself," only compounds the problem. We offer the following facts to rebut several of the myths.

Rhetoric: We have an expensive welfare system, which attracts more poor people than do other states' systems.

Facts: In 2003 the percentage of the Family Independence Program (FIP) caseload that moved to Rhode Island from another state was the lowest it had been in nine years (5.3 percent of the caseload). Families also leave FIP at a much higher rate than the rate at which they come to Rhode Island: In 2003, 1,130 cases closed because of "out migration," while 747 opened from another state.

Mr. Coyne's reliance on the National Association of State Budget Officers' (NASBO) report, which ranks Rhode Island third in total cash payments, is problematic. In this category, the report erroneously includes Rhode Island's expenditures for child care and Food Stamps -- costs not included for other states. Thus, Rhode Island's ranking is artificially high. The 2003 Rhode Island Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Act/FIP expenditure cited in the NASBO report is only 1.4 percent of total expenditures: lower than those in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts, and tied for 10th in America.

Rhetoric: Rhode Island has the most generous welfare benefits in the nation.

Facts: One could hardly call the FIP cash payment generous: A mother and two children receive $554 a month -- a benefit level that has not been raised in 15 years, reducing purchasing power by 40 percent. This family would receive more in four other New England states: $609 in Vermont, $618 in Massachusetts, $625 in New Hampshire, and $636 in Connecticut.

Since the Family Independence Program began, in 1997, there has been a steady decrease in Rhode Island expenditures for cash assistance: from $51.5 million, in 1997, to $18.9 million, in 2004. The average cost per case has decreased from $480 in May 1997 to $422 in December 2003.

Rhetoric: Rhode Island does the worst job of any state at getting people off welfare.

Facts: Rhode Island's caseload has steadily declined, from 18,969, in May 1997, to 14,142, in December 2003 -- its lowest caseload in 25 years. By contrast, other states have seen increases. From September 2002 to September 2003, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families caseloads increased in 30 states by an average of 6 percent. During this time, Rhode Island's caseload decreased 5.6 percent, while Massachusetts and Connecticut had increases of 4.4 percent and 1.9 percent.

Rhode Island has also succeeded in moving parents from welfare to work. The state's share of recipients engaged in work or job-preparation activities, 41 percent, is close to the national average, 43 percent.

Today, more than one in five Rhode Island families is receiving a reduced FIP benefit because the parent is working (compared with 13.7 percent of cases with a working parent in 1997). In four of the last five years, Rhode Island has received high-performance bonus awards from the federal TANF program, including recognition for improvement in job entry and success in workforce performance. Totaling $10 million, the awards have gone to reducing state expenditures on the FIP program.

The facts also do not support Mr. Coyne's other justification for scaling back investments in programs that help children and families: that Rhode Island's tax burden is too high. While Governor Carcieri's reference to the Tax Foundation's assessment that Rhode Island has the fifth-highest tax burden in America is often repeated, it is out of line with other widely used rankings of state and local taxes. Data compiled by the Federation of Tax Administrators, the Tax Policy Center, and the Rockefeller Institute of Government rank Rhode Island's state and local tax burden at 14th, 20th or 32nd, depending on the methodology.

Creating a vibrant economy in which all Rhode Islanders participate is a challenge we must work on together, and one in which government has an important role. Attacks on programs that offer the neediest families an opportunity for success does nothing to advance us toward this goal.

Nancy Gewirtz is director and Linda Katz is policy director at the Poverty Institute at the Rhode Island College School of Social Work.