This op-ed by David N. Bass was published by The Carolina Journal on 03/29/2024.
North Carolina lawmakers on Thursday heard from experts on the so-called “One Door” welfare reform policy implemented by Utah, a policy that advocates say helped to streamline the system and get more welfare recipients back into the labor force.
The legislature could convene a study committee to examine similar reforms in the Tar Heel State.
The US Census Bureau reports that 129 million Americans lived in a house receiving one or more means-tested safety-net benefits in 2022. The federal government spends over $1 trillion on these programs each year.
North Carolina has 300,000 open jobs while around 1.4 million individuals are on food stamps — known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — and around 2.5 million are on Medicaid.