Rudy Giuliani on Welfare & Poverty

Welfare offices as job centers

Hopefully, all welfare offices will be Job Centers, and they all will be finding work for people. When people go into welfare offices, they won’t even recognize them anymore as welfare offices. They will look like employment offices. That’s what they should be. Because that how you empower people. Source: State of the City Address Jan 13, 2000

The homeless need special attention: reach out & help

[Some] people living on the streets have serious problems. These problems include substance abuse, mental illness and serious violent criminality. All of those issues need to be addressed. Letting people lie there so that their problems get worse is not the answer. It’s not compassionate, and it’s not humane. We need to reach out to these people and help them address their problems. That’s what a compassionate society does. Source: State of City Address, New York City Jan 13, 2000

Change welfare offices into job centers

While New York City used to be called the welfare capital of the country, under Rudy Giuliani’s leadership, the City has developed the largest and most successful welfare to work initiative in the nation. When Rudy took office, more than one in seven New Yorkers were receiving public assistance. Welfare dependency had become a problem effecting generations of New Yorkers. New York’s welfare reforms anticipated the changes in the Federal law. By changing welfare offices into job centers, Rudy Giuliani has helped move over 450,000 New Yorkers from a state of dependency to the dignity of work. Those who remain on public assistance participate in the City’s work experience program in exchange for their benefits. By reasserting the value of the social contract, which says that for every right there is a responsibility, Rudy Giuliani has helped restore the work ethic to the heart of life in New York. Source: RudyYes.com, “Proven Leadership” web site Dec 9, 1999

460,000 moved off welfare rolls during Rudy’s tenure

More than 460,000 have moved off the welfare rolls since March 1995.
There have been more than 250,000 participants in the City’s Workfare program since it began in March 1995.
In November, Mayor Giuliani toured the Hamilton Job Center in Harlem to celebrate the completion of New York City’s eighth Job Center.
The Human Resources Administration continues the transformation of Welfare Centers into Job Centers to bring more New Yorkers from welfare to work

Source: RudyYes.com, “Proven Leadership” web site Dec 9, 1999

Do whatever it takes to get the homeless off the streets

We are going to spend a lot of time removing homeless people from the streets. They should not be sleeping on streets at night. When a person sleeps on a street at night they are indicating a serious problem for themselves and for others. When somebody decides to put down a bed and sleep there at night we should intervene, try to help them. If it turns out they have warrants for their arrest, which is sometimes the case, then we should put them in jail. Source: CNN.com’s “Talkback Live” Dec 2, 1999

Govt stabilizes business; businesses provide jobs

New York City is going to be a pro-business city-a city that is pro-jobs. If we can’t keep businesses here and if we can’t attract businesses here, than all the promises that we are making to poor people are absolutely empty promises. Government can not employ everyone. You need an atmosphere in which businesses are going to provide jobs for people.
What this should mean in terms of sensible local government policy to have policies that stabilize the businesses you have in your community [and make it] an attractive place to put a business.
At a time of grave fiscal concern, we cut taxes. These cuts have allowed businesses to stabilize so that they could have more disposable income to rebuild their businesses or to employ more people.
We are no more than a third of the way through trying to reduce the burdens of regulations. Instead of businesses being required to obtain 15 or 20 permits, we lowered it to one or two or three. We continue to work towards that goal. Source: Speech at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government Sep 29, 1997

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