The Washington Examiner
Sen. Rick Scott
December 13, 2024

Last month, voters delivered a resounding endorsement of the American dream — the idea that you can become anything you want as long as you are willing to work for it. 

By electing Donald Trump and Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, our voters rejected four years of failed policies that destroyed full-time jobs, optimism, and opportunity from coast to coast. The country wants the return of more good-paying jobs, and Republicans must reduce the size of government, cut taxes, eliminate burdensome regulations, and reduce permitting times to fuel private-sector job growth and get more people back in the workforce.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s November jobs report, more than 1.27 million full-time jobs were lost over the year, and part-time work has increased by nearly 577,000 jobs. Under the Biden-Harris administration, 2.18 million more people have had to take on multiple jobs. 

Unfortunately, instead of focusing on private-sector job creation, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Democrats in Congress have leaned too heavily on our country’s welfare system, breaking it beyond recognition. The result is fewer residents in the workforce, lower tax revenue, and less productivity across America’s businesses.

Under the cover of the pandemic, the Biden-Harris administration massively ramped up federal welfare payments to the point that people can make more from government checks than a company paycheck. Biden unilaterally paused work requirements for food stamps and ended work requirements for Medicaid. These are just a few of the dozens of other policy changes that expanded welfare and discouraged work. 

While some of these foolish moves have been rolled back thanks to Republican leadership in Congress, the damage is still clear today.

At this very moment, more than 4 million able-bodied adults without dependents are enrolled in food stamps. They could easily find work, yet about three-quarters don’t, and Biden’s elimination of work requirements for the program pushed most of them out of the workforce. 

The situation is even worse in Medicaid. The most recent data show that nearly 25 million able-bodied adults receive taxpayer health benefits without working, and more than 50 million people between the ages of 16 and 64 are not in the workforce. Meanwhile, America’s employers report having more than 7 million open jobs, many of which could be easily filled by able-bodied adults who are on welfare.

President-elect Donald Trump has made clear his vision to cut taxes and rein in the expansive regulatory regime that has exploded under the Biden administration and strangled businesses with red tape and high costs that kill growth. Republicans can help fulfill this vision by working together to rescind the waivers that 28 states and Washington, D.C., use to get around food-stamp work requirements. We should be encouraging people to get good-paying jobs, not pushing them to get as many government handouts as possible.

Real and lasting reform that benefits America and gets our nation back to work will only come from Congress working hand-in-glove with Trump on these issues. That’s why I authored the Let’s Get to Work Act, which would permanently end the work exemptions that states have abused. 

It would also expand current work requirements for food stamps to able-bodied adults under 59 who don’t have young children. These adults have greater freedom to be out of the home. Their example of work is critical for their children’s own ability to achieve the American dream. 

Finally, my bill would apply work requirements to all public housing provided by the federal government. I grew up in public housing. No able-bodied person should have subsidized housing if they are not willing to work.

Few policies have as proven a track record as work requirements. In 2016, when Florida instituted this policy for food stamps, the number of able-bodied adults without dependents on the program dropped by 94% in three years. They went back to work in more than 1,000 different industries, touching every corner of the economy. Other states have experienced similar progress when they’ve attached work requirements to programs such as Medicaid. 

Yet despite the obvious benefits, both to individual success and the broader economy, Washington has never instituted anything close to universal work requirements for welfare recipients who can and should work.

Work requirements lift our fellow residents up with opportunity and help address the crisis of federal spending by both saving money through fewer welfare payments and helping more people get jobs that generate tax revenue. In fact, universal work requirements and cracking down on welfare fraud could save taxpayers up to $1.5 trillion over the next decade. That’s desperately needed at a time when Washington, D.C., is adding nearly $2 trillion to the national debt every year.

As someone who grew up poor and rose through hard work, I’m calling on Republicans to empower more people to realize their potential. It’s the best way to begin giving voters what they just demanded, moving from the malaise of the recent past into a future of opportunity and prosperity for all.