Paul Ryan emphasizes work, flexibility in anti-poverty plan

House GOP agenda seeks common ground with Donald Trump

House Republicans released a plan Tuesday to attack poverty “at its roots” by encouraging work, improving education and tailoring welfare benefits to individual needs, as the GOP sought a unifying message it can take into this year’s election.

The poverty plan is the first of six policies the House GOP will roll out in coming weeks, and this one was a personal project of Speaker Paul D. Ryan.

His proposal would stiffen work requirements tied to certain welfare programs, push states to help with job-placement, and expand the locations where housing assistance can be used.

“We need to go at the root causes of poverty to break the cycle of poverty, and we should measure success based on results, outcomes,” Mr. Ryan said in the courtyard of the House of Hope charity in the Anacostia neighborhood of the District of Columbia, one of the poorest parts of the nation’s capital.

The poverty plan will be followed later this week with a national security policy. Plans on government regulations, the Constitution, tax reform and health care will come later.

Republican aides said they expect Mr. Trump to be able to embrace the House GOP agenda should he win the White House, and the billionaire businessman signaled he’s open to the policies.

“He wants to take people out if poverty. So do I. And we’re going to come up with a plan,” Mr. Trump said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

The House GOP’s proposal says the government should collaborate with the private sector to bolster social programs, yet only reimburse private companies that deliver results. Among other reforms, the plan would allow college students to use their Pell Grants for summer classes, so they can accelerate their course load.

Some charities said they were pleased that Republicans focused on what works and what doesn’t, rather than sending programs to the chopping block.

More From The Washington Times: