FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: LOCAL LEGISLATOR RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR EMPOWERING MISSOURIANS TO RETURN TO WORK
AWARD HONORS LEADERSHIP ON WELFARE REFORMS TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF DEPENDENCY
Missouri Rep. Diane Franklin received the Foundation for Government Accountability’s 2015 Defender of Opportunity Award Monday for her leadership in the state to reform the welfare system and empower residents to return to the workforce.
Franklin sponsored legislation in Missouri to ensure popular work requirements and asset tests for food stamps programs remained in place without express legislative approval, with the goal of protecting the state’s safety net for the truly needy. Strong partnerships with the FGA and leaders like Franklin have helped save 8 million Americans from dependence on government welfare, while saving taxpayers around the country half a trillion dollars.
“Strong communities rely on strong safety nets, and Rep. Franklin and her colleagues are leading the charge to protect Missouri’s services for those who truly need them by pushing common-sense welfare reforms,” said Tarren Bragdon, FGA CEO.
“Most Americans recognize the best way out of poverty is through work rather than dependency, which is why work requirements have broad bi-partisan support, even from those on welfare. These are things that simply make sense to the American people, they know food stamps should go to the single mother who is struggling, not the guy with three cars and a boat, and that’s why they’re for asset tests and other reforms.”
Franklin is one of a handful of state leaders being recognized from around the country for their work in 2015, and she is among the first group of legislators to be honored with this annual award.
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