“I do think people vastly underestimate just how large and robust the safety net is.”

For decades, the federal government has assumed a larger role in funding and running safety net programs, leaving states with little ability to address flaws such as employment and marriage disincentives or make other changes.

Poverty scholar Angela Rachidi — an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow, Badger Institute visiting fellow and Wisconsin resident who once led policy research at the New York City Department of Social Services — joins us to discuss why Wisconsin should demand more authority over federal safety net programs, including a willingness to take a larger funding role while assuming more responsibility.

Read more of Rachidi’s work at https://www.badgerinstitute.org/ensuring-opportunity-altering-wisconsins-safety-net-to-encourage-upward-mobility/.