Hidden Welfare State - Origins

Origins

The visible welfare state was primarily formed during two major periods, the mid-1930s and the mid-1960s. In the first period the Social Security Act was created and Medicare, Medicaid, and a variety of social service, education, and job training programs that targeted the poor was created during the second period. Although the visible welfare state was formed in these two big bursts, the hidden welfare state has been steadily created throughout the twentieth century. The federal government began creating tax expenditures in the twentieth century. Since the 1910s at least two tax expenditures have been created each decade. Even during periods of resistance to social policy initiatives in the late 1910s and 1920s, tax expenditures were created. In the 1930s tax expenditures passed that exempted benefits from public programs created during the New Deal. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s tax expenditures related to housing and health care passed. Since the 1960s tax expenditures have been passed that offer individuals alternative sources of income and targeted a variety of needs of low-income taxpayers.

Throughout American history the enactment of direct spending social welfare programs has caused debate, controversy and resistance. However, history shows that the tax expenditures associated with the hidden welfare state have been fairly easy to enact. They have been enacted at a steady rate and have not been the result of social movements or mass protest. A reason tax expenditures have been able to be enacted without much debate is simply because many people did not know about them. These items were not included in the governments until after 1969. As Edward Berkowitz explains, "people who wanted to know the value of, say, the mortgage deduction needed to do the calculations themselves, making an esoteric subject that much more arcane." Moderate and conservative members of United States Congress have been the main people behind many of the tax expenditures that make up the hidden welfare state, which is ironic because they are usually seen as antagonistic to new social programs. Christopher Howard points out that "the tax expenditure for corporate pensions had probably the quietest start of any major social program in contemporary welfare state. It was approved without debate late one night as Congress worked out the details of the Revenue Act of 1926." The Earned Income Tax was created during the debates over the Family Assistance Plan. However, although the Family Assistance plan generated a lot of attention, there was little debate over the Earned Income Tax when it was passed.

Tax expenditures have also had an easier time being passed than direct expenditures because tax expenditures are funded and authorized by the same congressional committee in each house, whereas direct spending programs are not. In order for a direct spending program to be passed, new legislation has to be passed. However, tax expenditures are also usually added to legislation in must pass revenue bills created by the revenue committees. For example, the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit was passed as an amendment to the Revenue Act of 1978. Howard also claims that tax expenditures have "inherent ambiguity" and that they are "able to gain diverse support because tax expenditures are often ambiguous in terms of their clientele (serve, workers, employers, service providers), and in terms of their purpose (social welfare, economic stimulation, labor support, political constituency, and more."