Rep. Cushingberry, having reserved the right to explain his protest against the passage of the bill, made the following statement:
"Mr. Speaker and members of the House:
I voted no on this bill because welfare reform doesn't work and only creates problems for us in other area's of the budget and society. Over the years I have marveled at the impact of the various welfare and mental health reforms. I have a humble background and remember when many of the families of the 1950's Royal Oak Township received the 'commodities' and those with mental problems received general assistance. There were facilities for the severely ill and families could get help with transitional downturns in Michigan's economy.
As a student in the late Sixties and early Seventies I was proud that I lived in a State which led the nation in the 'war on poverty' as crafted by the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell and implemented by President's Johnson and Nixon. Although rarely did I support 'Tricky Dick' especially his 'benign neglect' of the persistent racial problem in America, one of his most brilliant efforts was for a guaranteed income for all Americans which if embraced would have gone a long way to win the war on poverty.
Instead this country got the 'Southern White Citizen Council religion' and embarked on an effort to do something about these welfare cheats and welfare 'princess' instead of striving to eradicate poverty. We begin to play to the worst in our populace by imagery that all the people on aid were lazy good for nothings that were taking something from us 'good' folks.
We began to wholesale change the rules and began a whole new set of even more devastating problems for our State. Our efforts to get votes and money was to play to the worst in ourselves; greed, envy, selfishness, lack of mercy, and although using the language of Religion we supported retribution, retaliation, reprobation, and a 'I got mine now you get yours attitude' which is the total opposite of the Judeo/Christian/Islamic ethic.
The effect and result of this is a massive shift to a lock em up attitude is growing homeless population of not only individuals but also families, increased domestic violence because of the pressures placed on families, further abandonment of frail elderly or exasperated family caregivers who are stroke victims for trying to take care of their loved ones, pandering on the streets of every major inner city in this State by the mentally challenged and a prison population with half of the inmates incarcerated for trying to make a living in the underground drug economy and nearly all the other half with severe mental problems and nearly all of them educationally challenged.
This is why I voted no on the passage of these bills. Our State cannot take another round of welfare reform and it's 'unintended' effects."