Senator James Lankford joined a group of Republican Senators to form the Senate Opportunity Coalition in an effort to change the way the federal government deals with poverty. The plan is to take a different approach than the New Deal or the Great Society to reduce poverty.
“Poverty is extremely complicated, and can differ greatly in urban, rural and even suburban communities,” said Lankford. “The fact of the matter is that the American Dream is not reaching everyone. For decades, government has been primarily focused on treating the symptoms of poverty. Our policy approach should focus more on actually reducing and eliminating barriers to upward mobility. I’m honored to join this coalition to explore policy solutions that will reduce poverty and provide opportunity for everyone, no matter where they come from or where they currently live. We have to find and remove impediments for people to rise out of poverty, and be able to pick and choose the life that they want for the future, and not feel trapped.”
The Senate Opportunity Coalition released its first series of documents which take a look at a wide variety of ways various communities are trying to increase opportunities to lift people out of poverty. It’s called Paving the Path to a Brighter Future.
The Coalition membership includes Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Joni Ernst and Dan Sullivan.
The Senate Opportunity Coalition’s document can be found here.
