The Upward Mobility Act | Sen. Husted & Rep. Moore

About this episode

The episode discusses the Upward Mobility Act, a bipartisan proposal aimed at reforming anti-poverty programs to encourage work and self-reliance.

America’s safety net is meant to help families get back on their feet. But too often, it does the opposite by discouraging work and earnings due to benefit cliffs. On this episode of Defending Ideas, host Nic Dunn sits down with U.S. Senator from Ohio, Jon Husted , and U.S. Representative from Utah, Blake Moore , to discuss their new legislation : The Upward Mobility Act . This new bipartisan proposal would allow a group of states to pilot innovative reforms that combine multiple anti‑poverty programs and gradually phase out benefits as earnings increase. The goal: help families transition from government assistance to work‑based self‑reliance without falling off a financial cliff. Show notes: The Upward Mobility Act One Pager Let states fix the welfare system that Washington broke Strengthening the American Dream: Addressing benefits cliffs to empower safety net participants to pursue work and opportunity Defending Ideas is a weekly podcast produced by Sutherland Institute. On this show, we are committed to renewing the principles of common sense conservatism, making you a better champion of sound ideas. Visit defendingideas.org.

People in this episode

Host: Nic Dunn

Guests: Jon Husted, Blake Moore

Topics covered

• upward mobility
• anti-poverty programs
• bipartisan legislation
• government assistance
• work-based self-reliance

Keywords

• Upward Mobility Act
• benefit cliffs
• anti-poverty
• bipartisan
• government assistance
• self-reliance
• work

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sutherland Institute

Books & works: The Upward Mobility Act

More episodes of Defending Ideas

• Rebuilding trust in America's elections | Ben Ginsberg & Bill Duncan · June 9, 2026 · 44 min
• What the Declaration of Independence still teaches us | Jay Lapeyre & Lawson Bader · June 2, 2026 · 54 min
• Can a return to federalism fix our politics? | Rep. Ken Ivory & Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost · May 26, 2026 · 56 min
• Who should protect kids online? | Joel Thayer & Chris Marchese · May 19, 2026 · 57 min
• Are we thinking about AI the wrong way? | Bennett Borden · May 12, 2026 · 43 min
• Is the Supreme Court as political as we think? | Sarah Isgur · May 5, 2026 · 43 min