Thirty years after the landmark welfare reform law, what should the next generation of social safety-net reform look like? @SpeakerRyan joins Defending Ideas to discuss the future of welfare reform and how policymakers can build a system today that helps more families move toward work and economic independence. Ryan and host @nicdunnutah examine RISE pilots, a state-led approach that tests whether combining multiple welfare benefits into a single, trackable monthly payment can simplify the social safety net, improve work incentives, and help families move out of poverty. The conversation explores how technology could help reduce benefit cliffs, better coordinate programs, and improve accountability. Ryan explains why states should have the freedom to test different welfare reform approaches, why good data is essential if we want to know what works, and why RISE offers a more promising path forward for people's economic independence than Universal Basic Income.