The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWOA) of 1996 has been widely hailed as one of the most important pieces of legislation in recent U.S. history. Among its many provisions, the act transformed Aid to Families with Dependent Children from a budgetary entitlement to a block grant, imposed lifetime limits on benefits, and gave state governments more flexibility in designing welfare programs. Some scholars, notably Kent Weaver, have analyzed the process of enacting PRWOA at the national level. Other scholars have cited the act as further evidence that women, racial minorities, and the poor are treated particularly badly by public policy. In recent years, probably the single largest category of studies has attempted to measure the impact of PRWOA on welfare caseloads and poverty rates.