"The primary goal of the TANF program is to assist families in need with a hand-up, providing safety net of government assistance to help find work and pull themselves out of poverty," said Rep. LaHood. "Finding and keeping a job is the best way for families to move toward self-sufficiency, and I am proud to reintroduce legislation to help Americans get back to work as we recover from COVID-19."
Today, on the 25th anniversary of bipartisan welfare reform in 1996 that created TANF, Ways and Means Republicans hosted a roundtable meeting with key former and current Republican leaders and experts on anti-poverty welfare reforms. They discussed TANF improvements that promote personal responsibility, time limits on eligibility, and work requirements. You can view that here.
- This legislation will require states to spend 25% of their Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) funds and 25% of their federal block grant on work or work support activities
- In 2019, states used only 10% of their TANF funds for work activities and another 3% on work support activities
- Additionally, this legislation prohibits states from supplanting TANF federal funds to fill state budget holes
- This legislation adds apprenticeships to the list of approved work activities
- Current work activities include on-the-job training, job readiness assistance, vocational educational training, and community service
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