"We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended."
The new policy applies to Florida’s Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program, which is funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Under the plan, TCA funds are prohibited from being directly used to buy tobacco and nicotine products such as vapes, drugs and other intoxicants, pornography, entertainment items such as video games and theme park tickets, services such as tattoos and spa treatments, and psychic and fortune-telling services, per a press release.
Governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement, “Florida has become the first in the nation to set guardrails on our TANF State Plan to stop these taxpayer-funded benefits from being used to purchase inappropriate, luxury, and non-essential goods and services. Taxpayer-funded assistance should help families put food on the table, keep the lights on, purchase clothing, provide for their children and overcome barriers on the path toward independence. We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended.”
In Florida, welfare benefits such as SNAP and TCA are distributed through EBT cards, with the programs supposed to be used to cover basic necessities such as food, utilities, clothing, and personal care items. Florida has already barred EBT cards from being used for alcohol purchases and for transactions at adult entertainment businesses, casinos, and bingo locations.
In a letter obtained by Fox News on Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families (ACF) wrote that it had determined Florida’s TANF plan was “complete.”
“We particularly thank Florida for the state’s leadership in advancing common-sense restrictions on the use of TANF cash assistance for inappropriate, luxury, and non-essential purchases. Florida is leading the way in safeguarding taxpayer resources and helping ensure that TANK Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) funds are used appropriately,” the letter stated. “Other states should follow Florida’s lead by adopting similar restrictions on the use of TANF cash assistance.”
ACF Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams told Fox News, “When people come to us for those basic needs, we will give them short-term assistance for those needs, but not for superfluous purchases.”
He said that the policy will not reduce any person’s benefit amount. “No one loses any of their benefit. What this is saying is, if an individual or a family is going to come to the government to cover their basic needs, it is the government’s expectation that they be used for those basic needs.”
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