Sponsors (3)
Official title: To reauthorize and reform the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 1, 2025 by Darin Lahood · Last progress May 1, 2025
The bill shifts TANF and related assistance toward clearer employment outcomes, expanded work supports, data‑driven accountability, and program continuity, but does so with stricter participation rules, heavier reporting/IT burdens, privacy risks, and enforcement mechanisms that could reduce flexibility and harm vulnerable families.
Low-income parents, families, and work‑eligible individuals will get more targeted job supports (case management, counseling, training, apprenticeships, transitional earned‑income disregards, and wage subsidies) to increase entry, retention, and earnings from employment.
Taxpayers, program participants, and state agencies will benefit from stronger performance measurement and public transparency (required performance targets, negotiated work‑outcome metrics, HHS dashboards, and outcome‑focused reporting) to evaluate program effectiveness.
Low‑income families will have clearer access to a broader set of supports (cash, vouchers, transportation, tools, non‑recurring short‑term benefits) and States can use wage subsidies as TANF benefits to help participants move toward work.
Work‑eligible low‑income families, particularly parents with disabilities, caregiving responsibilities, or mental‑health/substance‑use barriers, face stricter mandatory work requirements and more sanction risk that can reduce or cut benefits if they cannot comply.
State and local agencies, nonprofits, and ultimately taxpayers face substantial new administrative, reporting, and IT costs (monthly individual‑level data, plan documentation, performance negotiation, new data standards) that may divert funds from direct services.
Low‑income individuals and families face increased privacy and data‑security risks because of expanded individual‑level, monthly reporting and broader state‑federal data exchanges unless safeguards are strengthened.
Based on analysis of 35 sections of legislative text.
Reforms TANF: adds non‑supplantation, individualized plans, outcome‑based performance, 25% spending floors for work supports, new reporting/data and improper‑payment rules, effective Oct 1, 2026.
Requires States that receive TANF (title IV-A) funds to meet new work, reporting, spending, and accountability rules designed to prioritize employment entry, retention, and earnings for needy parents and to reduce child poverty. Key changes include a non-supplantation rule for federal funds, a new Individual Opportunity Plan requirement, a performance-accountability system replacing prior participation-rate rules, data‑exchange and improper‑payment standards, and new spending floors and prohibitions on certain uses of TANF funds. Creates deadlines and new authorities for States (including a 25% core-activity spending floor and a 25% dedication of grants), narrows permissible uses (e.g., bans assistance to establishments selling marijuana and limits assistance to households above 200% of the poverty line), expands transfer and reporting rules, and takes effect October 1, 2026.