Aditi S

We are coming up on 15 years since enactment of the #ACA. The law has helped millions gain coverage, reduced millions of people’s costs, and improved access to care. The law also narrowed coverage gaps across racial and ethnic groups, geography, and for LGBTQ+ communities.

Another troubling action being proposed by this Admin. As my colleague @kathleenromig.bsky.social explains in this 🧵, policies like this will likely have a chilling effect, particularly in mixed-status families, and fewer people eligible for Social Security/SSI will get benefits in the first place

Another piece of evidence that the administration isn’t about helping families.

This move is about making it harder for families to get the support they need from the govt when their income isn’t high enough to afford basic needs like housing, food or health care.

The Trump Administration’s decision to halt these pilots goes against the law passed by Congress and harms low income families in the five selected states—and ultimately, vulnerable families across the nation.

TANF, which serves just 1 in 5 families in poverty, desperately needs reform. With TANF’s frozen, block- granted funding and strict work requirements, these pilot projects offered a critical opportunity for positive change based on measuring outcomes for families.

After a rigorous process, California, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, and Ohio were selected for the pilots, each with promising plans to make TANF more effective. Now, HHS says that states must reapply, under a not-yet-announced new procedure. This move will delay vital progress.

Twenty-two states (& Puerto Rico!) applied to participate in the pilot. That means nearly half of states are eager to move TANF in a better direction and better serve their TANF families!

Under TANF, states are forced to meet rigid “work participation rates.” The pilot projects aimed to move away from these work reporting requirements in order to create long-term economic stability and mobility for families, maximize earnings, and increase family well- being.

HHS Halts Pilots Aimed at Helping Low-Income Parents Boost Employment, Earnings, and Their Family’s Well-Being | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities In a move that will significantly stymie state innovation in helping low-income families address barriers affecting their employment and earnings, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)...

HHS's decision to cancel pilot projects for 5 states under the #TANF program is a major setback for low-income families. In his recent blog, my colleague Nick Gwyn explains why this is a big deal: www.cbpp.org/blog/hhs-hal...

Imposing SNAP Food Benefit Costs on States Would Worsen Hunger, Hurt States’ Ability to Meet Residents’ Needs | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Requiring states to pay even a modest portion of SNAP benefits would radically change the program’s funding structure, abandoning the long-standing national commitment to provide low-income households...

NEW: Some key Republicans may be planning to impose SNAP food benefit costs on states, forcing them to pay up or cut food assistance to low-income families. Here's why that would worsen hunger & hurt states' ability to meet the needs of their residents: www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

The House may vote as soon as tomorrow on a federal government funding bill that contains a hidden, devastating surprise for the District of Columbia: a requirement that DC drastically slash its budget halfway through the fiscal yr, causing immediate cuts to police, schools, transportation & more.

Congress should prioritize what’s best for children and families and reject cuts to TANF and SSBG.

This doesn’t just jeopardize child development support that children need, but also creates obstacles while their parents work or go to school.

If these cuts are made, nearly 40,000 children would lose access to child care. A further 2.4 million children’s access to child care and early education would also be affected.

Let’s pin for another day the conversation about how both of these programs are significantly underfunded already. Example? TANF’s block grant hasn’t been adjusted for inflation since it was created in 1996. It’s lost half of its value as a result.

Congressional Republicans are threatening to eliminate SSBG, at $1.7 billion each year, entirely. And they’re proposing to significantly reduce the $16.5 billion that’s spent on TANF each year.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) both fund vital supports to low income families, including child care and early education.

Cuts to SSBG, TANF Would Eliminate Child Care for 40K Children, Disrupt Care for Millions More | CLASP By Stephanie Schmit & Rachel Wilensky Federal budget proposals currently under consideration threaten resources available for children and families through multiple key programs, including the Tempora...

The onslaught of harm continues. Republican budget proposals around TANF and SSBG jeopardize the wellbeing of millions of children, as this new fact sheet from @clasp.org shows:
www.clasp.org/publications...

The purpose of government is not to GROW the income divide. #inequality

More tax cuts for the wealthy paid for by slashing support for families in poverty is the absolute wrong direction for our nation. TANF needs to be improved, not cut.

Expanding Work Requirements Would Make It Harder for People to Meet Basic Needs | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Taking benefits away from people who don’t meet a work requirement does little to improve long-term employment outcomes. Instead, it substantially increases hardship.

Making these requirements harsher and more inflexible will further cut the number of families TANF assists, and make it harder for people to meet their families’ basic needs.

www.cbpp.org/research/pov...

TANF Cash Assistance Should Reach Millions More Families to Lessen Hardship | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Families use assistance provided by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to pay for rent, utilities, diapers, food, transportation, and other necessities. Yet too few families st...

TANF’s work requirements are part of the reason very few families actually receive assistance from the program – only one out of every five families below the poverty line.

www.cbpp.org/research/fam...

The TANF program already has strict work requirements, which were further tightened in 2023. Those requirements focus on documenting a narrow set of activities, rather than promoting positive outcomes, and act as a barrier to benefits, not a path to employment.

In 17 states, a family of three gets less than $414 each month. And 10 states have the same cash benefit level as they did in 1996.

Continued Increases in TANF Benefit Levels Are Critical to Helping Families Meet Their Needs and Thrive | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities TANF can play a key role in ensuring that eligible families can meet their needs. Although some states increased their cash benefit levels between July 2022 and July 2023 much more can be done to impr...

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program provides extremely modest cash benefits to families well below the poverty level. It is a vital support to the families who are able to receive it.

www.cbpp.org/research/inc...

POLITICO Pro: GOP tax chief: House budget does not allow for Trump tax permanency Rep. Jason Smith warned that current House budget would likely make room for at most eight to nine years of tax cut extensions.

The latest idea for paying for tax cuts for the wealthy? Taking away income assistance from the poorest families, through the red tape of harsher work requirements.

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...