Rep. Chu Joins Colleagues to Champion Legislation Preventing Intentional Misuse of Cash Assistance Intended for Poor Children and Families
Following Brett Favre scandal in Mississippi, bill would prevent and address intentional misuse of subgrant funds under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) joined Reps. Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Dwight Evans (PA-03), and Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) introduced H.R. 8203, the TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act, which would give the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the statutory authority it needs to prevent, monitor, and penalize the intentional misuse of federal funds by contractors and other subrecipient grantees of the $16.5 billion Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.
HHS is prohibited by law from issuing regulations to monitor TANF contractors and subgrant recipients and ensure that they are penalized, even for egregious misuse like what occurred recently in Mississippi. The TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act would give the HHS Secretary the ability to establish a formal system to closely monitor the use of TANF funds, ensures consistent data reporting to identify misuse, and creates a TANF Program Integrity Unit to carry out grantee monitoring. The bill would also impose a new penalty for intentional misuse of funds where the state must spend at least an equivalent amount of the misused funds in the form of cash assistance directly to families who are very low income.
“Despite the false narrative that people living in poverty seek to take advantage of public lifesaving programs like TANF, we know major fraud isn’t committed by struggling parents but by bad actors like NFL star Brett Favre—who conspired with Mississippi officials to direct millions of TANF dollars to pet projects and himself,” said Rep. Chu. “The TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act will provide the federal government the power to more closely monitor the use of these federal funds and provide reassurance that money that flows from the TANF block grant will be going to programs that actually assist children and families in poverty. Our Republican colleagues regularly bemoan misuse of public funds, so joining us on this legislation to stop scammers should be a no-brainer.”
“Democrats are committed to increasing stability and reducing adversity for low-income children and families. When used correctly, cash assistance is a critical tool in lifting families out of poverty,” said Rep. Davis. “The TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act will prevent and address intentional misuse of federal cash assistance by contractors to ensure children and families - and not fraudsters - benefit from this critical federal investment.”
“I have witnessed the ongoing mismanagement of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds in my home state of Mississippi, particularly by greedy ineligible individuals,” said Rep. Thompson. “H.R. 8203 is essential to correcting the misuse of federal resources meant to assist our families in need. It is time we put a stop to wealthy individuals benefiting from TANF funding meant to help needy families.”
“TANF was supposedly created to serve and empower the most vulnerable, but Republicans seemingly designed it to fail those it was meant to help, including by failing to put meaningful accountability measures into how states did or not use these funds. When these funds are intentionally diverted from serving beneficiaries, it hurts the women, children, and families who are deep in the struggles of poverty. These new tools will help make sure that the federal government can take action to identify any bad actor contractors or other subrecipients who prey on the program rather than help its beneficiaries while better holding states accountable,” said Rep. Moore.
“I thank Ranking Member Davis for his leadership on this issue,” said Rep. Evans. “This bill would bring much-needed accountability to help ensure that these lifeline benefits reach those in need. Most TANF recipients are children. About half of the families receiving TANF income support include a child under age 5, and a quarter of TANF households include infants.”
“Federal assistance can be transformative for low-income kids and families, and we must do all possible to make sure that funding goes to those who need it most—not the wealthy and well-connected who try to exploit it. This federal assistance should pull people out of poverty, not fund new sports facilities for the rich and famous, and our TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act will address TANF loopholes to ensure the families who actually need this assistance can access it,” said Rep. Gomez.
Click here to read the bill.