Reps. Chu, Davis, & Colleagues Champion Bill to Prevent Intentional Misuse of Cash Assistance Intended for Poor Children and Families

The bill would prevent and address intentional misuse of subgrant funds under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Reps. Judy Chu (CA-28) and Danny K. Davis (IL-07) - along with their colleagues Gwen Moore (WI-04), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), and Bennie Thompson (MS-02) - introduced H.R. 2108, 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 TANF block grant.

"Public TANF dollars are meant to support low-income families, not be funneled to wealthy individuals and their pet projects-exactly what NFL star Brett Favre did when he conspired with Mississippi officials to direct millions of TANF dollars to build a new volleyball stadium at his daughter's college," said Rep. Chu. "Rep. Davis and I are introducing the TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act to address what happened in Mississippi by finally giving the federal government the authority to oversee states' use of non-cash assistance TANF funds, which is about 80% of all TANF spending. Our legislation would also require states to recover misused funds and reinvest them in low-income families. As our Republican colleagues regularly decry the fraud, waste, and abuse of public funds, I would think that joining us on this legislation would 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."

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 Actgives 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.

"When designing TANF, Republicans neglected to include proper accountability measures to prevent states misuse of TANF funds. As a result, TANF is failing the vulnerable individuals it was supposedly meant to help. When federal dollars are intentionally diverted from beneficiaries into the hands of bad actors, it hurts the women, children, and families who are struggling with poverty. These new tools will help ensure that the federal government can take action against bad actor contractors or others who prey on TANF for their own benefit while increasing accountability for states," 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 should help working parents and kids who need it, not the ultra-wealthy who exploit the system for their own benefit," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez. "Our TANF State Expenditure Integrity Act will ensure these funds are used as intended-not wasted on luxury projects for the rich and famous."

"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. 2108 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."

Click herefor a summary of the bill.

Click herefor a section-by-section of the bill.