Florida became the first state to block taxpayer-funded cash welfare from being used to purchase nonessential items like tattoos, video games, and tobacco and vaping products.
In a press release on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that the state was amending its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) State Plan so that recipients would not be allowed to use Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) benefits “from being used to directly purchase inappropriate, luxury, and nonessential items.”
The changes to Florida’s TANF State Plan would mean that recipients would be unable to use their TCA benefits to purchase things like tobacco products, video games, pornography, tattoos or for “spa services, tanning, and other luxury services,” according to the press release.
Prohibited items include:
• tobacco, nicotine, and vaping products;
• drugs and intoxicants;
• pornography;
• video games, entertainment tickets, theme park admission, and entertainment subscriptions;
• tattoos, spa services, tanning, and other luxury services; and
• psychic and fortune-telling services.
“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 nonessential goods and services,” DeSantis explained in a statement. “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.”
Recipients are given their TCA benefits “through an EBT card to help eligible families pay for ongoing basic needs, including food, clothing, housing, utilities, household goods and personal care,” according to the press release.
The move comes as the state previously “barred EBT cards from being used or accepted for alcohol purchases and transactions at adult-entertainment establishments, casinos, and commercial bingo locations,” Fox News reported.
In a letter addressed to DeSantis on Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families thanked Florida “for the state’s leadership in advancing commonsense restrictions on the use of TANF cash assistance for inappropriate, luxury, and nonessential purchases,” according to the outlet.
“Florida is leading the way in safeguarding taxpayer resources and helping ensure that TANF Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) funds are used appropriately,” said the letter, which was obtained by Fox News. “Other states should follow Florida’s lead by adopting similar restrictions on the use of TANF cash assistance.”
