Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Temporarily Extended—Again
TANF’s authorization expired in 2001. Since then, Congress has passed temporary extensions as a stopgap measure instead of a full rewrite of the program. The latest extension (HR 3021)—the 10 th—expires September 30, 2005. TANF was created in 1996 by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (more commonly known as welfare reform). The act ended more than 60 years of guaranteed assistance, imposed new work requirements on adult recipients and gave states more authority to operate their programs. The act also barred legal immigrants from receiving many public benefits for their first five years in the U.S.
CongressionalQuarterly reported the reason for the extensions is the House and Senate’s inability to agree on key issues. The House is pressing for stricter worker requirements and less funding for child care than the Senate wants. Neither House nor Senate has proposed lifting the 5-year bar on immigrant benefits. In fact, there is a proposal to deny the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to immigrants with Social Security Numbers (SSNs) that are not valid for employment, even if the immigrants are lawfully present and have immigration statuses that permit employment. APIAHF signed on to letters asking for this provision to be deleted from the reauthorization.
