114-254 , the further continuing resolution for FY2017, extended funding and program authority for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant through April 28, 2017. Though several bills altering TANF policies were reported by the House Ways and Means Committee to the full House during the second session of the 114 th Congress—and one bill passed the House—none were enacted. On June 21, 2016, the House passed H.R. 5170 , a bill that would have established a demonstration project for "social impact partnership projects." That bill would also have extended TANF and mandatory child care block grant funding for one year (FY2017) and revised TANF-related research funding. The bill was not considered in the Senate. In May 2016, the House Ways and Means Committee approved separate bills that would have made additional policy changes to TANF by (1) establishing a demonstration program for subsidized employment for TANF assistance recipients and noncustodial parents; (2) making revisions to TANF state spending requirements; (3) adding child poverty reduction to the statutory purpose of TANF; and (4) establishing new employment outcome measures for TANF. These bills were not considered by the full House. TANF and Recent Proposals

The TANF block grant funds grants to states, tribes, and territories for providing benefits, services, and activities to broadly address both the effects and root causes of childhood economic and social disadvantage. It was created in the 1996 welfare reform law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ( P.L. 104-193 ), which culminated decades of debate over how to change public assistance programs for needy families with children. Generally speaking, the measure would have established a mechanism through which state and local governments could apply to the Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter, the Secretary) for "social impact demonstration projects." As it passed the House, the bill would have required that at least 50% of funds provided for agreements awarding funding for social impact partnership projects be used for initiatives that directly benefit children. As discussed in " Social Impact Partnerships ," the House-passed bill would have set aside $100 million from the TANF contingency fund for the social impact partnership demonstration. Welfare Research Funding

These research activities would have been funded through a set-aside from the basic TANF block grant, 0.33% of the total block grant amount. These bills would have established a subsidized employment demonstration project ( H.R. 2990: Subsidized Employment Demonstration

H.R. Subsidized employment programs are those where public funds are used to pay all or part of the wages, benefits, and other costs of employing an individual. While allowed under current law, subsidized employment has been a relatively small part of TANF, with the exception of a brief period when extra TANF funding was provided in response to the 2007-2009 recession. H.R. Additionally, H.R. H.R. The bill, as amended and reported by the House Ways and Means Committee, would have added reducing child poverty as a statutory goal of TANF. H.R. 5170 as passed by the House (social impact partnerships) and H.R. Each project would have been funded at $100 million, with the funding coming from the FY2017 appropriation for the TANF contingency fund.
P.L. 114-254, the further continuing resolution for FY2017, extended funding and program authority for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant through April 28, 2017. Though several bills that would have changed TANF policies were reported by the House Ways and Means Committee to the full House during the 114th Congress—and one bill passed the House—none were enacted.
The TANF block grant funds grants to states, tribes, and territories for providing benefits, services, and activities to broadly address both the effects and root causes of childhood economic and social disadvantage. It was created in the 1996 welfare reform law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193), which culminated decades of debate over how to change public assistance programs for needy families with children. Most TANF policy dates back to the 1996 welfare law, as a full reauthorization of the block grant has never been enacted.
On June 21, 2016, the House passed H.R. 5170, a bill that would have established a demonstration project for "social impact partnership projects." That bill also would have extended TANF and mandatory child care block grant funding for one year (FY2017) and revised TANF-related research funding. The bill did not pass the Senate.
H.R. 5170, as it passed the House, would have established a mechanism through which state and local governments could apply to the Secretary of the Treasury for demonstration projects, which would have been called "social impact partnership projects." These projects would have used funds provided through philanthropic and other private-sector partnerships to finance social programs to meet specified social goals. Under this type of financing, the government would "pay off" investors only when a program evaluation demonstrates that desired outcomes are met. H.R. 5170 would have funded social impact partnership demonstrations at $100 million, financed from a set-aside from FY2017 TANF contingency funds. The bill would have required that at least 50% of funds provided for agreements awarding funding for social impact partnership projects be used for initiatives that directly benefit children. As it passed the House, H.R. 5170 would have also extended TANF and mandatory child care block grant funding through FY2017 and revised TANF research requirements and funding.
H.R. 2990, as reported by the House Ways and Means Committee, would have created a demonstration project for subsidized employment programs for TANF assistance families. Subsidized employment programs are those where public funds are used to pay all or part of the wages, benefits, and other costs of employing an individual. Subsidized employment can be a part of TANF programs under current law. However, except for a brief period when such programs were financed from special funds enacted in response to the 2007-2009 recession, subsidized employment has been little used in TANF. The subsidized employment demonstration would have been funded at $100 million, financed from an additional set-aside from FY2017 TANF contingency funds. The bill was not considered by the full House.
The House Ways and Means Committee also reported additional TANF bills: H.R. 2959 would have altered the rules for the TANF state spending requirement, H.R. 2966 would have added reducing child poverty as a statutory TANF goal, and H.R. 2952 would have established new employment outcome performance measures for TANF. These bills were not considered by the full House.