Florida just became the first state in the country to formally restrict how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash benefits can be spent — and the federal government didn't just allow it. They applauded it.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced this week that Florida received federal approval to prohibit TANF cash benefits from being used on tattoos, body piercings, theme park tickets, video games, pornography, vaping supplies, nicotine products, psychic readings, fortune-telling services, alcohol, casinos, commercial bingo, and adult entertainment. The Administration for Children and Families — the federal agency that oversees TANF — signed off on the initiative and announced the approval Thursday.
Alex J. Adams, the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, put the principle plainly: "If an individual or a family is going to come to the government to cover their basic needs, it is the government's expectation that they be used for those basic needs."
Taxpayer money designated for basic needs should be spent on basic needs. Florida made it official.
Adams was equally clear about what the restrictions don't do: "No one loses any of their benefit." The average Florida household on TANF receives approximately $250 a month. That money still shows up. The card still works at grocery stores, clothing stores, and utility providers. The restrictions determine what the money cannot be spent on — not how much families receive.
Twenty-seven states currently have no EBT location restrictions beyond the bare federal minimum. More than half the country has taken no steps to ensure that assistance designated for basic needs is actually being used that way. Florida looked at that and moved.
"We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended," DeSantis said.
The initiative ties into Florida's broader Healthy SNAP program, and the administration is treating this as part of a larger reform package — not an isolated policy move. Adams made the national ambition explicit: "While Florida is the first state, hopefully it's not the last state."
That's the federal government under the Trump administration openly inviting other governors to follow Florida's lead. Twenty-seven of them now have a model to work from.
This is what welfare reform done right looks like: the benefit stays intact, the accountability gets added, and the taxpayers who fund it can have confidence the money is going where it was always supposed to go. Florida got there first. The other 49 know where to look.
