(NASHVILLE) — This week Republican lawmakers passed an initiative sponsored by State Representative Clark Boyd (R-Lebanon) designed to overhaul Tennessee’s welfare system.
House Bill 1822 — which passed by an 88-7 vote tally — requires able-bodied adults who receive cash benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to meet reasonable work requirements in order to continue receiving benefits. Additionally, House Bill 1822 curbs instances of fraud, waste, and abuse within the current system by allowing Tennessee to partner with surrounding states in order to ensure there is no double dipping of welfare benefits.
The passage of House Bill 1822 is the latest in a series of Republican-led efforts — which includes House Bill 1551 also sponsored by Representative Boyd — designed to implement work requirements on able-bodied citizens who receive assistance from the state.
Work requirements for entitlement programs encourage self-sufficiency and less dependence on government benefits. In 1996, Congress passed bipartisan welfare reform requiring able-bodied adults to work in order to receive benefits under both SNAP and TANF. The change resulted in millions of people nationwide moving off government assistance and back into the workforce.
In fact, for the first time in more than a decade, the number of Tennesseans receiving SNAP benefits, formerly called food stamps, dropped to less than 1 million this past January.
“This measure guarantees the program’s integrity and ensures that state resources are managed in the most efficient and effective way possible,” said Representative Boyd. “We want our citizens to have meaningful employment, and we also want to make sure that those who are receiving benefits are doing so in good faith and are not taking advantage of the system.”
House Bill 1822 now awaits Governor Haslam’s signature. For more information about this initiative, please click here.
Clark Boyd serves as a member of the House Insurance & Banking Committee. He is also a member of the House Consumer & Human Resources Committee and Subcommittee. Boyd lives in Lebanon and represents House District 46, which includes Cannon, and part of Wilson and Dekalb Counties. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by calling (615) 741-7086.