Committee members debate use of TANF money for childcare workforce incentive; HHS says federal limits constrain use

Senators pressed the Department of Health and Human Services on whether Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds could finance a childcare workforce incentive included in the house budget.

Senator Rosemont and others said New Hampshire has sizable TANF reserves and argued the funds could help rebuild childcare capacity by supporting staff compensation and recruitment. Rosemont noted the state has about $70 million in TANF reserves and said programmatic flexibility approved by CMS had allowed other states to use TANF for program‑level grants supporting staff pay.

Nathan White, HHS chief financial officer, told the committee that prior budget actions had already maximized the allowable amount of TANF dollars that can be moved into the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). He said the house later added roughly $15 million in TANF for workforce incentives, but because the state’s allowable transfers are already at capacity the department could not use additional TANF for the purpose and requested the committee remove that TANF appropriation.

Senators asked the department to revisit the item and to clarify the federal approvals cited; some members asked the committee to keep the funds in the budget pending confirmation and suggested the department and LBA provide a written explanation of allowable TANF uses and the department’s CMS submission that was previously approved.

The chair said the committee would revisit the childcare workforce item and that it would remain under further consideration.