House committee advances bill to raise temporary cash aid amounts, increase asset limit for TANF child-only cases

Representative Tyler Paul Smith presented House Bill 500 to the committee, saying the bill would update Georgia’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) child-only program, increase monthly benefits and raise the allowable asset limit for families receiving assistance.

The measure, Smith said, would increase monthly benefits for some cases to about 30% of the federal poverty line, raise the maximum asset and savings allowed to $5,000 and extend the time limit for benefit receipt from 48 months to 60 months. Smith said the changes are funded with a mix of the federal TANF block grant and state maintenance-of-effort funds and estimated the increase would cost roughly $12 million to $14 million a year for a caseload of about 4,000–5,000 families. "Last year, it was brought to my attention that families ... were being forced into a position of having to sell the vehicle just so they would be able to get diapers for their children," Smith said, explaining the rationale for the $5,000 asset threshold.

The bill drew testimony from kinship-care advocates and service providers who…