Governor Ron DeSantis’s office announced Monday that the state will impose new purchasing restrictions on its Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program, which provides aid to low-income families. In a press release, the governor’s office described the policy as the “first-in-the-nation” and claimed it is intended to prevent taxpayer funds from being used on “inappropriate, luxury, and non-essential items.” The program, funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, provides an average of $250 per month to qualifying households.
The new policy will prohibit the direct use of TCA electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards for a range of goods and services. Among the newly banned purchases are tobacco and vaping products, video games, theme park tickets, tattoos, spa services, and psychic readings. These restrictions expand on existing rules that already block EBT transactions at casinos, liquor stores, and adult entertainment venues.
The administration stated the new rules are meant to “improve accountability and transparency” and ensure the benefits are used for basic needs like food, housing, and clothing. However, the announcement provided few details on how the item-specific restrictions will be enforced at the point-of-sale, especially at large retailers that sell both essential goods and the newly prohibited items. The release noted only that the policy will be implemented in phases using “transaction-level controls.”
