Six Democrats in the Georgia General Assembly filed a bill this week that calls on state officials to expand access to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
According to that bill, HB 741, those Democrats also want to make eligible people convicted of felony drug charges. The bill also would, if enacted into law, increase the lifetime maximum for TANF benefits and stipulate that the government could disregard a person’s assets when determining eligibility.
The Georgia Assembly’s website identifies State Rep. Kim Schofield (D-Atlanta) as the bill’s primary sponsor.
“Cash assistance to a recipient who is not a minor child and who is a head of a household or married to the head of a household shall be limited to a lifetime maximum of 60 months, whether or not consecutive, beginning July 1, 2021,” according to the language of the bill.
Schofield’s bill would also tell state officials to repeal the family cap on TANF benefits.
Schofield’s co-sponsors include the following:
• State Rep. James Beverly (D-Macon)
• State Rep. Sandra Scott (D-Rex)
• State Rep. Shelly Hutchinson (D-Snellville)
• State Rep. Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain)
• State Rep. Rhonda Burnough (D-Riverdale)
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website, theTANF program provides states and territories with flexibility to operate programs that federal officials say helps low-income families with children achieve economic self-sufficiency. States use TANF to fund monthly cash assistance payments to low-income families with children.
Schofield has co-sponsored other bills or resolutions this session that demand slavery reparations and giving felons the right to vote.
As The Georgia Star News reported in January, various left-leaning groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Southern Center for Human Rights, have endorsed restoring felons’ voting rights.
Also as reported in January, Schofield and five other Georgia state representatives put forward a resolution asking that members of the U.S. Congress create a formal commission to study whether the government should provide slavery reparations.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Georgia Capitol” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.
