Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is cracking down on how welfare recipients can use public assistance benefits, aiming to curb the purchase of “nonessential” items such as vapes, tattoos and spa services.
In his Monday announcement, he said Florida will become the first state to amend its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families State Program to prohibit benefits from being used to buy certain “inappropriate, luxury” items.
Under the amended program, benefits can no longer be used to buy tobacco, nicotine and vaping products; pornography; drugs and intoxicants; video games, entertainment tickets, theme park admission and entertainment subscriptions; tattoos, spa services and tanning; and psychic and fortune-telling services.
TANF benefits are distributed through electronic benefit transfer cards to provide temporary cash assistance to eligible low-income families, intended to help cover necessities like housing, utilities and clothing.
Federal rules prohibit using TANF cash EBT cards at liquor stores, gambling establishments and adult entertainment venues. Individual states manage their own TANF State Plans and can add further restrictions, as Florida is doing.
While Florida’s EBT vendor blocks point-of-sale transactions at certain businesses and ATM transactions at prohibited locations, this policy expands restrictions to additional items and services at eligible retailers.
Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, said Florida is the first state to set such guardrails.
“Taxpayer-funded assistance should help families put food on the table, keep the lights on, purchase clothing, provide for their children and overcome barriers on the path toward independence,” he said in a statement. “We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended.”
State officials are working with the Trump administration on the proposed changes, Mr. DeSantis said, adding that a formal request to Washington is expected soon.
“We’re working on amending the state plan right now, and then we’ll work closely with our federal partners on identifying timelines and some of those implementation details,” Kate Williams, interim secretary for the Florida Department of Children and Families, said. “So, more to come, but we’ll make sure that that’s closely communicated with retailers and recipients as well.”
This initiative follows Florida’s “Healthy SNAP” initiative launched in April, which prohibited Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from buying soda, candy, energy drinks and ultra-processed prepared desserts.
However, a federal judge ruled in June that the federal government lacked authority to approve such SNAP waivers, striking down restrictions in five states — not Florida — out of the 23 that received approval.
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