States and TANF Balances

Billions of dollars available for investment in support services

State spending on cash assistance for needy families has fallen dramatically since the enactment of the 1996 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) law that replaced the AFDC welfare program. TANF funds not used for cash assistance are available for states to invest in a broad range of programs and services for needy families, such as child care, transportation, housing, job training, and substance abuse.

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has compiled new data on states’ use of TANF funds through the end of federal FY 2000 (ending September 30). The new information shows that while states have made progress in obligating and spending their TANF funds in the past six months, billions of dollars are still available for states to invest in support services for families struggling to make ends meet. According to the latest figures, there remains a total of $2.7 billion unobligated and $5.3 billion obligated but not yet spent, for a total of $8 billion in unspent dollars available in the states.

The National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support recently released a report that examines the resources available to the states to impact poverty rates, particularly unspent TANF funds. The report includes model state programs, as well as examples of states using TANF funds to supplant previously used state dollars to address poverty, rather than using these dollars to supplement state resources.

How to read the TANF Table
The first two columns of the TANF table represent the amount and percentage of funds that each state has not yet obligated from the total funds they have been allocated by the federal government since the TANF law went into effect (fiscal years 1997 through 2000). The next two columns show the amount obligated but unspent of the total funds each state has been allocated since FY 1997. The last column provides the percentage of the population in poverty for each state.

Figures compiled by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

STATES’ UNUSED AND UNSPENT TANF FUNDS*
(* As of September 2000)

State	Obligated but unspent funds $ in millions	As a % of total funds	Unobligated but unspent funds $ in millions	As a % of total available funds	% of population in poverty
AL	$69.2	17%	$2.7	1%	14.5%
AK	2.9	14%	6.8	3%	9.4%
AZ	35.1	4%	65.5	7%	16.6%
AR	21.1	11%	0	0	14.7%
CA	0	0	1,636.5	11%	15.4%
CO	0	0	94.2	20%	9.2%
CT	0	0	0	0	9.5%
DE	1.1	9%	0.1	10%	10.3%
DC	18.2	5%	79.9	20%	22.3%
FL	3.6	15%	432.3	18%	13.1%
GA	96.8	7%	100.4	8%	13.5%
HI	14.3	4%	5.8	18%	10.9%
ID	17.4	16%	9	8%	13%
IL	0	0	0	0	10.1%
IN	40.6	5%	91.4	11%	9.4%
IA	12	2%	5.2	10%	9.1%
KS	0	0	0	0	9.6%
KY	0	0	4.7	7%	13.5%
LA	169	26%	0	0	19.1%
ME	0	0	12.1	4%	10.4%
MD	49.5	6%	54.2	6%	7.2%
MA	102.7	6%	0	0	8.7%
MI	124.8	4%	0	0	11%
MN	95.5	10%	83.5	9%	10.3%
MS	62.9	17%	58.2	16%	17.6%
MO	0	0	0	0	9.8%
MT	29	18%	0	0	16.6%
NE	9.6	4%	0	0	12.3%
NV	0	0	27.7	16%	10.6%
NH	8.2	5%	0	0	9.8%
NJ	0	0	379.7	25%	8.6%
NM	57.7	13%	0	0	20.4%
NY	761	8%	546.7	6%	16.7%
NC	6	50%	80.1	7%	14%
ND	11.5	13%	0.1	14%	15.1%
OH	216.7	7%	504.9	17%	11.2%
OK	94.4	16%	0	0	14.1%
OR	0	0	21.4	3%	15%
PA	0	0	437.3	17%	11.3%
RI	4.9	15%	0	0	11.6%
SC	0	0	33.8	9%	13.7%
SD	14.3	17%	2.4	3%	10.8%
TN	100	12%	27.6	3%	13.4%
TX	141.2	7%	41.6	2%	15.1%
UT	33.4	10%	0	0	9%
VT	3.2	17%	0	0	9.9%
VA	0	0	36.8	6%	8.8%
WA	88	6%	141.2	9%	8.9%
WV	135.2	33%	25.6	6%	17.8%
WI	40.7	3%	284.6	22%	8.8%
WY	40.7	49%	16.3	20%	10.6%
TOTAL	$2.745 billion		$5.35 billion		11.8%

For more information on TANF funds and investment opportunities, in addition to links to the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support and to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, click here.