Statement on School Clothing Allowance and TANF Review ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Communications Director Lars Dalseide released the following statement on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding and the Administration's ongoing review of TANF-funded programs:

When this Administration began reviewing West Virginia’s TANF-funded programs, the first data we received described a program in crisis. The state was spending far more each year than the federal grant provides, and the savings that had covered the difference were nearly gone.

Compounding the problem, the eligibility system the state depends on - a system that has cost West Virginia nearly $400 million and still does not work properly - cannot tell us reliably what is being spent while it is being spent. A state cannot manage what it cannot measure. That is why the Governor ordered a comprehensive review: not to reduce support for families, but to establish what West Virginia actually spends, what it actually receives, and what it can sustain.

Where we go from here

The Governor has directed the Department of Human Services to maintain spending levels for all TANF programs through the end of the current fiscal year, so those programs can continue to provide services to West Virginia families. The Governor will also seek a supplemental appropriation of $10 to $15 million from surplus funds to ensure adequate resources last through June 30, 2027, because some of the federal funds now being drawn down for these programs will be nearly exhausted by then.

School clothing this year

Our goal was to keep support consistent with last year while making sure the state’s capped federal TANF funding can still cover the other programs that depend on it. Last year the School Clothing Allowance spent roughly $11.4 million and assisted approximately 57,000 children. Applications for this year are still being processed and verified, and we expect this year’s program to match or exceed last year’s level of support.

How West Virginia compares

West Virginia is one of only a handful of states in the country that runs a statewide school clothing program, and it is the only state in the region where every eligible child, in every county, qualifies on the same terms. In the states that border West Virginia, this kind of help is generally limited to children in foster care, left to each county to offer or not, or not offered at all. Among the states that do run a program, West Virginia’s investment is among the most generous in the nation. Michigan - with more than five times our population and an economy more than six times the size of ours - appropriates about $10 million a year, while West Virginia invested about $11.4 million last year. The chart below sets out the comparison.

No money for TANF is sitting unused

Two different figures are being mistaken for money the state is free to spend.

The first is West Virginia’s spending authority. That is a ceiling the Legislature sets - the most the state would be allowed to spend if it had the money in hand. It is not money. The federal block grant actually provides about $98.8 million a year, and we are spending almost $137 million.

The second is the balance in the state’s TANF savings account, and it is not a surplus either. That gap - about $38 million a year - has to come from somewhere, and it has been coming from those savings. The account has fallen from roughly $141 million three years ago to about $41 million today. It is almost gone. Every dollar still in it is already committed to child care for working parents, cash assistance, family support centers, and the other programs paid for out of this same grant, so money spent on any one of them is money taken from the others. When those savings are exhausted, all of these programs are in jeopardy - and the West Virginians who rely on them are the most vulnerable people in our state.

How the state got here

The prior administration committed West Virginia to permanent, long-term obligations using one-time, temporary federal money in the savings account the state was only ever going to have once. Larry Pack was that administration’s acting revenue chief when those commitments were made. He kicked the can down the road, and it landed on these children.

Governor Morrisey is doing the responsible thing - determining how West Virginia can live within its capped federal allocation and support every program that helps vulnerable families, not only this year but over the long term. The Governor has also directed agencies to continue identifying reforms that strengthen accountability, improve transparency, and preserve these programs for future generations of West Virginians. In addition, the Governor will work with the Legislature to develop a permanent solution - one that does not depend on the one-time COVID-era money the state once relied on to paper over the gap - and to put safeguards in place that make sure every dollar in these programs reaches the children and families it is meant to serve.

Governor Patrick Morrisey’s policies will always put kids first. He fights for kids, and he is working to make sure they have the benefit of these programs for the long term - funded through sustainable revenue sources.