The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Fiscal Policy
BILL: CS/SB 7052
INTRODUCER: Fiscal Policy Committee; Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs
SUBJECT: Economic Self-Sufficiency
DATE: February 23, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Hall Tuszynski CF Submitted as Comm. Bill/Fav
2. Hall Yeatman FP Fav/CS
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
Public assistance programs help low-income families meet their basic needs, such as housing,
food, and utilities. The most commonly utilized public assistance programs in Florida include
Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or food assistance, the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program,
and the School Readiness Program (SR). In Florida, the majority of the participants in these
programs are children.
While the goal of public assistance is, generally, to ensure that a family’s basic needs are met
and facilitate economic advancement, families often exit programs before they are truly capable
of maintaining self-sufficiency. A “benefit cliff” occurs when a modest increase in wages results
in a net loss of income due to the reduction in or loss of public assistance funds that follows.
Benefit cliffs create a financial disincentive for low-income individuals to earn more income due
to the destabilization and uncertainty that often results from a loss in benefits, especially when
the benefit lost was essential to a parent’s ability to reliably work.
CS/SB 7052 revises various components of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
program (TANF), also known as Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) and the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill creates case management as a transitional benefit
for families transitioning from TCA. The bill requires CareerSource Florida to use a tool to
demonstrate future financial impacts of changes to benefits and income and local workforce
boards to administer, analyze, and use data from intake and exit surveys of TCA recipients.
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The bill requires the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to expand mandatory SNAP
Employment and Training participation to include adults ages 18-59, who do not have children
under age 18 in the home, or otherwise qualify for an exemption.
The bill also creates the School Readiness Plus Program that provides a child care subsidy for
families deemed ineligible on redetermination for the SR program, but have income between 85
and 100 percent of the state median income.
The bill has an indeterminate negative fiscal impact on state government and provides an
appropriation for the implementation of the School Readiness Plus Program. See Section V.,
Fiscal Impact Statement.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2024.
II. Present Situation:
Public Assistance Programs
Public assistance programs help low-income families meet their basic needs, such as housing,
food, and utilities.1 The social safety net for American families depends on the coordination of a
complex patchwork of federal, state, and local funding and program administration.2 Through
various programs, public assistance is capable of helping families to keep children in their family
home through economic difficulties3 and reducing the material hardship that has been linked to
negative outcomes in children4, as well as driving the economy in times of market downturns5
and supporting the career advancement of low-income adults striving to break the cycle of
intergenerational poverty.6
1
National Conference of State Legislatures, Introduction to Benefits Cliffs and Public Assistance Programs (2023), available
at https://www.ncsl.org/human-services/introduction-to-benefits-cliffs-and-public-assistance-programs (last visited January
24, 2024).
2
Brookings Institute, State Social Safety Net Policy: How are States Addressing Economic Need? (2023), available at
https://www.brookings.edu/events/state-social-safety-net-policy-how-are-states-addressing-economic-need/ (last visited
January 24, 2024).
3
Providing assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes is one of the four purposes of the
TANF program. See Office of Family Assistance, About TANF (2022), available at
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/programs/tanf/about (last visited January 24, 2024). See also Gennetian, L. & Magnuson, K.,
Three Reasons Why Providing Cash to Families with Children is a Sound Policy Investment (2022). Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities, available at https://www.cbpp.org/research/income-security/three-reasons-why-providing-cash-to-families-
with-children-is-a-sound (last visited January 24, 2024).
4
Karpman, M., Gonzalez, D., Zuckerman, S., & Adams, G., What Explains the Widespread Material Hardships among Low-
Income Families with Children? (2018). Urban Institute, available at
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99521/what_explains_the_widespread_material_hardship_among_low-
income_families_with_children_0.pdf (last visited January 24, 2024).
5
Vogel, S., Miller, C., & Rolston, K., Impact of USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Rural and
Urban Economies in the Aftermath of the Great Recession (2021). USDA, Economic Research Service Economic Research
Report Number 296, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3938336 (last visited January 24,
2024).
6
Duncan, G., & Holzer, H., Policies that Reduce Intergenerational Poverty (2023). The Brookings Institute, available at
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/policies-that-reduce-intergenerational-poverty/ (last visited January 24, 2024).
BILL: CS/SB 7052 Page 3
The process of facilitating the broad, conceptual goals of public assistance programs involves
several federal programs with different levels of flexibility for states to tailor the programs to
their own populations. The specific eligibility criteria and participation requirements vary by
program through complementary state and federal policy.
The most commonly utilized public assistance programs in Florida include Medicaid, the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) or food assistance, and the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program. In
Florida, the majority of participants in one or more of these programs are children; in May 2021,
children accounted for roughly 60 percent of the total participants in any of these three programs.
At that time, 54 percent of children in Florida were participating in at least one of these public
assistance programs.7
Barriers to Economic Self-Sufficiency
Benefit Cliffs
While the goal of public assistance programs is, generally, to ensure that a family’s basic needs
are met and facilitate economic advancement, families often exit programs before they are truly
capable of maintaining self-sufficiency. A benefit cliff occurs when a modest increase in wages
results in a net loss of income due to the reduction in or loss of public benefits that follows.8
Benefit cliffs create a financial disincentive for low-income individuals to earn more income due
to the destabilization and uncertainty that often results from a loss in benefits, especially when
the benefit lost was essential to a parent’s ability to reliably work, such as child care.9 The fear of
an impending benefit cliff can be sufficient to discourage career advancement. The complex
nature of public assistance programs contributes to workers struggling to understand the timing
and magnitude of benefits loss. This uncertainty, paired with economic insecurity, can prevent
individuals from seeking or accepting opportunities for career advancement.10
The most significant benefit cliffs occur when a family loses housing or child care assistance.
While a family is receiving housing and/or child care benefits, the costs for these necessities are
a defined, affordable share of the family’s income, but those expenses can skyrocket when the
family enters the private market where there are no controls on prices.11
7
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). Research Memorandum: Economic Self-
Sufficiency, Research Product 10. On file with the Senate Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee.
8
Altig, D., Illin, E., Ruder, A., Terry, E., Benefits Cliffs and the Financial Incentives for Career Advancement: A Case Study
of the Health Care Services Career Pathway (2020). The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, available at
https://www.atlantafed.org/community-development/publications/discussion-papers/2020/01/31/01-benefits-cliffs-and-the-
financial-incentives-for-career-advancement (last visited January 24, 2024).
9
Id.
10
Federak Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Career Ladder Identifier and Financial Forecaster (CLIFF), available at
https://www.atlantafed.org/economic-mobility-and-resilience/advancing-careers-for-low-income-families/cliff-tool (last
visited January 24, 2024).
11
Ettinger de Cuba, S., Cliff Effects and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (2017), Federal Reserve Bank of
Boston, available at https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/communities-and-banking/2017/winter/cliff-effects-and-the-
supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program.aspx#ft7 (last visited January 24, 2024).
BILL: CS/SB 7052 Page 4
Recidivism
Recidivism occurs when a family leaves an assistance program due to increased income and then
returns to the program within two calendar years.12 Some degree of recidivism is expected;
assistance programs exist to support families through financial hardship and, regardless of
personal planning, unanticipated events can cause families to find themselves financially
unstable once again. A high rate of recidivism, however, indicates that families are not exiting a
program at a point where they are able to maintain self-sufficiency. Due to the structure of some
public benefits programs, families may be exiting the program into financially tenuous situations
and without a clear path for upward mobility.13
Program recidivism is exacerbated by factors like the benefits cliff, where families are exiting a
program with fewer net resources, and persistent barriers to employment that were not
sufficiently addressed before the family exited the program.
Child Care
The lack of child care services presents a significant barrier to employment for the parents of
small children. Rather than a personal, individual barrier to employment, the inaccessibility of
child care is a structural problem that influences the behavior and economic outcomes for a
broad swath of Americans. It is estimated that only 44 percent of U.S. families with children
under the age of 13 can afford the full price of childcare without having to sacrifice other basic
needs such as housing, food, healthcare, and transportation.14
The unavailability of appropriate, high quality child care affects both how parents participate in
the workforce and children’s development. Parents who want to work may have to work fewer
hours or turn down higher-paying jobs in order to remain ineligible for child care assistance
programs.15 There is a significant economic impact associated with parents opting out of the
workforce, or choosing to remain in lower-paying jobs, due to the inaccessibility of quality,
affordable child care.16
12
CareerSource Florida, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Transitional Benefits Feasibility Study (2023).
On file with Senate Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee.
13
Bourdeaux, C. & Pandey, L., Report on the Outcomes and Characteristics of TANF Leavers (2017). Georgia State
University, Center for State and Local Finance, available at https://cslf.gsu.edu/download/outcomes-and-characteristics-of-
tanf-leavers/?wpdmdl=6494571&refresh=5f7852f89a8bc1601721080 (last visited January 24, 2024).
14
Birken, B., Ilin, E., Ruder, A., & Terry, E., Restructuring the Eligibility Policies of the Child Care and Development Fund
to Address Benefit Cliffs and Affordability: Florida As a Case Study (2021). Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, available at
https://www.atlantafed.org/-/media/documents/community-development/publications/discussion-papers/2021/01-
restructuring-the-eligibility-policies-of-the-child-care-and-development-fund-to-address-benefit-cliffs-and-affordability-
2021-06-18.pdf (last visited January 24, 2024).
15
Morrisey, T.W., Child Care and Parent Labor Force Participation: A Review of the Research Literature (2017). Rev Econ
Household 15, 1-24. Available at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11150-016-9331-3 (last visited January 24,
2024).
16
For more information on this economic impact, see, Altig, D., Ilin, E., Ruder, A., & Terry, E., Benefits Cliffs and the
Financial Incentives for Career Advancement: A Case Study of a Health Care Career Pathway (2020). Federal Reserve Bank
of Atlanta, available at https://www.atlantafed.org/community-development/publications/discussion-papers/2020/01/31/01-
benefits-cliffs-and-the-financial-incentives-for-career-advancement (last visited January 24, 2024); and Council of Economic
Advisers, The Role of Affordable Child Care in Promoting Work Outside the Home (2019) , available at
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/The-Role-of-Affordable-Child-Care-in-Promoting-Work-
Outside-the-Home-1.pdf (last visited January 24, 2024).
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For parents who choose to remain in the workforce, the inability to afford quality child care can
have negative effects on children’s development. Parents may have to reduce their standard of
living in order to afford child care and continue to work; if this results in the sacrifice of
adequate housing and health care, this can adversely affect parents as well as children ad lead to
financial and psychological stress.17 Alternatively, parents may choose lower quality child care
that is more affordable. The quality of child care, however, matters for the healthy development
of children at early ages.18 Low quality child care can adversely affect children’s task
attentiveness and emotional regulation;19 whereas high quality child care has been associated
with positive outcomes such as fewer reports of problem behaviors, higher cognitive
performance, and higher language skills.20
Education
A person’s level of educational attainment has a significant impact on the employment
opportunities available to that person and on his or her capacity for upward economic mobility
over time. A person who attained at least a high school diploma, or the equivalent,21 has access
to further education and professional development that are not available to individuals who did
not complete high school. Higher levels of educational attainment are associated with higher
employment rates and higher median earnings.22 For example, in 2022, the employment rate for
adults ages 25 to 24 ranged from 61 percent among individuals who had not completed high
school23 to 87 percent for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.24
The lack of a high school diploma, or the equivalent, complicates the transition to adulthood.
Among youth who do not pursue post-secondary education, having a high school diploma leads
to significantly more time employed during the early years of adulthood.25 The top risk factor for
homelessness among young adults is the lack of a high school diploma or an equivalent
17
Supra, note 14.
18
Id.
19
Gialamas, A., Mittinty, M., Sawyer, M., Zubrick, S., & Lynch, J., Child Care Quality and Children's Cognitive and Socio-
Emotional Development: an Australian Longitudinal Study (2014). Early Child Development and Care 184 (7): 977–997.
20
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Early Child Care Research Network. The NICHD
Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (2005) , available at
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/documents/seccyd_06.pdf (last visited January 24, 2024).
21
The most commonly recognized high school equivalent is the General Educational Development (GED) credential. GED
credentials are an alternative credential for individuals who did not complete high school. The FED is accepted by most
colleges and universities that require a high school diploma for admission, and most companies that have positions requiring
a high school diploma accept the GED as an alternative credential