Gene Falk
Specialist in Social Policy
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides
grants to states, Indian tribes, and territories for a wide range of
benefits, services, and activities that address economic and social
disadvantage for families with children. TANF is best known for funding state
cash welfare programs for needy families with children, and it was created in
the 1996 welfare reform law. However, TANF is not synonymous with cash
welfare. In FY2012, only 28.6% of federal and state TANF dollars were for
cash welfare. TANF also funds child care; programs that address child
abuse and neglect; various early childhood initiatives, including
prekindergarten programs; earnings supplements for workers in low-income
families; emergency and short-term aid; pregnancy prevention programs; responsible
fatherhood programs; and initiatives to encourage healthy marriages.
The bulk of federal TANF funding is in a fixed block grant, which has been set
at $16.5 billion since FY1997. The basic block grant is not adjusted for
inflation, or for changes in the circumstances of a state such as its cash
welfare caseload, population, or number of children in poverty. States are
also required to spend a specified minimum of $10.4 billion in state funds on TANF-related
activities and populations. This amount also has not changed since FY1997.
TANF cash welfare programs today reflect a long history (going back to the
early 1900s) and much controversy. States set their own cash welfare
benefit levels. In 2011, cash benefits in all states represented a
fraction of poverty-level income. In New York, the state with the highest benefit
among the 48 contiguous states, the maximum monthly TANF cash benefit for a
family of three was $753, which translates to 49% of poverty-level income.
In contrast, Mississippi paid a monthly cash benefit for a family of three
of $170 (11% of poverty-level income). Families with adult recipients (and
certain nonrecipient parents) come under work participation rules. Federally funded
aid is also time-limited for such families.
The cash welfare caseload has declined dramatically from its pre-welfare-reform
high of 5.1 million families in 1994 to 1.7 million families in July 2008.
The cash welfare caseload increased with the economic slump associated
with the 2007-2009 recession, to a peak of 2.0 million families in
December 2010. In March 2013, the cash welfare caseload stood at 1.8 million families.
The cash welfare caseload has traditionally consisted of families headed by a nonworking
parent, usually a single mother. However, in FY2010, less than half of the TANF
cash caseload fit this description. The TANF cash caseload is very diverse,
with more than half the caseload having different characteristics than the
historical traditional cash welfare family.
TANF is not a program per se, but a flexible funding stream used to provide a
wide range of benefits and services that address the effects of, and the
root causes of, disadvantage among families with children. TANF is
currently funded through January 15, 2014. Decisions on extending TANF
funding further will be made in the context of both the lingering effects of
the 2007-2009 recession and longer trends that were evident even before
the recession, which showed an increasing percentage of children living in
poverty and born into circumstances associated with economic disadvantage.
Date of Report: October 23, 2013
Number of Pages: 21
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Susan B. Epstein
Specialist in Foreign Policy
Marian Leonardo Lawson
Specialist in Foreign Assistance Policy
Alex Tiersky
Analyst in Foreign Affairs
On April 10, 2013, the Obama Administration submitted to Congress its
budget request for FY2014. The request for State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs totals $51.84 billion, which is about 0.8% below the
FY2013 post-sequester estimated funding level of $52.24 billion. Within
this total, $3.81 billion is designated as Overseas Contingency Operations
(OCO) funding, which is 68% below FY2013 estimated OCO funding of $11.91
billion. Of the total request, $16.88 billion is for State Department
Operations and related agencies, a 4.5% decline from the FY2013 funding
estimate. About $35.1 billion is for Foreign Operations, a 1.6% increase from the
FY2013 estimate. This report provides a brief overview of the FY2014 State
Department, Foreign Operations and Related Programs funding request, as well as
top-line analysis of pending House and Senate State-Foreign Operations
appropriations proposals. It does not provide information or analysis on
specific provisions in the House and Senate legislation.
A table in the Appendix provides side-by-side account-level funding data
for FY2012, FY2013, the FY2014 request, and the pending FY2014 House and
Senate proposals. The FY2013 funding data used as a point of comparison
throughout this report represent post-sequestration estimates provided by
the Department of State and reflect across-the-board rescissions. These data
are not yet available for all accounts, or for country allocations. The
funding table in the Appendix will be updated as more information
becomes available.
Date of Report: October 7, 2013
Number of Pages: 31
Order Number: R43043
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D. Andrew Austin
Analyst in Economic Policy
Mindy R. Levit
Analyst in Public Finance
Total federal debt can increase in two ways. First, debt increases when the
government sells debt to the public to finance budget deficits and acquire
the financial resources needed to meet its obligations. This increases debt
held by the public. Second, debt increases when the federal government
issues debt to certain government accounts, such as the Social Security,
Medicare, and Transportation trust funds, in exchange for their reported
surpluses. This increases debt held by government accounts. The sum
of debt held by the public and debt held by government accounts is
the total federal debt. Surpluses reduce debt held by the public, while
deficits raise it.
On August 2, 2011, President Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA;
S. 365; P.L. 112-25), after an extended debt limit episode. The federal
debt had reached its legal limit on May 16, 2011, prompting then Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner to declare a debt issuance suspension period,
allowing certain extraordinary measures to extend Treasury’s borrowing capacity.
The BCA included provisions aimed at deficit reduction and allowing the debt
limit to rise between $2,100 billion and $2,400 billion in three stages,
the latter two subject to congressional disapproval. Once the BCA was
enacted, a presidential certification triggered a $400 billion increase,
raising the debt limit to $14,694 billion, and a second $500 billion increase on
September 22, 2011, as a disapproval measure (H.J.Res. 77) only passed the
House. A January 12, 2012, presidential certification triggered a third,
$1.2 trillion increase on January 28, 2012, although the House passed a
disapproval measure. Federal debt reached its limit on December 31, 2012,
and extraordinary measures were then used to allow payment of government
obligations until February 4, 2013, when H.R. 325, which suspended the
debt limit until May 19, 2013, was signed into law (P.L. 113-3). As of May
19, the debt limit was set at $16,699 billion and extraordinary measures
were again employed. On September 25, Treasury Secretary Lew notified
Congress that the government would exhaust its borrowing capacity around
October 17. The U.S. Treasury would then have a cash balance of only $30
billion. Independent analysts estimate that balance would last until about
the end of October or very early November. Congress has always restricted
federal debt. The Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917 included an aggregate
limit on federal debt as well as limits on specific debt issues. Through the
1920s and 1930s, Congress altered the form of those restrictions to give
the U.S. Treasury more flexibility in debt management and to allow
modernization of federal financing. In 1939, a general limit was placed on
federal debt.
Congress, aside from two measures noted above, has modified the debt limit 10
times since 2001, due to persistent deficits and additions to federal
trust funds. Congress raised the limit in June 2002, May 2003, November
2004, March 2006, and September 2007. The 2007-2008 fiscal crisis and
subsequent economic slowdown led to sharply higher deficits in recent years,
which led to a series of debt limit increases. The Housing and Economic
Recovery Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221), signed into law (P.L. 110-289) on July
30, 2008, included a debt limit increase. The Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424), signed into law on October 3 (P.L.
110-343), raised the debt limit again. The debt limit rose a third time in
less than a year to $12,104 billion with the passage of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 13, 2009 (ARRA; H.R. 1),
which was signed into law on February 17, 2009 (P.L. 111-5). Following that measure,
the debt limit was subsequently increased by $290 billion to $12,394 billion
(P.L. 111- 123) in a stand-alone debt limit bill on December 28, 2009, and
by $1.9 trillion to $14,294 billion on February 12, 2010 (P.L. 111-139),
as part of a package that also contained the Statutory Pay- As-You-Go Act
of 2010. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Date of Report: October 15, 2013
Number of Pages: 45
Order Number: RL31967
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