Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen directed the state on Oct. 9 to stop recipients of cash welfare from spending that money on tobacco, pornography, tattoos, psychic and fortune-telling services, luxury watches and other non-essential items.
The order applies to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the federal cash welfare program known as TANF. Under the new state rule, Nebraska residents who receive TANF benefits can no longer use that money on the restricted list of goods and services.
The move closes a gap that has existed in federal welfare law for roughly 30 years. Since TANF began, federal rules have barred recipients from spending cash benefits directly at liquor stores, casinos or strip clubs. But the same money could still be spent on alcohol at a grocery store, on gambling outside a casino, or on pornography sold outside a club, because federal law never closed off those alternate routes.
Nebraska is not the first state to act. In August, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his state would block TANF cash from being spent on tobacco products, drugs, pornography, tattoos, video games, fortune-telling services and a range of other non-essential goods. The Trump administration approved Florida’s plan.
DeSantis said the change would protect “Floridians who genuinely need assistance” while guarding taxpayers against fraud and abuse.
States cannot rewrite the federal requirements that govern TANF on their own. Changing the underlying program nationwide would require an act of Congress. Instead, the Trump administration has issued guidance allowing individual states to request federal approval for stricter spending rules, which is the path both Florida and Nebraska have used.
Cash welfare recipients have also been able to use TANF funds for concert tickets, streaming subscriptions and spa treatments under current federal rules, according to the guidance cited by advocates pushing for the state-by-state restrictions.
Nebraska and Florida are now the two states that have taken formal action to restrict these categories of spending under TANF. Other governors have not yet announced similar measures.
