Baucus Applauds House Passage of Yearlong Extension of Job Training, Aid for Low-Income Families

Finance Chair Championed One-Year Extension of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program

Washington, DC – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today applauded the House of Representatives’ passage of a bill to extend aid for low-income American families through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF).  The extension passed as part of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010.  TANF provides safety-net assistance to American families with dependent children in the form of job training and job search support, child care and transportation in addition to other services that help people transition back to work.

“Families in Montana and across the country who face dire economic circumstances will continue to receive job training and critical support thanks to the passage of this bill,”  Baucus said. “This legislation extends job training funds and support for families who depend on this program while they get themselves back up on their feet.  The TANF extension will help to reduce the large number of Americans living in poverty and will help more families transition to work.”

Baucus has worked for months to pass an extension of the TANF program and secured a two-month extension of the program to prevent expiration in September.  Also in September, Baucus convened a Finance Committee hearing to examine the assistance that TANF provides to women and children living in poverty at which he argued that now is not the time to cut benefits with millions facing extreme economic hardship.

The TANF program is funded by flexible block grants provided to states by the federal government.  Each state receives a predetermined portion of the total funding budgeted every year and can use that money to fund a range of work opportunity programs including job training and job search assistance, child care, and early teen social services.

The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the TANF program.

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