H.R. 3156 — Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services (JOBS) for Success Act of 2025

This section specifies that, except as otherwise provided, all references in this Act to a section or other provision are to the Social Security Act.

This section extends appropriations through FY2030 (from FY2018) for specified Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, which provide time-limited cash assistance and work supports to low-income families with children. Specifically, it (1) extends state family assistance grants under SSA §403(a)(1); (2) extends healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood competitive grants under SSA §403(a)(2) and removes a fiscal-year limitation; (3) extends tribal family assistance grants under SSA §412(a); and (4) extends 75% matching grants to territories (i.e., Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands) for TANF expenditures under SSA §1108(b)(2).

This section requires state agencies administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to develop individual opportunity plans for each work-eligible individual. The requirements include (1) an initial assessment of the individual's education, skills, prior work experience, work readiness, barriers to work, and child well-being; (2) development of a plan, in consultation with the individual, that incorporates a personal responsibility agreement, work activity obligations and monthly hours per sec. 407, employment goals with short-, intermediate-, and long-term actions (which may include secondary school completion for individuals under age 24), job counseling and services, possible referrals to substance abuse or mental health treatment, and the individual's signature; (3) completion within one year of the effective date for current recipients or within 60 days of eligibility determination for others; (4) universal engagement of all work-eligible recipients in work activities per secs. 407(c), (d), and (e); (5) reduction of assistance per sec. 407(e)(3) for noncompliance without good cause; and (6) review and update of the plan at least every 90 days.

This section replaces TANF work participation requirements (42 U.S.C. 607(a)) with performance accountability measures requiring states to achieve negotiated minimum performance levels on specified indicators of employment outcomes for work-eligible individuals, or face penalties under section 409(a)(3), with baselines established from FY2027 data and performance requirements beginning in FY2028. The indicators, weighted as specified, are (1) the percentage of work-eligible individuals in unsubsidized employment during the second quarter after program exit (40%); (2) the percentage of those individuals who remain in unsubsidized employment during the fourth quarter after exit (25%); (3) median earnings of those individuals in unsubsidized employment during the second quarter after exit (25%); and (4) the percentage of work-eligible individuals under age 24 who are attending high school or an equivalency program and who obtain a high school diploma or equivalent during assistance or within one year after exit (10%). Separately, states must achieve a negotiated minimum on the percentage of employment exits, calculated as the ratio of work-eligible individuals in unsubsidized employment six months after exit to the average monthly number of families receiving TANF assistance. Performance levels are negotiated annually by the Secretary and state, taking into account other states' levels and promoting continuous improvement, and adjusted using an objective statistical model—similar to that under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141(b)(3)(A)(viii))—for actual economic conditions, unemployment rates, industry changes, and participant characteristics (e.g., prior work history, education, skills).

This section modifies restrictions on the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants under 42 USC 604 as follows: (1) prohibits provision of assistance or services to families with monthly income exceeding twice the poverty line; (2) reduces the limit on administrative costs to 10% of the grant (from 15%), adds an exception for case management to develop individual opportunity plans under 42 USC 608(b), and establishes a penalty of up to 5% reduction in the subsequent year's grant for noncompliance; (3) prohibits direct spending on child care or other early childhood education programs, services, or activities; and (4) increases the share of the grant that states may transfer to other programs to 50% (from 30%), eliminates transfers to social services block grants, adds transfers to Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (with requirements that funds support individuals eligible under the new income limit, no more than 15% for statewide activities, and unavailability to states excluding TANF as a mandatory one-stop partner), and subjects transferred funds to the requirements of the recipient programs. (Thus, states may no longer spend TANF funds directly on child care but may transfer more to the Child Care and Development Block Grant program.)

This section establishes two new requirements for states receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants under the Social Security Act. (1) States must expend at least 25% of the grant on core activities, including work supports, education and training, apprenticeships, non-recurring short-term benefits, work activities (as defined in section 407(d)), and case management to develop individual opportunity plans under section 408(b). (2) At least 25% of a state's qualified state expenditures (as defined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(ii)) must be for the same core activities.

This section applies the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 and the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (i.e., laws requiring identification, reporting, and reduction of improper payments) to state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs (42 U.S.C. 604)—which provide block grants to states for cash assistance and services to low-income families with children—as if such programs were federal agencies; and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prescribe regulations on state review and reporting of TANF improper payments within two years of enactment. This section also requires the Secretary to submit to Congress within one year of enactment a report containing a plan to reduce or eliminate TANF improper payments made by states within 10 years.

This section establishes a non-supplantation requirement prohibiting states from using federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant funds to replace state general revenue spending on allowable TANF activities described in section 404 of the Social Security Act. (Thus, federal TANF funds must supplement state spending on such activities, which include cash assistance, work activities, child care, and administration for low-income families with children.)

This section adds a fifth purpose to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program: to reduce child poverty by increasing employment entry, retention, and advancement of needy parents. (TANF provides states flexible block grants to assist low-income families with children, previously guided by four purposes focused on family assistance, work promotion, pregnancy prevention, and two-parent families.)

This section revises the state plan requirements for eligibility to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants (42 U.S.C. 602) by shortening the relevant submission period to 24 months ending with the close of the first quarter of the fiscal year (from 27 months) and requiring Secretary of Health and Human Services approval of the plan (from a finding that it includes specified elements). In the required outline of the state family assistance program, the section (1) replaces prior work participation requirements for parents and caretakers—specifically, the 24-month time limit or readiness trigger and compliance with section 607—with a requirement to engage work-eligible individuals (as defined in regulations under section 407(i)(1)(A)(i)) in work activities consistent with section 407(c); (2) redesignates existing clauses (iv) through (vii) as (iii) through (vii); and (3) adds new clauses (viii) through (xiv) requiring states to describe case management and individual opportunity plans under section 408(b); proposed performance levels under section 407(a) for a two-year period with supporting data; engagement of low-income noncustodial parents owing child support with work supports; compliance with improper payment reductions under section 404(l); coordination with other programs (including potential transfers under section 404(d) and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act one-stop systems); marriage promotion (e.g., temporary disregard of a new spouse's income); and transitional benefits for those gaining employment (e.g., temporary earned income disregards or gradual benefit reductions). The section further (1) requires public posting of state plans on the website used for TANF performance data under section 407(b); (2) mandates two-year plans; (3) authorizes combined TANF and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act plans; and (4) requires the Secretary to approve compliant plans. This section also directs the Secretary to coordinate departmental work activities with other federal entities and disseminate effective practices; revises TANF technical assistance provisions to prioritize scientifically valid research, authorize use for performance publication under section 407(b), and reserve up to $25 million annually from contingency funds under section 403(a)(1)(C); and makes conforming amendments.

This section revises quarterly disaggregated case-level data reporting requirements for states under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (i.e., data used by HHS to verify state compliance with work participation rates under section 407) as follows: (1) requires full-population reporting on recipient families (previously allowing statistically valid samples under former subparagraph (B)); (2) replaces reporting on participation in specified activities with new subparagraphs on (K) work eligibility status of each family member, monthly hours (including zero) of work activity participation for work-eligible individuals (as defined in regulations under section 407(i)(1)(A)(i)), and reasons for non-work-eligible status, and (L) reasons for non-participation by work-eligible individuals and adults; and (3) revises subsection (c) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, to determine and require states to report information necessary to compute employment retention and earnings outcomes and statistical adjustment models under section 407.

This section revises data exchange requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (42 U.S.C. 611(d)) by replacing them with standards for improved interoperability between state agencies and federal reporting. It directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with an interagency work group and considering state perspectives, to designate such standards by rule to govern (1) categories of information that TANF state agencies must electronically exchange with other state agencies under federal law, and (2) federal reporting and data exchange; requires the standards, to the extent practicable, to (A) incorporate formats such as eXtensible Markup Language, (B) use interoperable standards such as the National Information Exchange Model, (C) align with federal contracting and accounting principles, (D) be cost-effective and improve program administration, and (E) allow upgrades; and clarifies that effective existing standards need not change. It further requires HHS to issue a proposed rule within 24 months of enactment identifying required data exchanges (including specifications and timing), factors for standardization, state implementation options, and future milestones.

This section establishes deadlines for states to obligate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant funds under section 403(a)(1) within two years and expend them within three years after the date the funds are made available. It permits a state to reserve up to 15% of such funds without fiscal year limitation for its TANF program, provided the state notifies the Secretary of Health and Human Services of its intent by the end of the standard two-year obligation period.

This section adds any establishment that offers marihuana (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act) for sale to the list of prohibited locations—currently casinos (clause (i)), liquor stores (clause (ii)), and tobacco stores (clause (iii))—where states may not use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants to provide cash assistance. (Thus, TANF benefits distributed via electronic benefit transfer may not be redeemed at marijuana dispensaries.)

This section adds definitions to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) statute (42 U.S.C. 619) related to allowable uses of funds, including: (1) "assistance," meaning cash, payments, vouchers, and other benefits designed to meet a family's ongoing basic needs (such as for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, household goods, personal care items, and general incidental expenses); (2) "work supports," meaning assistance and non-assistance transportation benefits (such as allowances, bus tokens, car payments, auto repair, auto insurance reimbursement, and van services) or non-recurrent, short-term benefits (such as tools, uniforms, fees for special licenses, bonuses, incentives, and job access expenditures) to help families obtain, retain, or advance in employment or participate in work activities; (3) "supportive services," meaning services such as domestic violence services, mental health, substance abuse and disability services, housing counseling, and other family supports (except to the extent prohibited by TANF maintenance-of-effort rules); and (4) "TANF benefit," meaning assistance or wage subsidies funded by TANF for work-eligible individuals entering subsidized employment (such as on-the-job training or apprenticeship) who are not receiving assistance.

This section eliminates four obsolete Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grant programs by striking authorizing paragraphs: (1) supplemental grants to states under section 403(a)(3) (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(3)); (2) high performance bonuses under section 403(a)(4) (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(4)); (3) Welfare-to-Work grants under section 403(a)(5) (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(5)); and (4) federal loans to states under section 406 (42 U.S.C. 606). (As background, TANF provides states and territories with block grants to replace Aid to Families with Dependent Children for time-limited cash assistance and work-support services to needy families with children.) The section makes conforming amendments across the TANF statute (42 U.S.C. §§601 et seq.) to remove related cross-references, penalties, exclusions from time limits and qualified state expenditures, tribal provisions, reporting requirements, and disclosures— including striking those grants from the list of payments disregarded in territorial payment ceilings under section 1108(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 1308(a)(2)) (thus, subjecting any residual payments under those programs to the ceiling, though the programs are eliminated). It further (1) eliminates limitations applying certain TANF work participation and reporting rules to other state programs funded with qualified state expenditures; (2) revises annual reports to Congress to cover outcome measures (from participation rates); (3) simplifies reduction-in-force protections by removing regulatory authority; (4) updates cross-references; and (5) modifies the maintenance-of-effort requirement under section 409(a)(6) (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(6)) to apply solely to the TANF program (from all state programs) and to include expenditures for purposes described in section 401(a)(3)-(5) (42 U.S.C. 601(a)(3)-(5)).