Florida is becoming the first state to impose sweeping new limits on how welfare cash can be spent, blocking recipients from using cash-assistance benefits loaded onto EBT cards for purchases like tattoos, theme park tickets, video games, vaping products and other items not generally considered basic needs under a plan the Trump administration is urging other states to emulate.
Florida's cash-assistance program, known as Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), is funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It is separate from SNAP, the food-assistance program, though families may receive both types of benefits through separate balances on the same EBT card.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families (ACF) determined Florida's updated TANF plan to be complete Thursday in a letter sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The letter praised the Sunshine State governor for putting common-sense restrictions on what it calls inappropriate, luxury and non-essential purchases.
"Taxpayer-funded assistance should help families put food on the table, keep the lights on, purchase clothing, provide for their children and overcome barriers on the path toward independence," DeSantis said in announcing the policy. "We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended."
Florida had already barred EBT cards from being used or accepted for alcohol purchases and transactions at adult-entertainment establishments, casinos and commercial bingo locations several years ago, but the updated plan moves beyond those merchant and location-based restrictions by imposing item-level limits at otherwise eligible retailers, including on purchases for tattoos and other body piercings, entertainment services and products like theme park admission and video games, intoxicants like vapes and other nicotine products, and pornography products.
The governor's press release announcing the change also cites "psychic and fortune-telling services" among those purchases that will be prohibited. Florida's separate Healthy SNAP initiative, launched in April, barred recipients from using food benefits on soda, energy drinks, candy and ultra-processed prepared desserts.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive advocates for welfare recipients have raised concerns about the new restrictions, arguing they create additional barriers for families already facing hardship. Critics say item-level restrictions can be difficult to implement technically and may disproportionately affect legitimate purchases that fall into gray areas between essential and non-essential.
Some poverty researchers note that TANF was designed to provide flexible assistance to help families address immediate crises, and that restrictive spending rules can undermine the program's effectiveness. Advocates have argued that administrative burdens on beneficiaries can create unnecessary complexity without significantly reducing fraud.
Welfare rights organizations have pointed out that benefit amounts like Florida's average of roughly $250 per month already fall well below most estimates of what constitutes a living wage, questioning whether further restricting how recipients spend assistance meaningfully addresses systemic issues around economic mobility and opportunity.
What the Right Is Saying
ACF Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams said the administration views TANF as temporary help for families in need, not an unrestricted cash benefit. "When people come to us for those basic needs, we will give them short-term assistance for those needs, but not for superfluous purchases," he said.
Adams told Fox News Digital the administration hopes Florida becomes a model for other states. He said 27 states lack EBT location restrictions beyond those required by federal law and that most states do not impose item-level TANF purchase limits. "While Florida is the first state, hopefully it's not the last state," Adams said, adding that ACF plans to highlight Florida's approach as a best practice for other states.
DeSantis emphasized accountability in announcing the policy. "We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended," he said. The governor's office noted the policy does not reduce anyone's benefit amount, only restricts how cash benefits can be spent.
What the Numbers Show
Florida distributes welfare benefits through EBT cards to help eligible families cover basics such as food, clothing, housing, utilities, household goods and personal-care items.
The average participating household receives roughly $250 a month in TCA benefits, according to the governor's office.
Under the final plan, recipients will be allowed to withdraw TCA cash only at SNAP-authorized retailers and financial institutions that accept EBT cards.
Nationally, 27 states lack EBT location restrictions beyond those required by federal law, ACF reported. Most states do not impose item-level TANF purchase limits, according to the agency.
The Healthy SNAP initiative, launched in April, barred recipients from using food benefits on soda, energy drinks, candy and ultra-processed prepared desserts.
The Bottom Line
Florida's new restrictions represent a significant expansion of how states can regulate TANF spending beyond traditional merchant-based blocks. The Trump administration has signaled it wants other states to follow Florida's lead, potentially reshaping welfare policy nationally.
The restrictions will be phased in as Florida works with its EBT vendor and participating retailers to block prohibited purchases. Recipients will not lose any benefits under the new rules; rather, the purchases they can make with their cash assistance will be limited.
What to watch: Whether other states move to adopt similar item-level TANF restrictions, and how courts and federal regulators respond to challenges over whether such limits exceed state authority under federal welfare law.