New welfare rules tighten work mandates, cut off families earning above poverty line
H.R. 3156 — Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services (JOBS) for Success Act of 2025 · Filed by Darin LaHood (R-IL) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced May 1, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill overhauls the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program by imposing strict work requirements, performance metrics, and income caps on states. It requires states to track employment outcomes (job placement, retention, earnings, high school completion), publicly report performance on a federal dashboard, and face financial penalties if they miss targets. It bars states from serving families earning more than twice the poverty line, prohibits direct child care spending, and requires 25% of funds go to 'core activities' (work, training, apprenticeships). States can transfer up to 50% of funds to workforce or child care programs. The bill strengthens work participation rules, allows states to exempt single parents with infants under 12 months, and adds new work activities like apprenticeships and career technical education.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is to tighten eligibility (income cap), mandate work participation, and impose state-level performance penalties. While titled around 'jobs' and 'opportunity,' the operative text restricts access to assistance and shifts risk to states through performance-based funding reductions.
What the text implies
- Income cap at twice poverty line (~$3,400/month for a family of three in 2025) will exclude working poor families who earn modestly above threshold, creating a cliff effect where earning slightly more results in total loss of benefits.
- 25% core activity requirement and child care prohibition may force states to reduce or eliminate child care assistance, shifting costs to families and potentially reducing parental work capacity.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who it affects
While the bill frames itself around employment and poverty reduction, its operative mechanisms restrict access to assistance for low-income families (income cap at twice poverty line), reduce flexibility in how states can use funds (25% core activity mandate, child care prohibition), and impose work requirements that may exclude vulnerable populations. The public dashboard and performance metrics are transparency measures, but they serve primarily to enforce compliance rather than protect benefi