To the editor:
A terrible mistake was made by cutting the support for SDs most destitute children.
The unprecedented, unnecessary, harmful cut came outside the normal state budgeting process. Long after the legislature ended with sufficient funding for these children, a summer surprise appeared in public notices: TANF payments were being cut 10%. TANF is Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal-state program for children in desperate need.
Congress just increased financial burdens on states, but the TANF cut as the immediate and, so far, the only response is surely a mistake. Congress did not cut TANF. Nothing else in all of our state government received 10% cuts, only the childrens TANF payments.
Another excuse for the cut was claiming the state is paying more state match than required to get the federal TANF block grant. But it was only made to seem in excess when someone decided to pay for an education program using TANF funds. That was a mistake. That very good program should be moved back to the Education Dept. and funded as usual, not by taking money from our poorest children.
The cut, saving the state less than $1.5 million, was allowed by Rules Committee one day after $63 million left from last years appropriations was added to the states reserves. It wont make much difference in the state budget, but in families surviving on so little, the $51-a-month average loss is huge.
Cutting TANF payments has been unthinkable! Nobody does that! I believe South Dakotans want to help vulnerable children get through very hard times.
We dont want our poorest children to have to pay for the functions of state government. With TANF, we wrap our arms around them when they need us most. The payments should be increased to be more adequate and adjusted annually for inflation.
Cathy Brechtelsbauer
Sioux Falls
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