TANF Hygiene Access Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill directs the HHS Office of Family Assistance to run a competitive demonstration program that pays states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to provide hygiene materials to low-income households. Covered products include soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, diapers, baby wipes, laundry detergent, dish soap, and other hygiene products selected by HHS. Congress funds the program at $25 million in the first fiscal year, $30 million in each of the next two years, and $32.5 million in each of years four and five.
Who Benefits and How
Low-income families benefit through direct access to household hygiene supplies that TANF cash assistance and SNAP benefits often do not cover. State TANF agencies, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and basic-needs banks gain a dedicated funding stream for hygiene distribution, with awards scored on program design, capacity, partnerships, evaluation readiness, cost-effectiveness, prior TANF performance, and geographic diversity.
Who Bears the Burden and How
HHS must publish applications, disburse grants at the start of each fiscal year, monitor the 15 percent administrative-expense cap, and report to Congress before the fifth fiscal year. Grant recipients must use funds only for hygiene materials and must report the geographic area served, number of families helped, materials distributed, and distribution frequency. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of the multi-year appropriation.
Key Provisions
- Creates competitive HHS grants for states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to provide hygiene materials to low-income households.
- Appropriates $25 million for the first fiscal year, $30 million for each of the second and third fiscal years, and $32.5 million for each of the fourth and fifth fiscal years.
- Limits recipients to spending grant funds on hygiene materials and caps administrative expenses at 15 percent.
- Requires grantee reporting on families served, materials distributed, geography, and frequency, plus an HHS feasibility report to Congress.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a five-year HHS demonstration grant program for states and tribal governments to distribute hygiene materials to low-income families through TANF-related partnerships.
Key Policy Areas
Social Services, Child Care
Primary Purpose
Creates a five-year HHS demonstration grant program for states and tribal governments to distribute hygiene materials to low-income families through TANF-related partnerships.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Low-income families
- State TANF agencies
- Indian tribes
- HHS Office of Family Assistance
- Basic needs banks
Identified Costs
- HHS Office of Family Assistance
- Grant recipients
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Mr. Lawler (for himself and Ms. McBride) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Grant recipients, Low-income households
Positive-direction: Low-income households
Negative-direction: Grant recipients
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "office"
- → HHS Office of Family Assistance
- "the_secretary"
- → HHS Secretary
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, shampoo, diapers, baby wipes, postpartum pads, antibacterial hand soap, laundry detergent, dish soap, and any other hygiene product selected by HHS.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology