Policy Analysis | March 2020

Coronavirus Impacts on State Legislatures and Elections

Mikko Lindberg, Anne Brody, Roger Moore, Cody Allen and Nick Bowman

All information presented is current as of April 2, 2020.

Alabama

Session adjourned indefinitely.

U.S. Senate Republican Runoff Election moved from March 31 to July 14.

Arkansas

General Assembly still scheduled to convene on April 8. Interim committee hearings and meetings have been cancelled through March 20 and will be reevaluated weekly. General Primary Runoff Elections are scheduled for March 31, no announced postponement.

The General Assembly convened for a special session on Thursday, March 26. The session is limited to a single bill that would transfer $173 million in surplus funds to a special COVID-19 fund. In order to follow recommended public health guidelines for “social distancing,” the session will feature a unique format. The House met at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s basketball arena to allow members and staff to adequately space out. Meanwhile, the majority of the Senate gathered in the chamber at the Capitol, with 20 members evenly spread out on either side of the chamber, and the remaining 10 senators sitting upstairs in the gallery space. Members may designate a colleague as a proxy to vote on their behalf, if they are unable or unwilling to attend in person.

Florida

Session adjourned sine die on March 19.

Presidential Preference Primary election was held March 17, as scheduled.

Georgia

The General Assembly has suspended session indefinitely.

The Presidential Preference Primary election has been delayed from March 24 until May 19. Early voting was terminated and will resume on April 27.

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Policy Analysis | January 2020

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Roger Moore

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federal assistance program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1996 as a replacement for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), TANF is designed to provide struggling families with financial assistance, childcare support and job preparation to achieve self-sufficiency. Under TANF, states receive block grants from the federal government to operate their own programs to meet the following objectives:

1. “Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives”
2. “End the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage”
3. “Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies”
4. “Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families”¹

The amount of the TANF block grant is based on states’ expenditures for AFDC during the fiscal year (FY) 1992-1995 period, when the number of public assistance recipients was relatively high.² The total annual TANF block grant amounts to nearly $17 billion, with SLC states receiving grants from a high of $538,595,947 in Texas, to a low of $62,839,408 in Arkansas during FY 2018.³

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Other | December 2019

Issues to Watch - 2020

Anne Roberts Brody, Cody Allen and Roger Moore

As the 2020 legislative cycle approaches, legislators across the South are preparing and pre-filing legislation to address emerging and relevant policy issues in their states. With its regional focus, the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) is uniquely positioned to identify and research current and emerging policy issues and trends. This report was prepared by Anne Roberts Brody, policy and program manager, and Roger Moore and Cody Allen, policy analysts, and provides a sampling of issues and trends that are anticipated to emerge during the 2020 legislative term. State actions referenced in this report may represent appropriate policy options for Southern lawmakers to consider and, as such, may include bills or policies originating outside the SLC region.

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