An estimated few hundred pregnant women will qualify for welfare after Gov. Brian Kemp signed new legislation into law.
During his State of the State address earlier this year, Kemp said the proposal is a way to further help low-income pregnant women. The law takes effect July 1.
“It will be another promise kept,” Kemp said Tuesday at a bill signing event.
Lawrenceville Republican state Rep. Soo Hong filed House Bill 129 on Kemp’s behalf.
In recent years, the Legislature approved bills that aim to improve the state’s dismal maternal mortality rate. For example, the state extended the amount of time low-income Georgia mothers can receive benefits under Medicaid, the public health program that provides care to the poor and disabled, from two months to one year after the birth of a child.
Georgia has long ranked among the worst states in the nation for maternal mortality, and it is currently ranked in the bottom 10, according to a report from the nonprofit KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Under HB 129, low-income women will soon be able to apply to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program while pregnant. Currently, those women are only eligible for TANF, commonly known as welfare, once a child is born.
To qualify now for welfare, a child must be in a home with one parent, or if two parents are in the home, one must be physically or mentally incapacitated. School-age children must be immunized and have an acceptable school attendance record. There also are income requirements. For example, a family of three must have a gross income below $784 a month.
When asked how many people would be eligible for TANF under the new law, representatives from the Department of Human Services, which manages the distribution of TANF in the state, declined to answer.
“Every pregnant woman who can now get additional support because of this law is a success, and we applaud the governor and General Assembly for their leadership to make it happen,” said DHS Commissioner Candice Broce.
Critics of the bill say it would likely only apply to a few hundred women. There were 123,971 births in 2021, the most recent data available from the Department of Public Health.
The bill is a slight change in Georgia’s policy concerning welfare — for more than a decade, the state has sought ways to reduce enrollment in the program.
In June 2022, welfare benefits were granted to 6,190 Georgia households, according to data from the Division of Family and Children Services. That’s a decrease of nearly 81% since 2006, the earliest year for which DFCS data is available, when 33,302 households received welfare benefits.
Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this article.
