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Territorial Exceptionalism And The American Welfare State, Andrew Hammond
Territorial Exceptionalism And The American Welfare State, Andrew Hammond
UF Law Faculty Publications
Federal law excludes millions of American citizens from crucial public benefits simply because they live in the United States territories. If the Social Security Administration determines a low-income individual has a disability, that person can move to another state and continue to receive benefits. But if that person moves to, say, Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands, that person loses their right to federal aid. Similarly with SNAP (food stamps), federal spending rises with increased demand—whether because of a recession, a pandemic, or a climate disaster. But unlike the rest of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, …
How The Covid-19 Pandemic Has And Should Reshape The American Safety Net, Andrew Hammond, Ariel Jurow Kleiman, Gabriel Scheffler
How The Covid-19 Pandemic Has And Should Reshape The American Safety Net, Andrew Hammond, Ariel Jurow Kleiman, Gabriel Scheffler
UF Law Faculty Publications
The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered an unprecedented shock to the United States and the world. It is unclear precisely how long the twin crises, epidemiological and economic, will last, and it is difficult to gauge the extent and direction of the changes in American life these crises will cause. Nonetheless, it is beyond dispute that the COVID-19 pandemic is putting significant strain on both the ability of Americans to meet basic needs and our government’s capacity to assist them. Federal, state, and local governments have responded in various ways to deploy existing safety net programs like Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), …
Welfare And Federalism's Peril, Andrew Hammond
Welfare And Federalism's Peril, Andrew Hammond
UF Law Faculty Publications
Recent scholarship on American federalism lacks case studies to inform that scholarship’s trans-substantive insights and claims. This Article examines the last two decades of devolution brought about by the 1996 Welfare Reform Act (PRWORA). It details the history of PRWORA and how the funding mechanism built into Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) — the TANF block grant — guaranteed the program’s deterioration. The Article documents the program’s failure to respond to increased need among poor families after Hurricane Katrina and in the Great Recession, showing how the federal government’s use of TANF in both crises teach us the limits …