FL’s DeSantis Issues First-Ever Rules on State Welfare — Only Necessities, Not Tattoos or Vapes

We have all heard of the classic “welfare queen” stereotype. People who don’t work but purchase steak and lobster at the grocery store with their EBT cards. Unfortunately, it’s those cases that make it hard for anyone who really does need assistance. Now, Florida is taking the initiative to make sure that taxpayer dollars are going towards the items Floridians need that are truly everyday necessities

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On Thursday, Florida became the first state to bar recipients of the Temporary Cash Assistance program (TCA) from using those funds on purchases like tattoos and body piercings, theme park tickets, video games, vaping products, and other items that are not considered “basic needs.” It is a move that the Trump administration hopes other states will adopt.

TCA is a program funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, separate from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. However, individuals can be recipients of both programs. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) lauded Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for implementing “common sense restrictions” on “inappropriate, luxury, and non-essential purchases,” in a letter to the governor obtained by Fox News Digital.

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The Sunshine State had already prohibited purchases of alcohol, as well as purchases at adult entertainment businesses, casinos, and commercial bingo establishments, but the new plan goes beyond merchant-specific restrictions to specific items purchased at any location. Other items in the updated plan include nicotine products and pornography, and…wait for it…”[p]sychic and fortune-telling services.” Now that hurts.

Peak Florida man activities: spending your welfare check on a Jelly Roll tattoo at the vape themed amusement park https://t.co/fWOdE1lWcA— Carry The Fire (@thovght_crimes) August 27, 2026

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Limits on SNAP, TCA, and TANF purchases won’t get any easier for recipients. Should Republican Rep. Byron Donalds (FL-19) become the next governor of Florida, he will most likely continue many of the policies instituted by Gov. DeSantis. In other words, “Florida Man” will be on the hook for his own tattoo and psychic bills.

And the problem is??? https://t.co/UIBQzmh5vt— Barry Cunningham (@barrycunningham) August 27, 2026

(*) Full article: https://redstate.com/beckynoble/2026/08/27/florida-issues-shocking-edict-welfare-cash-to-be-spent-on-necessities-not-tattoos-and-vapes-n2206160