Florida Bans Welfare Cash for Tattoos, Theme Parks and Vapes

Florida is drawing a sharper line between welfare and lifestyle spending.

Under a newly approved plan, families receiving Temporary Cash Assistance will be barred from using those benefits for tattoos, theme park tickets, video games, vaping products, pornography, psychic services and other purchases the state says do not qualify as basic needs.

The Trump Administration is applauding the move — and wants other states to copy it.

“Taxpayer-funded assistance should help families put food on the table, keep the lights on, purchase clothing, provide for their children and overcome barriers on the path toward independence,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

Florida’s cash-assistance program is funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF. It is separate from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, though both balances can appear on the same Electronic Benefit Transfer card.

The new restrictions target cash-assistance dollars, not SNAP food benefits generally.

Florida already blocked EBT use at liquor stores, casinos, adult-entertainment venues and certain gambling locations. The new rules go much further by banning specific purchases even at otherwise eligible businesses.

The prohibited list includes tattoos and body piercings, theme park admission, video games, nicotine products, pornography and psychic or fortune-telling services.

The state is also extending limits from its separate Healthy SNAP initiative — including bans on soda, energy drinks, candy and certain ultra-processed desserts — to TANF cash benefits.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families approved Florida’s updated TANF plan Thursday and praised the state’s “common-sense restrictions.”

Florida is the first state to take the item-level restrictions this far.

For DeSantis, the principle is straightforward:

Public assistance should cover necessities.

Not entertainment.

🚨 NOW: Florida is being praised nationwide for becoming the FIRST STATE to add massive restrictions on taxpayer TANF and EBT welfare being used on luxury and non-essential goods and services

MASSIVE WIN!

Things like psychic services, tattoos, alcohol, theme parks and more are… pic.twitter.com/sHAWbncz7f

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 27, 2026