Virginia TANF standards of assistance fall up to $1.59 a month below the printed Appendix 2 amounts from July 2021 (Group II maximum $722 vs $723) #10450

Problem

From July 2021, PolicyEngine's Virginia TANF standards of assistance are below the amounts printed in the TANF Manual, Section 304, Appendix 2. For assistance units of 1 to 10 people, the gap is up to $1.59 a month. Each person above 10 adds up to $1.45 more. The July 2022 Group II maximum reimbursable payment is $722 in PE and $723 in the manual.

PE stores the July 2020 tables and multiplies them by one cumulative multiplier. The printed tables instead apply each year's increase to the previous year's printed amount and round up to the next dollar.

PolicyEngine code (main at 0e7ced1)

policyengine_us/variables/gov/states/va/dss/tanf/va_tanf_grant_standard.py reads the July 2020 table and scales it:

        p_grant_standard = parameters.gov.states.va.dss.tanf.payment.grant_standard(
            f"2020-10-01"
        )
        ...
        base_amount = main + additional * addition
        # Apply standard multiplier for increases since July 2020 base

        return base_amount * p.standard_multiplier

policyengine_us/variables/gov/states/va/dss/tanf/va_tanf.py, line 43, scales the July 2020 maximum the same way:

        maximum = np.ceil(base_max * p.standard_multiplier)

policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/va/dss/tanf/standard_multiplier.yaml, lines 34–36:

  2020-07-01: 1.0
  2021-07-01: 1.1
  2022-07-01: 1.155

va_tanf_need_standard.py (line 37) and va_tanf_up_grant_standard.py read the same multiplier. This issue covers only the standards of assistance and the maximum payment; the need standard was not checked against its printed chart.

The increases

2021 Appropriation Act (HB 1800, Chapter 552), Item 350 O.1:

The Department of Social Services shall increase the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash benefits and income eligibility threshold by 15 percent effective July 1, 2020 and 10 percent effective July 1, 2021 .

2022 Appropriation Act (HB 30, Chapter 2), Item 341 N:

The Department of Social Services shall increase the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash benefits and income eligibility threshold by five percent effective July 1, 2022.

TANF Manual Transmittal 71 (July 1, 2021), PDF page 1:

The Appropriations Act of 2021 authorized increases in payments of 10%. The new payment standards are included in Appendix II to Section 304.

The printed tables (TANF Manual, Section 304, Appendix 2, "Standards of Assistance")

• 7/20: Transmittal 68, PDF pages 35 (Group II) and 36 (Group III).
• 7/21: 10/21 complete manual, PDF pages 146 (Group II) and 147 (Group III), marked "TANF Transmittal 71".
• 7/22: current Chapter 300, PDF pages 29 (Group II) and 30 (Group III), marked "TANF Transmittal 74".

Group II rows, as extracted (pdftotext -layout):

Group III rows:

Every 7/21 amount in both tables equals the 7/20 amount × 1.10 rounded up to the next dollar. Every 7/22 amount equals the 7/21 amount × 1.05 rounded up. For example, Group II size 3 gives 417 × 1.1 = 458.7 → $459, then 459 × 1.05 = 481.95 → $482. The maximum gives 625 × 1.1 = 687.5 → $688, then 688 × 1.05 = 722.4 → $723. I did not find manual text that states this rounding; the pattern holds for all 24 rows.

PolicyEngine against the printed amounts

va_tanf_grant_standard for an assistance unit of the given size (one adult, the rest children), computed with PE main at 0e7ced1:

va_tanf for a Group II unit of 12 with no income in January 2025 is 722 (ceil(625 × 1.155)); Appendix 2 gives min($1,317, $723) = $723. The January 2022 maximums ($688, $820) and the January 2025 Group III maximum ($861) agree.

The standard sets the payment for units below the maximum (va_tanf) and the step-2 income screen (va_tanf_income_eligibility), so both read the lower amounts.

Possible fix

Store the 7/21 and 7/22 Appendix 2 amounts (each size, the amount for each person above 10, and the maximum) as dated values and read them for the period. Alternatively, round up after each year's increase. Years before July 2020 also use the multiplier (0.7691 to 0.8696); their printed tables were not checked here.

Found while addressing review on #10253, which gives TANF-UP units the TANF standards; that PR does not change the rounding.

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