The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is letting five blue states access $10 billion in funds for child care and other services, according to new court filings.
HHS officials said in letters to the states—California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York—that they are rescinding January freezes on the funds that attempted to compel the states to provide data proving that the funds would be used for American families, rather than illegal immigrants, according to documents filed with a federal court in New York on July 13.
Each state “is no longer subject to the temporary restricted drawdown requirements communicated in” January, HHS officials said in the July 8 letters. The states are thus free to access the $10 billion tranche for funds for three programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Child Care and Development Fund….