Backdate Massachusetts TAFDC payment standards to include FY24 (April 2024) 10% increase

[hua7450]

Summary

Massachusetts TAFDC payment standard parameters are frozen at 2022-10-01 values. MA's FY24 budget (St. 2023, c. 28, § 217) mandated a 10% increase to all TAFDC maximum monthly grants effective ~4/1/2024, but PolicyEngine has not backdated this change. As a result, PE-US underestimates MA TAFDC benefits by roughly 10% for periods from April 2024 onward.

Evidence

PE-US current values vs. current mass.gov DTA chart (snapshot 2026-01-01 via Wayback Machine):

Size	PE-US public/sub (public_housing.yaml)	mass.gov public/sub	PE-US private (private_housing.yaml)	mass.gov private
1	$513	$564 (+9.9%)	$553	$604 (+9.2%)
2	$648	$713 (+10.0%)	$688	$753 (+9.4%)
3	$783	$861 (+10.0%)	$823	$901 (+9.5%)
4	$912	$1,003 (+10.0%)	$952	$1,043 (+9.6%)
5	$1,045	$1,150 (+10.0%)	$1,085	$1,190 (+9.7%)
Add'l person	$139	$153 (+10.0%)	$139	$153 (+10.0%)

Note: private = public + $40 flat across all sizes (rent allowance built into the chart), which is why public/subsidized shows a clean +10% while private rounds to ~+9.4%.

mass.gov source (current TAFDC eligibility/payment chart):
https://www.mass.gov/how-to/transitional-aid-to-families-with-dependent-children-tafdc

Statutory authority

• MA FY24 budget — St. 2023, c. 28, § 217: "the maximum monthly grants ... shall be increased by a rate of 10 per cent over the maximum monthly grants in effect on June 30, 2023"
• Increase took effect 4/1/2024 per DTA implementation

Files to update

• policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/ma/dta/tcap/tafdc/eligibility/income_limit/base/private_housing.yaml — add 2024-04-01 entries for all 10 brackets
• policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/ma/dta/tcap/tafdc/eligibility/income_limit/base/public_housing.yaml — add 2024-04-01 entries for all 10 brackets
• policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/ma/dta/tcap/tafdc/eligibility/income_limit/additional_person.yaml — add 2024-04-01: 153 (and remove/correct the comment claiming "amount remained unchanged in 2024")

Impact

For a 2-person household (1 adult + 1 child), $0 income, private housing in MA at 2026-01:

• Current PE-US ma_tafdc: $730/mo ($688 main + $41.67 clothing)
• After fix: $795/mo ($753 main + $41.67 clothing)
• Underestimate: ~$65/mo per affected household

Verification

Cross-referenced with NCCP TANF Cash Benefits 2-person reference value ($753), which matches the post-FY24 private housing size-2 amount exactly.

Notes

• Should also check whether FY25 budget (St. 2024, c. 140) included a further TAFDC increase. mass.gov chart as of late-2025 still shows the FY24 values (size-2 private = $753), suggesting FY25 did not add a further raise. Worth confirming before backdating.
• 2017–2021 backdating was handled in Backdating Massachusetts TAFDC #7264 and Massachusetts TANF payment values 2017, 2018, 2019 #6698. This issue is for the forward gap.

Related

• Backdating Massachusetts TAFDC #7263 (closed) — earlier MA TAFDC backdating to 2017-2021
• Massachusetts TANF payment values 2017, 2018, 2019 #6698 (closed) — MA TANF payment values 2017-2019