Kansas lawmakers are pushing to ban welfare recipients from paying for things such as movie tickets, swimming, gambling, tattoos, and tobacco using government assistance.
Along with a long list of restrictions on spending, House bill 2258, which passed both houses of the legislature and awaits Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature, would limit the amount of money recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program can withdraw from ATMs to $25 a day and limit the total number of months residents can receive assistance to 36 months.
"We're trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended. This is about prosperity. This is about having a great life," Sen. Michael O’Donnell, a Republican who advocated for the bill,
said, according to The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Shannon Cotsoradis, CEO of advocacy group Kansas Action for Children, said the bill
"vilifies and mischaracterizes the typical TANF family," CNN reported.
The governor is expected to sign the bill, which codifies policies his administration has imposed.
The administration points to declining enrollment in assistance programs as proof that these policies are
helping families become self-sufficient, The Associated Press reported. The Department for Children and Families said that the number of food stamp recipients has dropped 11 percent during the past two years and the number of people receiving temporary cash assistance has dropped by 60 percent since June 2011.
But critics doubt the claims.
“We pat ourselves on the back that our TANF rolls have gone down exponentially and we say it's because all those people are now working. We don’t know that and I’m guessing its not the truth,” Sen. Laura Kelly said, according to the Capital-Journal. She called the policies mean-spirited.
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