![]() ![]() States like Kansas with a Republican governor and a GOP-controlled legislature are in the forefront of the crackdown. Kansas is not alone in modifying its TANF program, and under the welfare reform law signed by President Clinton in 1996, states have the legal right to make adjustments. This is not something Jesus would have approved of in my opinion.” Minority Leader Anthony Hensley told The Daily Beast the bill is “very mean-spirited, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time, Holy Week, leading into Easter. Among the 10 opponents were the chamber’s eight Democrats plus two moderate Republicans. The Kansas bill passed the House last week by voice vote and the Senate 30 to 10. “This is all about politics and creating a wrong impression that public welfare recipients can’t spend their money wisely.” “This is not about a real problem, this is not a public policy decision,” says Liz Schott, of the Center on Policy and Budget Priorities. The list of prohibited items reads like something out of the Legion of Decency, a now defunct Catholic organization that rated films according to their moral content.Īnd while no one is arguing these racier activities-like patronizing adult entertainment or casino gambling-should be permissible with government funds, banning them is more about stigmatizing the poor than creating any real hardship. Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children, says since most ATM machines don’t deal in $5 increments, the $25 is effectively $20, plus an 85 cents fee that TANF attaches, plus another couple dollars for the ATM fee, and the result is, “We’ve just made it harder to be poor, as if it weren’t hard enough,” she says. ![]() Nobody has offered a current and/or concrete example of a person receiving TANF funds (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) using their EBT card (Electronic Benefits Transaction) aboard a cruise ship, but that hasn’t stopped the Kansas legislature from passing a law to prevent it.Ī provision included in their restrictive legislation will prevent TANF recipients from withdrawing any more than $25 a day from an ATM machine. Think of it as the 21st century’s answer to Ronald Reagan’s welfare queen, who existed mainly in the minds of conservative critics. Republican lawmakers in the Sunflower State want to make sure none of this waste would happen again. ![]()
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