“Now what we want to do is take the same mean-spirited policies that we’ve implemented over the years and we want to codify them, … “I can only assume that the motive behind this is truly malice of intent.”
Children play basketball at a park near blighted row houses in Baltimore, Monday, April 1, 2013. Americans are experiencing poverty at levels not seen since the mid-1960. (AP Photo)There’s nothing fun about being on welfare, and a new Kansas bill aims to keep it that way.
If House Bill 2258 is signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback (R) this week, Kansas families receiving government assistance will no longer be able to use those funds to visit swimming pools, see movies, go gambling or get tattoos on the state’s dime.
Those are just a few of the restrictions contained within the measure that promises to tighten regulations on how poor families spend their government aid.
State Sen. Michael O’Donnell, a Wichita Republican who has advocated for the bill, said the legislation is designed to pressure those receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to spend “more responsibly.”
“We’re trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended,” O’Donnell, vice chair of the state senate’s standing committee on public health and welfare, told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “This is about prosperity. This is about having a great life.”
Read more at: The Washington Post
