Kansas Law to Cut Cash Assistance Program

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has signed a law that will
limit the use of low-income financial assistance.
Image:  Albert H. Teich / Shutterstock.com

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill this past Thursday that will limit the use of the state’s Successful Families program, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).  The law as it currently stands allows low-income families to receive cash assistance through the state for up to 48 months over the course of their lives.  The new bill will shorten that amount of time to 36 months and comes with a list of unacceptable uses, such as attending concerts, swimming, getting tattoos, or buying lingerie.

More than 20 other states have similar lists, but the Kansas list is generally agreed to be the most exhaustive.

Brownback said of the law, which goes into affect July 1, “I think it is important that every chance we get we encourage people to get back into the marketplaces, get back into the job market.”

A federal law enacted in 2012 already requires states to prevent the use of such assistance to buy liquor, to gamble, or to purchase anything in the adult entertainment business.  In addition, some states—though not Kansas—prohibit buying guns with the assistance money.

Interestingly, participation in the Kansas TANF had already decreased dramatically before this law was signed.  It is one of only 13 states that saw a reduction of more than a third in participants.  Historically, the amount of aid offered has not affected the amount of program participants either as an increase or decrease.

Reactions to Brownback’s law have been mixed.  Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO of the advocacy group Kansas Action for Children, suggested that the list has attracted so much attention because “it feels mean-spirited.  It really seems to make a statement about how we feel about the poor.”

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley agreed, calling the law “a punitive and highly judgmental piece of legislation.”

The state has reclaimed $199,000 in cash assistance from 81 fraud cases between July and February of this year, but most involved questions of eligibility.  They provided $14 million in cash assistance during the same time.