Kansas Agency Takes to Facebook, Twitter to Defend Proposed Welfare Limits
A state agency has taken to social media to defend a bill that would restrict what welfare recipients could buy with benefits money in the face of late-night talk show barbs and scrutiny from national news outlets.
Gov. Sam Brownback is expected to sign the bill, which the Legislature passed earlier this month. It would bar people who receive money through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program from using the money at liquor stores, massage parlors, movie theaters, theme parks, swimming pools and cruise ships, among other places.
The list of restrictions - one of a host of changes in the bill - sparked national mockery. Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita, who carried the bill on the Senate floor, was grilled by MSNBC host Chris Hayes, and the legislation was skewered by “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times wrote editorials criticizing it.
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