Stingy Welfare Withdrawal Limits Lands Kansas In Hot Water

Now that Kansas has passed the most niggardly, stingy, punitive TANF rules on the planet, they just might find themselves in trouble with the federal government.

The way TANF works now, by the way, is the way Republicans want Medicaid to work. The federal government block grants money to the states, and the states get to decide how that money is doled out and used. Kansas is a shining example of why block grants for any assistance is a terrible idea.
McClatchy:

A first-of-its-kind provision that prevents welfare recipients in Kansas from withdrawing more than $25 a day from an ATM might violate federal law, and could jeopardize the state’s federal funding if not amended.

The Social Security Act requires states to ensure that recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, “have adequate access to their cash assistance” and can withdraw money “with minimal fees or charges.”

At stake is about $102 million in TANF block grant funds that Kansas receives every year from the federal government.

The state’s controversial ATM limit was added as an amendment to a welfare overhaul bill signed in April by Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican. The new law also bars welfare recipients from spending their benefit money at certain places, including movie theaters, massage parlors, cruise ships and swimming pools. It also sets stricter eligibility requirements and shortened the amount of time people can receive assistance.

State Senator Michael O'Donnell (R-Koch) is now concerned that the state could lose out on the federal goodie bag.  READ MORE