Brownback moves to cement welfare changes into Kansas law

Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is moving to lock in place new policies that have contributed dramatically to cutting the state’s welfare rolls.

Lawmakers are considering a measure that would write into law new policies that state social service agencies installed after Brownback took office in 2011.

Among those policies that would now be set in state law include:

▪ Imposing a four-year lifetime limit on benefits in the needy family program with hardship exemptions for families that have trouble finding a job.

▪ Calculating the income of a live-in boyfriend or girlfriend in the amount a household gets in welfare assistance.

▪ Requiring recipients of child care assistance to work a minimum of 20 hours per week.

▪  Kansas residents who receive food stamps will be forced to work at least 20 hours a week to keep the benefit.

By making those policies part of state law, they will not be subject to the policies of future governors.

Since those policies have been enacted, the state has seen its welfare rolls dwindling.

The year before Brownback took office, Kansas saw an average of 36,972 people a month on welfare. This year, the average is 15,643, state figure show.

In 2013, Kansas saw an averaged of 316,424 people a month on food stamps. Now, it averages 281,263 after the work requirement was implemented.

Brownback has touted those reductions as evidence of success in getting people back to work.

Others have criticized the governor’s efforts to get people back to work, pointing out that state has spent less welfare money on job training that it did several years ago.

This story was originally published March 4, 2015 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Brownback moves to cement welfare changes into Kansas law."