Kansas is one signature away from telling poor families that it 's illegal to use their welfare payments to buy alcohol , tobacco and pornography , to visit strip clubs or tattoo shops , and to take vacation cruises or gamble on dog or horse races . Swimming pools , jewelry and lingerie stores , psychics , movie theatre , nail salons , massage parlors , bars and theme parks will also be forbidden territory for the first time , if Republican Gov . Sam Brownback signs a bill that hit his desk last week . The proposal would also give the force of state law to some of brownback 's policies , including one that requires 'temporary cash assistance ' recipients to hold down jobs , look for work or enroll in job training programs . NO BENEFITS : A pending Kansas law would make it illegal for welfare recipients to spend their government-supplied stipends at strip clubs , among a laundry list of other places . NO INK : Kansas welfare recipients who want taxpayers to shell out for their tattoos have until July 1 to experiment with the latest in body art . PARTISAN : Kansas Republican Gov . Sam Brownback ( center ) is likely to sign the new measure despite strong opposition from Democrats . Kansans , like citizens of many other states , are issued debit cards when they register for state-based welfare . Under the rules of the bill passed in the state legislature , bail-bondsmen would no longer be allowed to accept the cards as payment . Recipients would be limited , for the first time , to withdrawing $ 25 in cash per day . Liberal lawmakers complained that some welfare recipients use their debit cards to get funds for rent payments . Democratic state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau told the Topeka Capital-Journal that forcing those people to make multiple trips to bank machines to pay their bills 'is ludicrous . It is outrageous . ' State Rep. Carolyn Bridges , another Democrat , complained during a legislative debate that putting limits on how the poor can spend taxpayer dollars says to them : 'If you are asking for assistance in this state , you 're sort of less than other people and we 're going to tell you how and where to spend your money . ' NECESSITIES : Tobacco will be added to the no-no list , along with movie tickets , cruise vactions and lingerie . I SEE A JOB IN YOUR FUTURE : Fortune tellers and psychics ? Out . Job training ? In . CONFLICT : Republican state Rep. Kansas state Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady ( left ) insists that getting welfare recipients 'back to work ' justifies the new law , while state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau ( right ) called it 'ludicrous ' and 'outrageous ' But state Sen. Michael O ’ Donnell , the Republican who gathered support for a House bill putting all the changes into place , said public assistance should be spent 'more responsibly ' than it had been in the past . 'We ’ re trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended ' – on food and necessities like diapers or toiletries , O ’ Donnell told the paper . The Brownback administration has signaled its support for the measure . It has already presided over a 60 per cent drop in the number of Kansans enrolled in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program , known as TANF , during his first term in office . When Brownback became governor in 2011 , the program served 38,900 people statewide . Today that number has dwindled to 15,500 , according to statistics compiled by the Kansas Department for Children and Families . Numbers of food stamp recipients – a completely separate category of government welfare – have ticked down by just 6 per cent during the same period , however . Poverty rates among children have remained constant , according to the social-services nonprofit group Kansas Action for Children . The clash of statistics has raised questions about whether the state has actually been moving people off of TANF and into jobs . VICIOUS CIRCLE ? Benefits recipients were previously permitted to spend their government money to bail themselves and family members out of jail . YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK : Until Brownback became governor , welfare enrollees could buy liquor with their benefit debit cards , but now his policy is likely to become a law that future pols will find it hard to undo . 'This is serious , good policy for the state of Kansas , ' state Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady , a Palco Republican , told the Associated Press . 'There 's nothing better to get these people back on their feet than getting them a job and getting them back to work . ' But Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly countered in the Capital-Journal that 'we pat ourselves on the back that our TANF rolls have gone down exponentially and we say it ’ s because all those people are now working , ' but 'we don ’ t know that and I ’ m guessing its not the truth . ' Another Democratic lawmaker , state Rep. Barbara Ballard , complained during a debate that telling welfare recipients that they ca n't use their state benefits to visit swimming pools would give the poor one fewer way to stay healthy . Republicans control both the Kansas House and Senate by wide margins . THe House vote was 87-35 , and the Senate passed the bill 30-10 . If Brownback signs the bill , it will go into effect in July .
'Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ' funds can buy goods and services beyond food and necessities intended by program 's designers . Tattoos , manicures , lingerie , jewelry , movie tickets , cruises and pornography will also be off the list if Gov . Sam Brownback signs a bill . Republicans in Brownback also want to limit benefit recipients to $ 25 per day in cash withdrawals with their government-issued welfare debit cards . Democrats say it 's mean-spirited and will make welfare enrollees think they 're 'less ' valuable 'than other people ' Brownback 's administration has shrunk the TANF rolls by 60 per cent since 2011 ; the law would also force recipients to try to find work .