Governor Sam Brownback says his administration’s welfare reforms are working. At a Statehouse news conference today (THUR), the governor said a recent study found that reinstituting a work requirement for food stamp recipients moved thousands off the program and into jobs.
Critics say that number is misleading. They note that the average income of the adults who left the program rose from about $2,450 a year to only $5,560. While that’s a large increase percentage-wise, it is still well below the federal poverty line of $11,700.