Michigan House Republicans are demanding a rigorous inspection of a taxpayer-funded cash assistance program for new mothers, aggressively questioning its benefits and sounding the alarm over how millions of dollars are being spent.

Program Overview

The program, called Rx Kids, provides a $1,500 cash payment to expectant mothers, followed by $500 per month during the child’s first year. The initiative has served 5,600 families, doling out more than $22 million in direct support.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, expressed concerns over the program’s lack of restrictions on how recipients spend the cash. ‘You gotta beg the question, what is it that we’re doing, taking $300 million and putting it in a bowl on the porch and telling people they can just stop by and grab a handful?’ DeBoyer said.

Administrative Overhead

DeBoyer also questioned the millions of dollars currently being spent on administrative overhead. ‘For darn near $40 million of that money has gone to Michigan State and [nonprofit charity] GiveDirectly in administrative fees,’ DeBoyer said.

Rx Kids founder and director Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha strongly rejected the characterization of those funds as mere ‘fees,’ countering that the program operates with high efficiency and takes taxpayer accountability seriously.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.