State on diaper duty?
Two Salem lawmakers have proposed a new diaper subsidy for low-income people who have trouble paying for the infant essentials. Why not take it a step further and have the state start a diaper delivery service? Then Beacon Hill could micromanage government support for poor families and create new jobs!
No, you won’t be surprised to hear that Massachusetts would be the first state in the nation to provide taxpayer-funded diapers to families, if legislation filed by Sen. Joan Lovely and Rep. Paul Tucker, both Salem Democrats, becomes law and a mandated study supports it. Their effort was first reported by the Salem News.
Lovely and Tucker raise a reasonable concern — that many low-income families struggle to pay for diapers, which are expensive and aren’t eligible for purchase with food stamps or the federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.
Of course diapers aren’t food, so they shouldn’t be covered under those programs. Families who qualify for traditional welfare support can use the money to purchase diapers, of course, but the sponsors say too many families don’t qualify.
Fair enough, but then why limit the subsidy to diapers? There are other “public health” essentials that are expensive. Should there be a separate Children’s Tylenol benefit?
Lovely told the Salem News she’s worried that families are washing and re-using diapers, which can cause urinary tract infections and rashes. “There are severe negative public health consequences to not having a sufficient supply of diapers,” she said.
So taxpayers now have a duty to prevent diaper rash. Got it.
The criticism here isn’t meant to diminish the challenge faced by poor families who struggle to pay for expensive essentials. It is merely a reminder that Beacon Hill Democrats have never encountered a life challenge that doesn’t immediately call for a taxpayer-funded solution. If this proposal were to go through don’t be surprised if the next bill mandates precisely which diapers families can buy — and how they may dispose of them.