In 2024, there were 31,864 reported missing children in Texas. To address this issue and find these children, Texas lawmakers are planning to spend millions on a child identity kit. This might seem like a step in the right direction, if not that experts have proven these kits to be ineffective.
This funding was quietly inserted into Texas’s 1,000-page General Appropriations Act for the 2024–25 biennium, which outlines the state’s $321 billion budget and is dense enough to obscure such allocations. So, why are lawmakers sneaking the National Child ID program back into the budget proposal that no one will finish reading?
Hidden Agenda in State Budget
According to the budget proposal, $2 million is the price tag for the child identity kit. This is coming after funding for the kits was cut off in 2023, after it was exposed to be a flop. Apart from the fact that a child identity kit has been deemed ineffective, there’s the issue of the manufacturing company as well.
The National Child ID program, the company that sells this kit, has a sketchy track record, with no proven history. Even the head of the company, Kenny Hansmire, has a shady business history with failed ventures and tax liens. He was banned in Connecticut for alleged investor fraud.
Despite all of these, the lawmakers are backing him for the second time and awarding him a $2 million business contract. One cannot help but wonder what hidden agenda these politicians have by including this item in the budget.
When Lawmakers Go Dark
The more you analyze this legislative move, the more suspicious you’ll become. This item didn’t pass through any hearings or public debate, as you would expect from such an important matter, which involves the lives of children. Instead, it just appears unceremoniously in a document that is thicker than most law books.
Looking back through the years, you’ll discover that stealth funding for things like a child identity kit isn’t rare. In fact, lawmakers have been using massive omnibus bills to funnel money into programs that wouldn’t be approved on their own. In 2022, a $600 million football stadium subsidy was approved in New York. No discussions, no debates, just approval.
When budgets are too lengthy, lawmakers can easily sneak in items that waste taxpayers’ money or fund projects that favor them. After all, who will read the entire 1,000 pages? (Spoiler: Not many!)
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