In this file photo from May 31, 2015, Kansas state Sen. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona, right, consults with state Rep. Virgil Peck, left, R-Tyro, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.

Topeka ? The Kansas Senate has approved a proposal for a pilot program to have married couples who don’t smoke or drink alcohol serve as foster parents for abused and neglected children.

The vote Tuesday was 24-15 on a bill from conservative Republican Sen. Forrest Knox of Altoona. The measure goes next to the House.

Knox’s bill sets up a program in which couples in “stable” marriages for at least seven years volunteer to be foster parents. Only one spouse in a so-called CARE foster family could work outside the home.

But such couples could be reimbursed by the state for up to $4,000 a year in home or private schooling expenses.

Critics predicted the measure would siphon money from public schools and said passing it suggests other families aren’t as good.