- Food stamp program under fire, By Pamela M. Prah, March 23, 2012, Stateline.org: “The odds of winning one of Michigan’s high-stakes lottery games are 1 in 10,000, but the probability of two people hitting million-dollar jackpots and still be collecting food stamps has to be even more remote. That is exactly what happened in Michigan, stoking a nationwide debate over whether the program is becoming an out-of-control entitlement. A lottery winner ‘can certainly afford his own food, and should not be able to get more money from hard-working taxpayers after his big pay out,’ says Michigan state Representative Dave Agema, who has introduced proposals aimed at ensuring lottery winners aren’t on the public dole. ‘Michigan’s taxpayers have an absolute right to know when their tax dollars are going to millionaires,’ he said. While these kinds of cases are seen as rare, the $75 billion spent last year on food stamps across the country is coming under more scrutiny, as Congress struggles to pare down the federal debt. With a record 45 million Americans relying on food stamps, states and Congress are taking a closer look at who should get help paying for groceries…”
- Idaho bill would stagger food stamps, By Holly Beech, March 29, 2012, Idaho Press-Tribune: “Grocers are asking Health and Welfare to distribute food stamps – or SNAP benefits – over a number of days rather than just the first of the month. But for the second year in a row, a bill that would answer that request probably won’t make it to the governor’s desk. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars more to stagger issuance, said Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston. Lodge is holding the bill in committee after it glided through the House Friday, sponsored by Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa…”
- State panel to review EBT cards, with eye toward proper usage, By Conor Berry, March 28, 2012, MassLive.com: “The panel created to examine potential misuse and abuse of electronic benefit transfer cards – better known as EBT cards and formerly known as Food Stamps – is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Thursday in Boston. The session is the final meeting before the EBT Commission releases an April 1 report with recommendations on how to improve local enforcement of the federal program, which in Massachusetts is administered by the state Department of Transitional Assistance. The program, which is aimed at helping low-income households pay for food, is known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The federal Food Stamp program officially changed its name to SNAP in October 2008…”
Tag: Electronic benefit transfers (EBT)
Benefit Debit Cards and Fees – Reno, NV
Welfare abuse rare in Nevada, but card users paying avoidable fees, By Frank X. Mullen Jr., March 19, 2012, Reno Gazette-Journal: “Welfare recipients in Nevada were charged more than $300,000 in avoidable automatic teller machine fees in 2011, and a small percentage of transactions took place in casinos, liquor stores and at sites in 34 other states, according to a Reno Gazette-Journal analysis of 65,500 welfare debit-card transactions. The data show about 97 percent of withdrawals occurred at ATMs or point-of-sale debit card machines in Nevada at food markets, convenience stores, malls, restaurants and banks. No evidence was found of the cards’ use in strip clubs – which has been a problem in Colorado and some other states – or in any of the Silver State’s legal brothels. Four of the 1,600 out-of-state transactions were logged in major amusement parks, including Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, and two were in baseball stadiums. In Reno, from June to December last year, about 2 percent of transactions were at ATMs in liquor stores or bars and 0.3 percent (21) of 6,650 transactions took place in Reno casinos. The RGJ’s analysis shows the debit cards are overwhelmingly being used for the purposes of basic needs, rather than luxuries or travel, state officials said…”
Limits on Electronic Benefit Transactions
Congress closes ‘strip club loophole’, By Pamela M. Prah, February 28, 2012, Stateline.org: “States are now required to prevent welfare recipients from using ATM machines in casinos, liquor stores and strip clubs to spend or access their benefits. The new policy was tucked in the payroll tax cut bill that Congress passed earlier this month, which also extended the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or welfare block grant through the end of the fiscal year. The needy generally get welfare payments and other public assistance on debit cards known as Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, rather than checks. States now will have to adopt policies to block welfare benefits from being used in any EBT transaction in liquor stores, casinos, gaming estalishments or adult entertainment or risk losing federal funds. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will spell out exactly what kind of policies states must implement…”