The “Public Assistance Integrity Act” would serve as a real deterrent in the fight against welfare fraud, while protecting a safety net for needy families and individuals who receive some type of assistance and use it responsibly for necessities.
For a third straight year, the NY State Senate has overwhelmingly passed this legislation.
This bill (S.966) is designed to crack down on fraud and prohibit welfare recipients from using cash assistance for the purchase of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, lottery tickets or for casino gambling.
The legislation would also prevent individuals receiving welfare from using their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to make ATM withdrawals from certain places, including liquor stores, casinos and strip clubs.
Welfare recipients receive both food stamps and cash assistance, which are both frequently administered through the EBT debit card.
Food stamps have strict regulations on what can be purchased; cash assistance does not.
Cash assistance allows individuals to purchase essential items that cannot be obtained using food stamps—things like soap, toothpaste and school supplies.
However, under the current framework, recipients can also use cash assistance to buy cigarettes and beer, or even to fund an afternoon at the race track or an evening at a local strip club.
Public records and investigative reports by the news media have shown widespread abuse of the EBT cards.
It is in our DNA as New Yorkers to help those in need, and that is what public assistance is designed to do.
The vast majority of benefit recipients spend the funds on essentials and to help make ends meet.
Unfortunately, there are others who exploit the system—forgoing food and clothing for liquor and lap dances.
Such self-indulgent expenditures are certainly not the intended purpose of the program. This misuse of public dollars must be stopped.
Legitimate expenses like housing, utilities, or necessities for children should be permitted through public assistance, paying for a booze-fueled night on the town should not.
This common sense legislation will end a practice I hear complaints about far too often, and provide some oversight that will help ensure that funding is available for those who truly need help making ends meet.
Along with curtailing the flagrant abuse of cash assistance and providing accountability, this legislation is also needed to make sure New York State continues to receive crucial federal funding.
The federal “Middle Class and Job Creation Act of 2012” requires that each state establish a system of fraud prevention by February 22, 2014.
If New York fails to comply with the fast approaching deadline, the state will forfeit $122 million in federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds.
The state budget is already extremely tight, and a loss of such magnitude would have consequences—a loss of services or higher taxes.
Governor Cuomo is joining the senate in confronting this issue.
The governor’s recently released budget proposal includes some provisions from the “Public Assistance Integrity Act,” but, his proposal comes up short in some areas. The governor’s plan would make it illegal to use EBT cards at liquor stores, strip clubs, and casinos.
However, the bill passed by the senate would also put a stop to the sale of beer and cigarettes at grocery and convenience stores.
I am hopeful that the assembly will finally realize the need for this legislation and join in ending this egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars, while protecting funding for those most in need.
New Yorkers are compassionate and want to help those in need provide for their families.
What they don’t want is to see tax dollars spent for someone’s gambling habit, or to buy drinks at the corner bar.
This commonsense measure would help stop abuse of our public assistance system and ensure that funds for people truly in need are not jeopardized.