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<blockquote data-quote="Babagounj" data-source="post: 961614" data-attributes="member: 12952">TAUNTON…Today State Representatives Shaunna O’Connell, (R-Taunton) and Russell Holmes,&nbsp; (D-town), held a joint press conference to announce the filing of new&nbsp; legislation to reform the usage of EBT cards in the Commonwealth. “I had&nbsp; high hopes for the EBT Commission, but the suggested reforms fall far&nbsp; short of what is needed to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are being&nbsp; protected. That’s why today we’re filing legislation to finally put an end to the waste, fraud and abuse with EBT cards,” said O’Connell. &nbsp;The&nbsp; reforms include no cash advances, requiring stores to post signs that&nbsp; the buying alcohol, tobacco products and lottery tickets with EBT cards&nbsp; is prohibited, charging recipients a fee for requesting replacement&nbsp; cards, stopping out of state usage of the cards, and adding more&nbsp; businesses to list of establishments no longer allowed to accept the&nbsp; card payments.&nbsp;“These cards are no longer EBT&nbsp; cards. They are ATM cards. With the overwhelming majority of it being&nbsp; withdrawn as cash, we have no oversight on how this money is being&nbsp; spent,” said O’Connell.‘‘I&nbsp; believe the system is open to abuse ... when you go in and take out&nbsp; cash, no one knows how you spend that cash,’’ said another lawmaker on the panel, Rep. Russell Holmes, D-Boston.&nbsp;“I am extremely pleased to have bi-partisan&nbsp; support for these reforms. This program is about providing people with&nbsp; necessities. Unfortunately, the present system is wide open torampant abuse. By working together, we can require the Patrick administration to implement measures that restore the integrity to the program,” said O’Connell.Last&nbsp; week the EBT Commission released their final report which only&nbsp; suggested a few minor reforms to the usage of EBT cards. First, it&nbsp; limits places where EBT cards can be used. Second, the Inspector General&nbsp; is going to further investigate eligibility requirements of the cash&nbsp; assistance. Due to the Commission’s weak report, O’Connell feels&nbsp; it is necessary to push for legislation to force the Department of&nbsp; Transitional Assistance to make the appropriate changes.&nbsp;“We are doing no favors for the people who truly need assistance by failing to pass restrictions to stop the abuse,” added O’Connell.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Babagounj, post: 961614, member: 12952"] TAUNTON…Today State Representatives Shaunna O’Connell, (R-Taunton) and Russell Holmes, (D-town), held a joint press conference to announce the filing of new legislation to reform the usage of EBT cards in the Commonwealth. “I had high hopes for the EBT Commission, but the suggested reforms fall far short of what is needed to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are being protected. That’s why today we’re filing legislation to finally put an end to the waste, fraud and abuse with EBT cards,” said O’Connell. The reforms include no cash advances, requiring stores to post signs that the buying alcohol, tobacco products and lottery tickets with EBT cards is prohibited, charging recipients a fee for requesting replacement cards, stopping out of state usage of the cards, and adding more businesses to list of establishments no longer allowed to accept the card payments. “These cards are no longer EBT cards. They are ATM cards. With the overwhelming majority of it being withdrawn as cash, we have no oversight on how this money is being spent,” said O’Connell. ‘‘I believe the system is open to abuse ... when you go in and take out cash, no one knows how you spend that cash,’’ said another lawmaker on the panel, Rep. Russell Holmes, D-Boston. “I am extremely pleased to have bi-partisan support for these reforms. This program is about providing people with necessities. Unfortunately, the present system is wide open torampant abuse. By working together, we can require the Patrick administration to implement measures that restore the integrity to the program,” said O’Connell. Last week the EBT Commission released their final report which only suggested a few minor reforms to the usage of EBT cards. First, it limits places where EBT cards can be used. Second, the Inspector General is going to further investigate eligibility requirements of the cash assistance. Due to the Commission’s weak report, O’Connell feels it is necessary to push for legislation to force the Department of Transitional Assistance to make the appropriate changes. “We are doing no favors for the people who truly need assistance by failing to pass restrictions to stop the abuse,” added O’Connell. [/QUOTE]

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