BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has signed a budget proposal restricting purchases that residents can make with welfare benefits.
Patrick signed the provision into law Friday, after initially amending the measure to ban purchases at certain locations, rather than on certain items. The Legislature rejected the governor’s amendment.
Patrick said that the administration will not enforce “what cannot be enforced,” in terms of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, which hold cash assistance benefits and can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs.
The proposal bans cash assistance purchases at places like nail salons, jewelry stores, liquor stores and casinos, as well as for things like tattoos, pornography and guns.
Previously, cash assistance recipients are barred from using their EBT cards to buy lottery tickets, tobacco and alcohol.
it cant be that hard to make it like the wic program where you can only buy food no cigarettes or cash withdrawals from atms or anything like that jesus will you do something patrick other than make the states deficit worse
Woo hoo! Now we need mandatory drug testing!!!
it was about time all this people with no jobs and dressing better than me with a job long overdue
what stops them from withdrawing the money from an atm and using it for their nails being done, hair being done, buying cigarettes and alcohol and driving better cars and wearing better clothes than the working people
Well this seems pretty pointless. They could obviously withdraw the $$ from a bank and go get a tattoo or go to the casino.
all this really does is put a person 5 minutes out of their way having to stop at a bank instead of being able to use their card…that is all
That can’t withdraw the cash from an atm either. That’s why this bill was signed. It stops them from doing that.
Where do you see that Mary?
Maybe the should ban cash withdraws. If they are using their money to pay bills they should swipe it like a credit card. I think the government should be able to monitor where every penny of that money goes. Maybe then the children would actually benefit from the money intended to help them and not the parents.
I find that hard to believe since some welfare recipients actually take out the money & pay their rent & bills.
i believe they can still with drawl cash they just cant use the ebt card using they cash assistance for certain things…
Mary Ottomaniello – yes, they CAN still withdraw cash from ATMs. As for taking money out to pay Rent and other bills (Toni Perkins) they can use their computers and i-phones to transfer the funds to write checks or pay electronically!
What a shame. No more nails getting done. Well if i cant and i work they should money for NESSECITIES
bunch of haters let them do what they want the government uses everybody even if u work so stop all this hate some of the working people buy foodstamps and the dressing better then u part Mofo u lying and its bull**** drug testing aint gonna prove **** whatever they do people will have a way to keep doing what they have too and ya atill gonna be crying about them dressing better then u serious and ur a grown up lol ya FUNNY
Maybe some of them should get a real job instead of relying on the state to pay for them. I know some people need it but the ones who abuse the system make them look bad.
This is sooooooooooooo stupid… The cash assistance programs encourage people to use direct deposit into personal bank accounts for their cash benefits, therefore making this a complete waste of time… He only signed this to shut up the idiots that think things like this are effective… Lol
they should just get rid of it altogether