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CLT UPDATE
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Senate Dems duck serious reform, spend more on EBT card fraud
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A majority of the Senate on Thursday night
brushed aside attempts to further stiffen restrictions on how
electronic and cash welfare benefits are spent by recipients,
agreeing in large part to the reforms already outlined by Senate
leaders in the budget and eschewing tougher limits sought by the
House....
The Senate’s plan, however, did not go as far as
that adopted by the House in its budget, which included a longer
list of prohibited uses, including on travel and spending outside
Massachusetts and its border states, and calls for a study on what
it would take to move toward a cashless system.
“The crux of the issue surrounding EBT and the
abuse of EBT cards has to do with the fact that the cards are easily
transferable to cash,” said Sen. Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth
Republican, who proposed three different amendments to the budget
all of which failed on successive roll calls with no more than 13
votes of support....
“This is not too far on the left and not too far
on the right and carves out a very solid, logical middle,” Ways and
Means Chairman Stephen Brewer [D-Barre] said.
Hedlund first attempted to restrict cash
withdrawals on EBT cards from ATM machines to $20 a day for
incidentals, but that amendment was defeated 11-25.
The second proposal adopted the language from the
House plus the $20-per-day cash limit. That amendment failed 8-29.
The final amendment offered by Hedlund
essentially mirrored the House proposal banning ATM machines that
accept EBT cards from bars, liquor stores and adult entertainment
facilities adding items such as concert tickets, political donations
and travel to the list of prohibited uses. The amendment failed
13-24....
[Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster] said. “The
issue that we are trying to really go after is the issue of fraud,
and in the Senate budget we did that.”
State House News Service
Friday, May 25, 2012
Senate seeks out "logical middle" in EBT reform debate
The handwriting was on the wall . . .
By David Hitch
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Sunday, April 8, 2012
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Professing “The issue that we are trying to
really go after is the issue of fraud, and in the Senate budget we
did that,” state Senator Jennifer Flanagan (D-Leominster) celebrated
the amendment which did no such thing.
But such is life on Bacon Hill where one party
rules.
The day before (Wednesday) when the small band of
four Senate Republicans tried to introduce their budget amendments
to roll back the state income and sales taxes, Senate President
Theresa Murray (D-Plymouth) ruled that tax reductions are out of
order, as the state budget is "not a money bill within the meaning
of the constitution." When challenged by the Minority Leader,
Senator Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), she would not relent.
According to the State House News Service
transcript of the debate:
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Sen. Tarr said: "My inquiry was as to
whether a change that reduced taxation, in accordance to court
rulings, would make it a money bill. Could the chair clarify?"
Sen. Murray replied: "It is the
position of the chair that this is not a money bill, whether we
increase or decrease."
By a roll call vote of 33-4, the Senate
Democrat majority stood with her, determined that tax cuts
cannot be contained
within the Senate budget.
Sen. Tarr later added:
"Is this real or is this just something we
are going to carry on the books, sort of like the reduction in
the income tax
that the voters approved that we have not enacted
yet either.
"I know we can’t talk about the income tax. The budget, the
largest spending document in the Commonwealth, is not a money
bill. Only in this chamber would that definition prevail. Only
in this chamber could we have a reverse sunset. The sun is held
in the hands of the chair of Ways and Means."
So tax reductions were simply swept out of the
budget debate by a party-line vote (33-4) and the Senate steamrolled
on.
It was more of the same when it came to EBT card
reforms: The small band of Republicans proposing honest reforms,
Democrats
(with rare exceptions) voting them down and sticking in a fig leaf for cover
— a distraction that will accomplish
even less than the watered-down reforms adopted by the Democrat
majority in the House version.
Here are the three serious reforms offered by
Senator Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) and the results:
Amendment #139.1 —
Establishment of Taxpayer Accountability Office
Roll Call #218 — [YEAS
11 - NAYS 25] — (Further)
GOV Robert L. Hedlund —
Establishment of Taxpayer Accountability Office
— Rejected
Amendment #144.2 —
EBT Reform Twenty Dollar Limit
Roll Call #219 —
[YEAS 8 - NAYS 29] —
(Further) GOV Robert L. Hedlund —
EBT Reform Twenty Dollar Limit —
Rejected (Image Right-Top)
Amendment #405 —
EBT Reform
Roll Call #220 —
[YEAS 13 - NAYS 24] —
(Redraft) EPS Robert L. Hedlund —
EBT Reform —
Rejected (Image
Right-Bottom)
Sen. Jennifer Flanagan's (D-Leominster) EBT card
"reform"
amendment was all that remained as even an attempt to improve
the Senate Ways & Means
Committee recommendation. But it offered little but camouflage,
protective coloration — so she
and her Democrat majority could disingenuously announce: “The issue
that we are trying to really go after is the issue of fraud, and in
the Senate budget we did that.” The only game in town was adopted
unanimously (34-0).
Taxpayers will still be funding EBT card cash
withdrawals from ATM machines. Taxpayers will now also be funding
and additional $750,000 for a special State Police unit to
investigate EBT abuse and fraud —
then the additional cost of courts, public defenders,
mandated translators, and incarceration (1-2 years) if an abuser is
found guilty of violating one of the restrictions. Of course any
hope of collecting a court-ordered fine or restitution will be
futile.
One of the "reforms" I get a kick out of is
intended to address all those "missing" ETB cards the state keeps
replacing free of charge — reportedly
20,000 each month. The Senate addresses this ridiculous abuse with:
[The state will] "send a notice to any
benefit recipient who requests more than 3 replacement
electronic benefit transfer cards in a calendar year and monitor
future requests for replacement cards; provided that the notice
shall state that the department has noted an unusual number of
requests for replacement electronic benefits cards and will be
monitoring all future requests for replacement cards."
Yeah, I usually lose my credit card three or four
times a year — don't you?
The next step in this budget procedure is the
appointment of a six-member House-Senate conference committee to
resolve differences between the Senate budget and the one previously
passed by the House. Unfortunately, any compromise would only weaken
the already anemic House version of EBT card reform; at best the
House version would prevail.
After the massive amount of exposure and outrage
of the past few months over EBT card abuse and outright theft [e.g.,
CLT UPDATE, April 15 —
Stop the EBT Card Rip-Off Now], with all eyes across the state
focused on Beacon Hill for a solution to such an obvious rip-off,
all the sound and fury again signified nothing, very little at best.
As long as the ruling Democrat Party reigns imperiously nothing will
change. They don't feel any need to be accountable to the taxpayers
and will keep steamrolling over the minority party with arrogance
and self-assured impunity.
The only salvation against such domination is to
elect more responsive legislators, and that opportunity is coming.
Check the roll call votes (click on the above
images to be taken to enlargements) on this "reform" sham, see how
your senator voted.
Then if necessary consider supporting a
replacement this fall, and remember in November when you vote.
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Chip Ford |
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State House News Service
Friday, May 25, 2012
Senate seeks out "logical middle" in EBT reform debate
By Matt Murphy
A majority of the Senate on Thursday night brushed aside attempts to
further stiffen restrictions on how electronic and cash welfare
benefits are spent by recipients, agreeing in large part to the
reforms already outlined by Senate leaders in the budget and
eschewing tougher limits sought by the House.
The debate over EBT card benefits capped the second day of debate on
the Senate’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal that saw resolutions
reached to keep Taunton Hospital open with 72 beds, to fund the
Community Preservation Act with an additional $5 million and to
allow for the expansion of hotels on the South Boston waterfront.
The Senate plans to resume its debate at 9 a.m. on Friday morning
with the long Memorial Day holiday weekend looming and 43 of the 694
amendments filed to the budget still pending. Amendments dealing
with immigration, stricter financial reporting for mutual companies
and a repeal of the pharmaceutical gift ban still await action.
“Hopefully, we’ll finish tomorrow,” Senate President Therese Murray
said.
The Senate budget, as proposed by Ways and Means, would prohibit the
use of cash assistance for pornography, firearms, tattoos,
piercings, gambling, fines, fees and bail. The budget bill would
also create a new unit in the State Police to investigate EBT fraud,
establish a crime of food stamp trafficking, and add a fee for lost
cards.
The Senate’s plan, however, did not go as far as that adopted by the
House in its budget, which included a longer list of prohibited
uses, including on travel and spending outside Massachusetts and its
border states, and calls for a study on what it would take to move
toward a cashless system.
“The crux of the issue surrounding EBT and the abuse of EBT cards
has to do with the fact that the cards are easily transferable to
cash,” said Sen. Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican, who proposed
three different amendments to the budget all of which failed on
successive roll calls with no more than 13 votes of support.
The Senate did, however, modify its EBT reform plan unanimously
adopting an amendment filed Ways and Means Vice Chairwoman Jennifer
Flanagan that would prevent cash from being withdrawn in liquor
stores, casinos and strip clubs, require the MBTA and each regional
transit authority to move toward acceptance of EBT cards for fares,
and directs the Department of Transitional Assistance to work toward
a vendor payment system would allow the department to directly pay
landlords and utilities if it is determined that cash benefits are
being spent inappropriately on other things.
“This is not too far on the left and not too far on the right and
carves out a very solid, logical middle,” Ways and Means Chairman
Stephen Brewer said.
Hedlund first attempted to restrict cash withdrawals on EBT cards
from ATM machines to $20 a day for incidentals, but that amendment
was defeated 11-25.
The second proposal adopted the language from the House plus the
$20-per-day cash limit. That amendment failed 8-29.
The final amendment offered by Hedlund essentially mirrored the
House proposal banning ATM machines that accept EBT cards from bars,
liquor stores and adult entertainment facilities adding items such
as concert tickets, political donations and travel to the list of
prohibited uses. The amendment failed 13-24.
While the debate over EBT abuse did not generate quite the level of
tension in the Senate as it did in the House where some members
accused their colleagues of attacking the poor, the discussion had
its moments of intensity.
While urging her colleagues to reject Hedlund’s proposal to limit
cash withdrawals, Sen. Jennifer Flanagan called out Hedlund for his
poor attendance at the EBT reform commission on which they both
served.
“When we have five meetings and the gentleman showed up for one and
a half of them, it really pains me to stand here at 9:30 at night
and talk about how we need to revamp the EBT system…,” Flanagan
said. “The issue that we are trying to really go after is the issue
of fraud, and in the Senate budget we did that.”
Hedlund said that being a member of a minority caucus of four with
multiple committee assignments and other obligations made it
impossible for him to attend all the meeting, but he said he can
account for every minute he was not there.
Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz also tried to muddy the waters with a further
amendment that would have applied all the spending restrictions and
fines being proposed for welfare recipients to corporate entities
that receive tax breaks or subsidies. The Boston Democrat used the
example of David Long, the CEO of Liberty Mutual, who reportedly
spent $4.5 million to renovate the executive suit with luxury
accommodations to illustrate her point.
“They shouldn’t be not be knocking on the taxpayers door with their
hand out making the argument they can’t possibly create more jobs in
Massachusetts without this help and turn around spend those dollars
on categories like alcohol, entertainment venues, pornography, and
luxury fixtures for office suites,” Chang-Diaz said.
Suggesting that Chang-Diaz’s amendment would nullify programs such
as the film tax credit, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr adamantly
questioned whether the proposal violated Senate President Therese
Murray’s previous ruling that tax changes were out of order during
the budget debate.
Though the clerk disagreed, Tarr protested prompting Murray to slam
the gavel and recess the session. After huddling at the rostrum with
Tarr and members of the clerk’s staff, Murray left the chamber with
her chief of staff, Chang-Diaz and the assistant clerk of the
Senate, only to have Chang-Diaz withdraw the amendment when they
returned 20 minutes later.
On Thursday, the Senate also increased funding for the METCO
education diversity program by $1 million, and supported Sen. Brian
Joyce’s amendment to ban “any procedure which causes obvious signs
of physical pain, including, but not limited to, hitting, pinching
or electric shock for the purposes of changing the behavior of such
person” by programs or facilities treating a person with a
disability.
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material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665
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