foodstamps2013

I'm not a huge fan of the idea.

My state tried it for awhile and it ended up being a bureaucratic nightmare. Between all of the paperwork and dealing with the drug testing companies it ended up costing more than we saved from people who were using drugs.

Also, the dirty secret alot of states won't tell you is that the number of people who receive cash welfare keeps going down. When Assistance for Families with Dependent Children was turned into Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) alot of states used it to clear off welfare rolls.

Since it is now such a PITA to get on welfare most who would otherwise apply with the states are now applying for disability through Social Security.

Outside of refusing to sell them the soda there isn't really much we can do sadly. If its an approved SNAP item then they can do whatever they want with it.

A big issue we have are gas stations that falsely ring up cigarettes/alcohol as a SNAP item and charge client's EBT cards.

Sadly alot of times being a "Welfare Queen" isn't even fraud. I'll give you this example. A woman received her 48 months of TANF and timed out. She marched all 6 of her children to the social security office and had 2 of them declared disabled. So now she's getting $1400 a month from Social Security, food stamps, medicaid, and HUD is paying her rent. Yet its prefectly legal.

In most cases a fine and the store will no longer be able to accept EBT cards.

The running joke is that every dollar donated goes to making sure the local execs get to their photo ops on time.