Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
A bill that toughens penalties for those who try to trade food stamps and EBT cards for cash passed 65-0 in the New Mexico House of Representatives on Saturday and the bill’s sponsor thinks the chances are good that the measure can get through the Legislature before the 30-day legislative session ends Thursday.
“You have instances where people were continually committing fraud and we couldn’t really aggregate those into a felony,” said Rep. Monica Youngblood, R-Albuquerque of House Bill 229. “That’s what this bill will do.”
Across the country, there have been reports of people going on Craigslist and offering to sell food stamps, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) checks or electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards for cash.
Here in New Mexico, a gas station attendant in Albuquerque was caught on tape by KOB-TV trading $200 in food stamps for $100 in cash.
Last May, a couple from Farmington was arrested and charged with entering false transactions for food purchases using food stamps and then giving half the money they were reimbursed to the holder of the food stamps.
“It’s really easy to sell (food stamps and EBT cards),” Youngblood said. “People stand outside grocery stores and actually offer them for half their value. I hear from teachers that kids are coming to school hungry and that shouldn’t be the case in our state, especially with the amount of public assistance we have.”
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 10:37 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:33 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:30 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:29 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 09:50 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: Not a whole lot of point. It's already illegal.
On top of making it a felony, if a crook gets caught, ban him/her from the food stamp program forever.
Then what happens if they straighten up and fall on hard times?
Fak 'em. Not our fault they CHOSE to be criminals.
I can understand and respect your point but I'll have to respectfully disagree.
Thanks for keeping it civil. What would your alternative be? Maybe ban them a few years from the program? I just irks me that some folks will take a handout and profit from it. There must be some type of repercussion.
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 10:41 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:37 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:33 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:30 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:29 AM)VA49er Wrote: On top of making it a felony, if a crook gets caught, ban him/her from the food stamp program forever.
Then what happens if they straighten up and fall on hard times?
Fak 'em. Not our fault they CHOSE to be criminals.
I can understand and respect your point but I'll have to respectfully disagree.
Thanks for keeping it civil. What would your alternative be? Maybe ban them a few years from the program? I just irks me that some folks will take a handout and profit from it. There must be some type of repercussion.
Felony charge, some prison time, and some fines.
The sad fact is you can't stop it but I feel we have to make allowances for those who screw up, pay the price, and then may need help in the future.
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 10:57 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:41 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:37 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:33 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:30 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: Then what happens if they straighten up and fall on hard times?
Fak 'em. Not our fault they CHOSE to be criminals.
I can understand and respect your point but I'll have to respectfully disagree.
Thanks for keeping it civil. What would your alternative be? Maybe ban them a few years from the program? I just irks me that some folks will take a handout and profit from it. There must be some type of repercussion.
Felony charge, some prison time, and some fines.
The sad fact is you can't stop it but I feel we have to make allowances for those who screw up, pay the price, and then may need help in the future.
And, most importantly, if these same people straighten up and decide to raise a family, and then fall on hard times. It's why a lot of these programs are hard to realistically implement, because the result is that the children are the ones being punished for their terrible parents, which is itself is more of a punishment than those children ever deserved.
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 11:07 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: The New Mexico House of Representatives has 38 Democrats and 32 Republicans, and this bill passed 65-0 (don't know who the abstentions were).
You'd probably be surprised at how much disdain those who are staunch supporters of social programs like this have for those who use it to commit fraud. The problem is that most of the 'punishment' type legislation isn't really well thought out in it's application, and is just done as a viscerally legislative response (like the drug tests for welfare users).
I truly despise those who wantonly abuse our social programs, because while I do think their impact is grossly exaggerated for political reasons, the fact they exist is a major factor in why people who are truly suffering and who would legitimately benefit from better overall social programs don't get those programs.
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 10:50 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:33 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:30 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:
(02-17-2014 10:29 AM)VA49er Wrote:
(02-17-2014 09:50 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: Not a whole lot of point. It's already illegal.
On top of making it a felony, if a crook gets caught, ban him/her from the food stamp program forever.
Then what happens if they straighten up and fall on hard times?
Fak 'em. Not our fault they CHOSE to be criminals.
Ah, the tolerance and compassion of the right...
Ah, the compassion of the left. People selling food stamps for cash to buy who knows what instead of using them to buy food for their kids are evidently heroes to UMemphis. Those that want them stopped are evil right wingers. Got it.
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 11:07 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: The New Mexico House of Representatives has 38 Democrats and 32 Republicans, and this bill passed 65-0 (don't know who the abstentions were).
That's quite a valid point. Good bipartisan effort.
(02-17-2014 11:44 AM)smn1256 Wrote: Only the left tolerates criminal behavior.
Saw that coming. It was passed unanimously by democrats and republicans, but democrats are baaaaaaad!
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 01:20 PM)mathenis89 Wrote:
(02-17-2014 11:07 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: The New Mexico House of Representatives has 38 Democrats and 32 Republicans, and this bill passed 65-0 (don't know who the abstentions were).
That's quite a valid point. Good bipartisan effort.
(02-17-2014 11:44 AM)smn1256 Wrote: Only the left tolerates criminal behavior.
Saw that coming. It was passed unanimously by democrats and republicans, but democrats are baaaaaaad!
Not all dems are "left" and not all republicans are "right"... Sheesh and I thought us religious folks were the ones bad at concepts like this..
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 01:20 PM)mathenis89 Wrote:
(02-17-2014 11:07 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: The New Mexico House of Representatives has 38 Democrats and 32 Republicans, and this bill passed 65-0 (don't know who the abstentions were).
That's quite a valid point. Good bipartisan effort.
(02-17-2014 11:44 AM)smn1256 Wrote: Only the left tolerates criminal behavior.
Saw that coming. It was passed unanimously by democrats and republicans, but democrats are baaaaaaad!
You're a democrat, would you have passed it? On this board, it the democrats that don't want to do anything about this because of how it impacts the kids. Guess we shouldn't send murderers to jail because of how it impacts their kids.
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
(02-17-2014 01:33 PM)smn1256 Wrote:
(02-17-2014 01:20 PM)mathenis89 Wrote:
(02-17-2014 11:07 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: The New Mexico House of Representatives has 38 Democrats and 32 Republicans, and this bill passed 65-0 (don't know who the abstentions were).
That's quite a valid point. Good bipartisan effort.
(02-17-2014 11:44 AM)smn1256 Wrote: Only the left tolerates criminal behavior.
Saw that coming. It was passed unanimously by democrats and republicans, but democrats are baaaaaaad!
You're a democrat, would you have passed it? On this board, it the democrats that don't want to do anything about this because of how it impacts the kids. Guess we shouldn't send murderers to jail because of how it impacts their kids.
Yes, I would have passed it.
And I'm not a democrat. The Democratic Party is far too right-leaning for my tastes.
(This post was last modified: 02-17-2014 01:58 PM by mathenis89.)
RE: Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
I'm glad this passed.
For the record, I affiliate with the Democratic Party for the most part as I agree most generally on social issues and a number of economic topics. I try to be reasonable, and I think there are extremes on both ends of the spectrum who are not very reasonable. Things like this are simple and make sense. Why would you vote against it?
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Food Stamp Fraud Bill Passes NM House Of Representatives
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