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CLT UPDATE
Friday, July 13, 2012
Last Man Standing — What's with Gov.
Mini-ME?
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House lawmakers on Wednesday quickly batted aside
Gov. Deval Patrick’s vetoes and amendments on a handful of
controversial issues in the state budget, rejecting his stands on
closing Taunton State Hospital, limiting restrictions on uses of
public assistance electronic benefits cards, and providing residency
proof for motor vehicle registrations....
House lawmakers rejected the governor’s
recommended amendment on EBT benefits, with 152 members voting
against it....
House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Monday said he
anticipated that the governor would veto the EBT restrictions if the
Legislature did not go along with his amendment recommendations, but
he said he expects the House would override a veto.
State House News Service
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
House dispenses with Patrick plans on EBT,
registrations, Taunton Hospital
House lawmakers defied Governor Deval Patrick
Wednesday and voted overwhelmingly to advance a measure that would
prevent welfare recipients from spending their benefits on alcohol,
lottery tickets, tobacco, and other items.
Patrick had sent the measure back to the
Legislature Sunday, seeking changes and accusing lawmakers of
“political grandstanding” on a hot-button issue.
House members, some of whom were incensed by the
governor’s comments, rejected Patrick’s changes Wednesday and
approved the measure he had rejected, which would also prohibit
welfare recipients from using Electronic Benefit Transfer cards to
buy pornography, jewelry, and tattoos....
The Senate must approve the House measure before
it would be sent back to the governor, who would have a chance to
veto it and send it back to the Legislature again.
The Boston Globe
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Mass. House defies governor on welfare spending crackdown
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick accused the
Legislature of "political grandstanding" this week as he rejected
some of the EBT reforms lawmakers included in the new state budget.
Then Patrick promptly mounted the grandstand
himself....
House Speaker Robert DeLeo, bristling at
Patrick's "grandstanding" slap, said the House of Representatives
could take up Patrick's proposed changes as early as today.
"When you are talking about saving taxpayers
money from fraud, I don't think that's political grandstanding,"
DeLeo said.
We agree. The real problem with the Legislature's
reform proposal is that it doesn't go far enough. For one thing, it
would still allow EBT card holders to use the system like an ATM,
withdrawing cash they can spend on anything, anywhere.
If they are serious about reform, lawmakers
should stick by their guns and override Patrick's would-be vetoes.
An Eagle Tribune editorial
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Patrick shows he's not serious about EBT reform
The Senate on Thursday rejected Gov. Deval
Patrick's amendment regarding electronic benefit transfer cards and
and his amendment regarding motor vehicle registration
identification requirements....
House Speaker Robert DeLeo said earlier this week
he anticipates the governor will veto the EBT reforms, but he
expects the House to override the veto.
State House News Service
Thursday, July 12, 2012
State Capitol Briefs
Senate rejects Guv's EBT, vehicle registration amendments
Things are starting to get testy on Beacon
Hill.
Senate President Therese Murray yesterday
became the latest lawmaker to take exception to Gov. Deval
Patrick’s jab that they’re guilty of “political grandstanding”
on EBT card reform.
“Sometimes in the heat of the moment people
say things that maybe they don’t mean,” Murray said of Patrick.
The Senate rejected Patrick’s EBT amendments
yesterday — a day after the House did the same. Patrick is
likely to veto the House and Senate’s actions, but both chambers
are expected to override Patrick and put their reforms into law
by the end of session on July 31.
Murray’s comments came a day after House
Speaker Robert DeLeo said he felt Patrick thought the House was
unleashing an attack against poor people by targeting EBT card
waste and abuse. DeLeo also said he was “disappointed” by
Patrick’s choice of words and didn’t think saving taxpayers’
money from fraud amounted to political grandstanding.
The Boston Herald
Friday, July 13, 2012
Senate’s Therese Murray piles on Deval Patrick for EBT gibe
The Massachusetts Senate has rejected Gov.
Deval Patrick’s budget proposals to restrict businesses that can
accept welfare benefits.
State senators rejected the welfare measure
in a voice vote during their Thursday session.
Prior to the Senate session, Patrick told
reporters his welfare proposal would have created a practical
way to combat fraud, but lawmakers criticized the amendment for
weakening their proposed restrictions.
The welfare amendment now heads back to
Patrick for consideration.
The Patriot Ledger
Friday, July 13, 2012
Legislature, Patrick continue tug-of-war over restrictions on
EBT use
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Okay — the House and
Senate resoundingly overrode His Excellency the Governor's vetoes,
aka "recommendations." We thought that would be the end of it.
Apparently Deval Patrick, Governor of the
Commonwealth, can make such recommendations and return the state
budget bill passed by the Legislature. He did, and the Legislature
in response handed him his head.
Next, apparently, he has yet another shot
to veto — and to be overridden again.
We are dealing here with the next fiscal year's
state budget, $32.5 Billion. That is what is being discussed. Bear
in mind that at $32.5 billion, this proposed state budget for the
coming (actually current, since it legally commenced on July 1)
fiscal year is $1.76 Billion higher than the current year’s
budget when it was enacted at this time last year.
With the final vote we (through our
elected representatives in the House and Senate) will adopt or
reject the next fiscal year budget.
The minor EBT reforms within the budget bill,
mere tweak at the edges, are only intended to dilute some of the
worst of the worst abuses; recently exposed fraud over the past
year of the state squandering of our collected taxes.
If these watered down then diluted reform tweaks
can't happen now, then where and when can they?
Here in Massachusetts all too many important
issues like this wind up in this one annual budget bill courtesy of
our "full-time" Legislature. We taxpayers need to address reforms
here — or not address them at all.
If not now, when? If not now
— why not?
Now we know all too well of the abuses. Why
not correct them, now that they have been revealed?
In the big picture they may not amount to much
— but where else do we start?
If we can't do it here and now, where and
when can we start?
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Chip Ford |
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State House News Service
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
House dispenses with Patrick plans on EBT, registrations, Taunton
Hospital
By Colleen Quinn
House lawmakers on Wednesday quickly batted aside
Gov. Deval Patrick’s vetoes and amendments on a handful of
controversial issues in the state budget, rejecting his stands on
closing Taunton State Hospital, limiting restrictions on uses of
public assistance electronic benefits cards, and providing residency
proof for motor vehicle registrations.
Taunton State Hospital will remain open with 45 long-term care beds
if the Senate goes along with the House vote to override the
governor’s veto. Patrick vetoed $5.1 million that would have allowed
the hospital to stay open, saying in his message to the Legislature
that he was striking the funding and legislative restrictions “which
prohibit the planned consolidation of department services.”
Since the beginning of the year, the Patrick administration has been
pushing a plan to close the mental health hospital in southeastern
Massachusetts and move patients and jobs to a newly built state
facility in Worcester. Lawmakers in both branches from that part of
the state have vociferously fought the change.
House lawmakers Wednesday unanimously voted to keep the hospital
open with 45 beds, and also preserved funding to launch a study
conducted by an independent contractor to look at the mental health
services available across the state. After the vote, Rep. Patricia
Haddad (D-Somerset) one of the lawmakers defending Taunton Hospital
in the House, said she was “so happy.”
“It is really about the big picture and fairness,” Haddad told the
New Service.
Before lawmakers voted, Haddad said on the floor if the governor’s
veto stood then people in southeastern Massachusetts will not have
access to the full continuum of mental health care.
“I ask you if your loved one had a heart condition and you were told
the only place they could go was Worcester, how would you feel? I am
asking you if that is fair to people with mental illness and their
families. I think you are all going to answer no, it is not fair,”
Haddad said.
On welfare reform, the governor suggested amendments to sections
that would have prohibited certain purchases with EBT cards, saying
on Sunday when he signed the budget, “I’m not going to do anything
that makes vulnerable people beg for their benefits. This notion of
humiliating poor people has got to be separated from how we make a
program, and frankly separated and disposed of, from how we make a
program work and work well."
Patrick signed provisions that allow the state Inspector General to
investigate cases of eligibility fraud, and supported new criminal
penalties for food stamp trafficking.
Patrick said his recommendations were more in line with those of an
EBT Commission, and would restrict the use of EBT cards for the
purchase of alcohol, tobacco and Lottery, along with preventing
purchases at liquor stores; casinos, strip clubs, adult bookstores
or adult paraphernalia shops, firearms and ammunitions dealers,
tattoo parlors, spas, bars and drinking establishments, and cruise
ships.
He dropped some items from the Legislature's list, including jewelry
and manicures, arguing it's more feasible to restrict purchases in
types of establishments, rather than trying to list prohibited goods
or services. The governor also vetoed $400,000 for a new State
Police benefit fraud unit, calling it "duplicative" of other state
expenditures.
House lawmakers rejected the governor’s recommended amendment on EBT
benefits, with 152 members voting against it. Rep. Charles Murphy
(D-Burlington), who announced he is leaving the Legislature at the
end of July, was the lone vote with the governor.
“That was a vote in support of my governor and I think it was the
right thing to do,” Murphy told the News Service after the vote.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Monday said he anticipated that the
governor would veto the EBT restrictions if the Legislature did not
go along with his amendment recommendations, but he said he expects
the House would override a veto.
Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford) voted against the governor’s
recommendations, but was conflicted about it because he said some of
the restrictions are “not enforceable.” Sciortino said he hoped
lawmakers would have a conversation about how to help families,
rather than just looking at limiting purchases.
Patrick also returned a section with an amendment that he said would
tighten identification requirements for vehicle registration without
asking Registry of Motor Vehicles employees to enforce federal
immigration laws. He rejected a new requirement that applicants for
motor vehicle registration would have to provide "proof of legal
residence," including a driver's license or social security number,
describing the proposal as “murky” and “overbroad.”
Without any debate, lawmakers rejected the governor’s amendment with
11 members voting for it and 140 against.
If the Senate joins the House in rejecting Patrick’s amendment, the
branches would then likely return their original proposals back to
the governor.
Matt Murphy contributed reporting
The Boston Globe
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Mass. House defies governor on welfare spending crackdown
By Michael Levenson
House lawmakers defied Governor Deval Patrick Wednesday and voted
overwhelmingly to advance a measure that would prevent welfare
recipients from spending their benefits on alcohol, lottery tickets,
tobacco, and other items.
Patrick had sent the measure back to the Legislature Sunday, seeking
changes and accusing lawmakers of “political grandstanding” on a
hot-button issue.
House members, some of whom were incensed by the governor’s
comments, rejected Patrick’s changes Wednesday and approved the
measure he had rejected, which would also prohibit welfare
recipients from using Electronic Benefit Transfer cards to buy
pornography, jewelry, and tattoos.
The legislation has gained momentum following the high-profile
arrests of several welfare recipients accused of fraud and reports
of some recipients using their benefits for items other than basic
staples.
Patrick, who grew up on welfare and has been a vocal defender of
the system, sought several changes, declaring, “I’m not going to do
anything that makes vulnerable people beg for their benefits.”
At the same time, he said, he would be willing to sign a companion
bill that would ban liquor stores, casinos, strip clubs, gun shops,
and cruise ships from accepting the cards.
On Wednesday, House lawmakers rejected Patrick’s proposed changes by
a vote of 152 to 1. The lone member to side with the governor was
state Representative Charley Murphy, a Burlington Democrat who has
often tangled with House leaders and who plans to resign from the
House next month.
Representative Carl M. Sciortino, a Somerville Democrat, was the
only House member to debate the welfare bill on the floor. He said
he supported the crackdown but did so with an “uneasy conscience.”
Sciortino said he wished lawmakers would focus on ways to lift
welfare recipients out of poverty “rather than create barriers for
people who are trying to survive and take care of their children.”
He also said the punishment for recipients who violate the ban and
purchase any of the prohibited items would be unduly harsh.
A first offense would result in a $600 fine, a second offense in a
$1,200 fine, and a third offense in the loss of benefits, he said.
The Senate must approve the House measure before it would be sent
back to the governor, who would have a chance to veto it and send it
back to the Legislature again.
The Eagle Tribune
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
An Eagle Tribune editorial
Patrick shows he's not serious about EBT reform
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick accused the Legislature of
"political grandstanding" this week as he rejected some of the EBT
reforms lawmakers included in the new state budget.
Then Patrick promptly mounted the grandstand himself.
"I'm not going to do anything that makes vulnerable people beg for
their benefits," he proclaimed, pitching his remarks to his
progressive political base. "This notion of humiliating poor people
has got to be separated from how we make a program, and frankly
separated and disposed of, from how we make a program work and work
well."
The sound you may have heard in the background was the saddest song
in the world being played on the world's tiniest violin.
Few tears would be shed if holders of EBT (Electronic Benefit
Transfer) cards can't use them to pay for things like tattoos and
guns - one of the reforms Patrick wants to spike.
If poor people find it humiliating having to beg taxpayers to pay
for their tattoos, think how the taxpayers must feel when they're
forced to pay the bill.
Patrick's argument is that it makes more sense to control how EBT
cards are used at the point of purchase rather than by outlawing
specific purchases.
So he let stand rules that would bar EBT purchases at tattoo parlors
and gun shops as well as aboard cruise ships or at casinos and adult
entertainment centers.
But Patrick was not consistent. Welfare recipients would be still be
allowed to use their EBT cards at nail salons and jewelry stores
under his version of EBT reform. What sense does that make?
Patrick claims his administration has been tougher on welfare fraud
than others and he has proposed upping the penalties for abuse.
But his rhetoric and his effort to water down reform send the
message that he's not serious about reining in abuse, that he's more
concerned about hurting the feelings of potential cheats than he is
about hurting the feelings of taxpayers who wonder why they should
pay for manicures or tattoos.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo, bristling at Patrick's "grandstanding"
slap, said the House of Representatives could take up Patrick's
proposed changes as early as today.
"When you are talking about saving taxpayers money from fraud, I
don't think that's political grandstanding," DeLeo said.
We agree. The real problem with the Legislature's reform proposal is
that it doesn't go far enough. For one thing, it would still allow
EBT card holders to use the system like an ATM, withdrawing cash
they can spend on anything, anywhere.
If they are serious about reform, lawmakers should stick by their
guns and override Patrick's would-be vetoes.
State House News Service
Thursday, July 12, 2012
State Capitol Briefs
Senate rejects Guv's EBT, vehicle registration amendments
The Senate on Thursday rejected Gov. Deval Patrick's amendment
regarding electronic benefit transfer cards and and his amendment
regarding motor vehicle registration identification requirements.
Patrick's bid to alter the Legislature’s plans for restricting
certain purchases using electronic benefit transfer cards fell flat
in the House and Senate, which appear poised to send their original
plans back to his desk.
The Senate initially laid aside Patrick's plan dealing with vehicle
registration identification requirements at the request of Sen.
Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston) but returned to the matter later
Thursday and rejected his plan without debate. The House rejected
both of those amendments on Wednesday.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo said earlier this week he anticipates the
governor will veto the EBT reforms, but he expects the House to
override the veto.
The Boston Herald
Friday, July 13, 2012
Senate’s Therese Murray piles on Deval Patrick for EBT gibe
By Chris Cassidy
Things are starting to get testy on Beacon Hill.
Senate President Therese Murray yesterday became the latest lawmaker
to take exception to Gov. Deval Patrick’s jab that they’re guilty of
“political grandstanding” on EBT card reform.
“Sometimes in the heat of the moment people say things that maybe
they don’t mean,” Murray said of Patrick.
The Senate rejected Patrick’s EBT amendments yesterday — a day after
the House did the same. Patrick is likely to veto the House and
Senate’s actions, but both chambers are expected to override Patrick
and put their reforms into law by the end of session on July 31.
Murray’s comments came a day after House Speaker Robert DeLeo said
he felt Patrick thought the House was unleashing an attack against
poor people by targeting EBT card waste and abuse. DeLeo also said
he was “disappointed” by Patrick’s choice of words and didn’t think
saving taxpayers’ money from fraud amounted to political
grandstanding. So is there a growing riff between the governor and
Mr. Speaker?
“No — gracious,” said Patrick yesterday. “The speaker I think — I
hope — knows how much I respect him and how much I enjoy working
with him. I say that not just professionally but personally.”
But Patrick did say some lawmakers — he didn’t say who — are guilty
of blaming welfare recipients for their predicament rather than
helping to identify solutions to get them off the dole.
“There is no doubt in my mind that some of the comments by some of
the members seemed to me and to many to cross a line,” said Patrick.
“That’s not necessary. We can fix programs that can be working
better I think without trivializing the people and the lives of the
people who are on these benefits.”
Patrick rejected lawmakers’ provisions that banned the use of EBT
cards at jewelry shops, nail salons and rental centers, as well as
individual products, including guns, tattoos, porn and fees, fines
and bail.
The Patriot Ledger
Friday, July 13, 2012
Legislature, Patrick continue tug-of-war over restrictions on EBT
use
The Massachusetts Senate has rejected Gov. Deval Patrick’s budget
proposals to restrict businesses that can accept welfare benefits.
State senators rejected the welfare measure in a voice vote during
their Thursday session.
Prior to the Senate session, Patrick told reporters his welfare
proposal would have created a practical way to combat fraud, but
lawmakers criticized the amendment for weakening their proposed
restrictions.
The welfare amendment now heads back to Patrick for consideration.
The issue
Massachusetts residents who qualify for food stamps use an EBT
(Electronic Benefits Transfer) card. The state Department of
Transitional Assistance, once known as the welfare department, adds
a set amount to these cards for each benefit payment, and the cards
are used like debit cards to buy groceries, snacks and other food.
The purchase of liquor, cigarettes and other non-food items is
prohibited.
What the Legislature did
In amendments to the state budget for the current fiscal year, the
Legislature added tattoos, guns, pornography and body piercings to
the list of items that cannot be purchased with EBT cards. The
Legislature also said EBT cards cannot be used at places where those
things are bought.
What the governor did
Gov. Deval Patrick signed the new budget July 8 but vetoed part of
the list of new restrictions. He kept language that prohibits EBT
card use at tattoo parlors, casinos, gun shops and other stores
where prohibited items are sold, but deleted language listing the
prohibited items. Patrick said he is not opposed to banning such EBT
uses, but he agreed with the state’s independent EBT Card
Commission, which said enforcing a ban at certain stores would be
easier than policing individual purchases.
How the Legislature responded
House and Senate leaders and members swiftly objected to Patrick’s
veto. On Wednesday, 152 of 160 House members voted to override the
veto. The Senate followed suit Thursday with a voice vote.
What happens next?
The budget now goes back to Patrick with the Legislature’s complete
new list of EBT restrictions. The governor’s office said Patrick
will not immediately comment on whether he’ll sign the budget as is
or attempt a second veto.
What’s allowed and what’s not
Here is a list of items that are currently approved and disallowed
for purchase with state EBT cards, debit-like cards used by food
stamp recipients.
Approved uses
Food products, ingredients for at-home meals
Cold prepared sandwiches, salads, deli food
Ethnic, health foods
Snack foods, candy, soft drinks
Seeds, plants for a home vegetable garden
Local farmers’ market produce
For senior citizens and the disabled – home- delivered meals, group
meals
Disallowed
Hot, prepared food
Restaurant meals, in-store food
Liquor, cigarettes
Vitamins, medicine
Pet foods, soap, cosmetics
Household products (laundry, paper goods)
Additional bans imposed by the Legislature
Tattoos, guns, pornography, body piercings
Jewelry, fines, bail
Purchases at tattoo parlors, gun shops, casinos, cruise ships, strip
clubs, adult entertainment centers
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material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665
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