Latest EBT scandal: Hoarding handouts... including $12,088 in 1 food stamp account
By: Chris Cassidy, Matt Stout
Nearly 1,800 welfare recipients are carrying taxpayer-funded food stamp balances on their EBT cards in excess of $1,500 — with one account topping $12,000 — the latest twist in a state welfare scandal that now has a former Massachusetts inspector general calling for a sweeping probe.A Herald review of a seven-month tally of EBT accounts also showed 37 welfare recipients have separate cash balances in excess of $1,500 — with one of more than $4,600. Unlike food stamps, which are federally funded, these payments are paid for by state taxpayers.“There should be an investigation by the administration and an investigation by all of the law enforcement agencies — including the IG’s office — to look at the question of integrity with the income reporting of people on welfare who receive food stamps,” former Inspector General Gregory Sullivan, now of the Pioneer Institute, told the Herald. “Massachusetts, in my view, has a very poor system.”
The Herald review comes after state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell paid $800 to pry the welfare data on sky-high benefit balances from the state Department of Transitional Assistance after a store owner in Pittsfield sent her a receipt showing a customer’s alarming $7,000 EBT balance.Among the shocking totals in the DTA data:• Of the state’s 550,000 food stamp, or SNAP, recipients, 1,794 have balances of more than $1,500, and another 45 are carrying more than $5,000.• One balance in March hit $12,088, the highest from any of the seven months of data the Herald reviewed.• For those receiving state taxpayer-funded cash assistance, one EBT cardholder had a $4,622 balance, and another $4,320.On average, state households receive $230 a month in food stamps and $450 in cash assistance, meaning some of these EBT cardholders are going months, even years, without using their accounts.“It’s even worse than I thought it was going to be, what we’ve seen at this point,” O’Connell said, adding she needs more time to dig deeper into the numbers. “Once again, this is the tip of the iceberg.”Less than two hours after delivering the data to O’Connell’s office, officials at the Department of Transitional Assistance announced new rules to curb high balances. However, those officials denied the timing of the new initiatives was meant to blunt outrage over these bloated EBT balances.For those receiving cash assistance from the state, officials will now close EBT accounts exceeding a $2,500 balance and expunge all accounts not used for 90 days. Officials said they also will contact all those with more than $1,500 on EBT cards, asking them to call DTA to explain their cash kitty.As a federally administered program, there is no limit to how high SNAP accounts can soar. But DTA officials plan to deactivate any account not used after six months and then erase the balances after 12 months of no use. When balances reach $5,000, only then will caseworkers start a case review.DTA Commissioner Stacey Monahan refused a Herald request for an interview last night but said in a statement that high balances are “inconsistent with the department’s goal of helping vulnerable individuals meet their most basic and immediate needs, and that’s why we are taking this action.”O’Connell scoffed at the welfare agency’s new rules, calling them “one sorry excuse” for reform.“If you’re letting people accumulate thousands of dollars,” she said, “that flies in the face of any kind of genuine concern about fraud and any actual real reform.”
Joe Dwinell contributed to this report
Commentary
As the old saying goes the More things change the more they stay the same
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