Despite evidence of EBT spending in vacation hot spots like Hawaii and Las Vegas, the Baker administration is standing by the “integrity” of the tax-funded welfare program.
The state Department of Transitional Assistance said Tuesday the agency has hired more staff to target EBT card abuse. But, as the Herald reported Monday, EBT card transactions were recorded at hotels in Hawaii on Hanalei Bay and Waikiki Beach.
The agency said both transactions prompted an investigation. The DTA was not able to share that information Monday when asked to explain why EBT cards were used at the Princeville Resort on the island of Kauai for a total of $400 in November of last year and $140 in January at the Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu.
Tuesday night the DTA said “after the (Princeville) transaction, the household was asked to verify residency and did not, so the case was closed and benefits expunged from the card.”
The Waikiki Beach transaction at a Sheraton just off the beach was also looked into, the DTA said. “The second household (had) the same residency verification check performed, but was able to prove that their travel was temporary. Subsequently, the account was closed because they began receiving (Social Security), which makes them ineligible for cash benefits, and system controls closed the case.”
The DTA did not address transactions in Las Vegas and Alaska, as reported by the Herald. The agency did email EBT rules that state “if an EBT card is exclusively used out of state for 45 days, a household must provide proof of current Massachusetts residence.”
The Herald reviewed more than 2 million EBT expenditures in fiscal 2019 for Tuesday’s report. Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration emailed a response that stressed the DTA is on the lookout for abuse.
“Since taking office, the administration has invested approximately $1 million in program integrity at DTA, hiring 10 additional staff tasked with daily monitoring of transaction data and analysis and retailer compliance, increasing cooperation with local law enforcement to pursue offenders, improving the accuracy of data matching for wages, and proactively monitoring the rollout of legalized marijuana to educate retailers and clients to prevent unauthorized purchases,” a DTA statement sent to the Herald states.
The DTA statement adds the agency “will continue to focus on identifying potential areas of fraud and abuse and strengthening internal controls so that benefits are administered to eligible households and used for permitted purposes.”
The DTA also stated that 99.35% of all cash benefit transactions — both EBT card use and cash withdrawals — “took place in Massachusetts and neighboring states” New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Maine or Vermont.
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December 04, 2019 at 08:04AM
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Charlie Baker defends EBT card ‘integrity’ after Herald reports Hawaii, Las Vegas spending - Boston Herald
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