William E. Morris Institute for Justice
202 East McDowell Road, Suite 257, Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4536
Food Stamp Program:
Food stamps are for low-income families and individuals so they can purchase food to stay healthy and alive. The federal government pays for 100% of the food stamp benefits. In December 2009, 1,004,476 persons in Arizona received food stamps; 512,076 were children; and total food stamp allotment in the state was $131,110,162. The average family received $305 per month. The Arizona Department of Economic Security, Family Assistance Administration, Statistical Bulletin, December 2009. www.azdes.gov/CM400Min/InternetFiles/Reports/pdf/dbme_statistical_bulletin_12_2009.pdf. Historically, the food stamp program has enrolled less than half the eligible persons.
The food stamp program uses an electronic benefit transfer system (“EBT”). The EBT cards are loaded electronically with the household’s food stamp allotment each month and function like a bank debit card or an ATM card. For the cards issued by J.P. Morgan, one adult member’s name is on the card. For the cards issued by the Arizona Department of Economic Security (“DES”), there is no name on the card. The EBT card is used by inserting the card into a machine at the grocery store and then entering a confidential personal identification number (“PIN”). The machine will deduct the cost of the food purchased from the card.
What this bill does:
This bill: (1) requires DES to issue EBT cards with the name of the recipient on the card; and (2) requires retailers to require persons using an EBT card to present identification demonstrating that the EBT “belongs” to that person. The list of documents a retailer may accept is taken from 42 C.F.R. §§ 435.407(a) and (e) and are partial lists of documents to establish citizenship or identity for the Medicaid program.
Problems with the bill:
1. It would be costly and unnecessary for DES to purchase 80 machines to put recipient names on the EBT cards DES issues. In DES’ 80 local offices, DES issues EBT cards in situations such as for emergency food stamps that must be processed within 7 days of the date of the application and for homeless persons who do not have an address where the cards can be safely mailed. In order for DES to put a name on each card, DES would have to purchase 80 machines and the cost is both unnecessary and prohibitive in these tight fiscal times. In addition, this is not required by federal law.
2. This bill may cause discrimination and violate the federal Food and Nutrition Act (“Food Stamp Act). The food stamp regulations require that the EBT system “shall” be implemented and operated in a manner that maintains “equal treatment” for food stamp recipients. 7 C.F.R. § 247.12(g)(4). As an example, retailers cannot have special check-out lines only for EBT cardholders. 7 C.F.R. § 247.12(g)(4)(i). Thus, if retailers are required to check ID for EBT card holders they would have to check ID for ALL customers not paying with cash or there would be discrimination. We doubt retailers want this added responsibility and if required to check every customer’s ID this would slow down the checkout process and adversely affect their business operations.
3. This bill will deny persons access to their food stamp benefits and violate the federal Food Stamp Act. Requiring retailers to check ID to determine if the EBT card “belongs” to the customer will deny access to food stamp benefits because the use of the EBT card is not limited to the person whose name is on the card. The head of the household may permit others to do her shopping. Any EBT system must ensure that all persons allowed to use the EBT card can actually use it and the state “must establish procedures to ensure that all appropriate household members or authorized representatives are able to access benefits from the account as necessary.” 7 C.F.R. § 247.12(g)(6)(B)(iv); 7 U.S.C. § 20169(h)(9). Currently, access to EBT cards is accomplished by the customer knowing the confidential PIN number. Federal policy consistently has been that if an individual has the EBT card and the PIN, the retailer must assume that they are authorized to use the card, unless there is reason to suspect wrongdoing.
4. This bill would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. These federal laws require states to ensure that persons with disabilities have the same opportunity to participate in federally funded programs as others. Many persons with disabilities are unable to shop for themselves and must rely on family members or home health care aides to shop for them. This bill would prevent these persons from benefitting from the Food Stamp Program.
5. Here are some examples of how access will be denied when someone whose name is not on the card but has permission to use the card goes to the store:
A parent is sick and wants her 16 year old daughter to go to the grocery store;
A mother wants her spouse to go to the store to purchase food;
A person with a disability wants her caretaker, relative, or friend to go to the grocery store; and
An elderly person’s nephew does most of the grocery shopping for his uncle.
In each of these situations, the retailer would be required to “check” the ID to see if the EBT card belongs to the customer. It would not even though these individuals are authorized to use the card on the household’s behalf. Significantly, any person, including the homeless, who has lost or misplaced her identification also would be denied access to their food stamps under this bill.
6 It is well documented that the poor, elderly and disabled disproportionately do not have the documents in the required lists. A recent national study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that 7% of U. S. citizens do not have government issued identification, U. S. passports, naturalization papers or birth certificates. This percentage significantly increases for low-income persons.
15% of citizens earning less than $35,000 per year lack government-issued ID
18% of citizens aged 65 or above lack government-issued ID
25% of adult African-American citizens lack government-issued ID
“Citizens Without Proof: A Survey of Americans’ Possession of Documentary Proof of Citizenship and Photo Identification,” Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law (November 2006). See also http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/d/download_file_ 10059.pdf. Many older persons were not born in hospitals because of discrimination or rural location. Moreover, documentation showing citizenship often does not reflect the citizen’s current name. Even those who once had the documents may have lost them or had them stolen. It can take months of work and countless visits to federal and state agencies to obtain government-issued identification or get replacements. It is much more difficult to get an ID if a person was born in another state.
This bill is not needed, will deny access to food stamps to those in need, may cause discrimination and will increase DES’ costs to implement. In these tough economic times we cannot risk losing federal funding for hundreds of millions of dollars of food stamps because of this bill. Please vote ‘no” on this bill.