ALBANY – A bill that would curtail flagrant abuse of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards by prohibiting welfare recipients from using cash assistance to gamble – or buy tobacco, alcoholic beverages and lottery tickets – passed the New York State Senate this week, putting state legislators one step closer to lowering instances of welfare fraud.

The bill, titled the Public Assistance Integrity Act, was brought before the Senate Tuesday, and is now set to be reviewed by the State Assembly. The proposed legislation, sponsored by Senator Tom Libous, aims to completely ban the sale or purchase of alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets with public assistance benefits, and limit where EBT cards can be used and what they are used for.

Under the current benefit system, EBT cards operate similarly to debit cards for welfare recipients. It contains both Food Stamps and cash assistance. Although Food Stamps is strictly regulated to buy certain food items, cash assistance – intended to buy non-food items like soap, toothpaste, school supplies and toiletries – is not. Lack of legislative oversight allows recipients to legally use cash assistance to buy tobacco, lottery tickets and beer, or make ATM withdrawals from certain places, including liquor stores, casinos and strip clubs.

“Public assistance is designed to help needy families provide for their children until they can transition back to the workforce and become self-sufficient,” Libous said in a statement released earlier this week. “This common-sense legislation would protect hardworking taxpayers from abuse while ensuring that families receiving welfare benefits continue to get the temporary assistance they need and deserve.”

Although the proposed bill looks good on the surface, there are concerns as to how such legislation would be funded and enforced if signed into law. According to Chenango County Department of Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne, the biggest hurdle to overcome is implementation and execution.

“My first reaction was that it is a good idea, in theory, and I am in favor of it,” Osborne said, noting the effort to protect public funding for its intended use. “But my concern would be, how will they police this? It would be very labor intensive to prove dollar bills that come from the ATM were from temporary assistance when they are used to buy something like a lottery ticket two days later ... we can prove (recipients) bought a lottery ticket or six pack of beer, but can we prove that money came from their benefits?”