Thread: Calif. Welfare Bucks Spent as Tourist Dollars Vegas Slots

Calif. Welfare Bucks End Up Spent as Tourist Dollars — Even in Vegas Slots

Monday, 04 Oct 2010 03:41 PM
By: Mike Tighe

Talk about a new twist on the old saying that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas: What’s paid as welfare in California goes to Las Vegas — to the tune of nearly 12 million bucks since 2007. That’s wilder than a joker, according to officials and private citizens who are bristling at the fact that it’s is only a fraction of the tally of Golden State welfare money that turned into tourism dollars in Nevada, Hawaii, Miami, Guam, and other spots of relaxation benefitting from California taxation.

And, although many Vegas casinos block the use of welfare cards in ATMs amid the cacophony of coins coursing through the slots, that doesn’t stop people from getting their gambling stakes at a nearby 7-Eleven, according to the Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... Local+News)

In fact, nearly $70 million in California welfare money intended to house and clothe the needy was spent or withdrawn outside the state between January 2007 and this past May, the Times reported today. The tally includes not only the millions in Vegans but also hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing out of Miami, the newspaper said.

State-issued welfare cards have been used at hotels, shops, restaurants, ATMs, and other places in 49 other states, the Virgin Islands, and Guam, since January 2007, the Times expose reports, citing data the newspaper obtained from the state social services department.

Although there's no way to prove that the money has slipped into slot machines or been squandered on leis and luaus, the possibility that it could have been spent that way rankles citizens and officials alike. "How they can go somewhere like Hawaii and be legit on aid . . . they can't," the Times quotes fraud investigator Robert Hollenbeck as saying.

"This is money for basic subsistence needs," said Hollenbeck, who works for the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.

http://www.newsmax.com/US/California-We ... /id/372515

Why am I not at all surprised?

State officials cancel access to welfare benefits on cruise ships and at all casinos

October 4, 2010 | 5:20 pm

California officials are cutting off use of state-issued welfare debit cards at casinos across the country and on cruise ships, in the wake of Times reports that the aid cards have been used to spend or withdraw millions of dollars in benefits at popular vacation spots including the Las Vegas strip and on ships sailing from ports around the world.

More than $69 million meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children was accessed in all 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, according to data obtained by The Times from the California Department of Social Services.

The department instructed the vendor that administers the debit card program to make the changes Monday afternoon, in response to a report in The Times’ Monday edition.

Department of Social Services Director John Wagner said the move is part of the Schwarzenegger administration’s commitment to "rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in these programs" and "to ensure these resources are going to the people they are intended for."

In June, the state cut off access to benefits in California casinos and strip clubs after The Times reported that the Electronic Benefits Transfer cards worked in those businesses too.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/califor ... sinos.html