Thread: Get gov't aid? Ariz. bill says no smokes, alcohol, HBO

Get gov't aid? Ariz. bill says no smokes, alcohol, HBO

Howard Fischer Capitol Media
February 10, 2010

PHOENIX - The way state Rep. Frank Antenori sees it, you shouldn't be smoking or drinking if the government is helping to pay for your food or health care.

And you shouldn't be buying more than a basic TV or car, shouldn't have a cell phone unless it's your only phone and shouldn't have cable TV with HBO or Showtime.

The Tucson-area Republican is sponsoring legislation to make public assistance off-limits to those who don't comply.

His HB 2770 would be mostly self-enforcing - welfare recipients would have to sign an affidavit each time they go through eligibility screening promising to live within the rules.

This is just the first step, though. Antenori wants the Department of Economic Security to devise rules to actually enforce the restrictions.

But until the law gets some legal teeth, Antenori said he foresees a system in which people report those they see at the grocery store using food stamps and then pulling out cash for that bottle of wine or pack of smokes.

"People put $100 of food up on the register, run the EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer card) through, and then throw two big jugs of booze and two cartons of cigarettes (onto the conveyor belt) and pull $100 out of their pocket. If you see that, you call a 1-800 number and notify somebody," Antenori said.

"If you've got 80 bucks to buy a gallon of booze and two cartons of cigarettes, then why the heck are we paying for your food?" he asked.

That would mean a single bottle of beer could cost a family its food stamps, free health care and any other welfare benefits. Antenori said he has no problem with that.

"If you don't have enough money to buy your own food to exist for your own sustenance, and you need some other hardworking taxpayer that's out there and working and paying taxes to subsidize your food, then you shouldn't have the luxury, at the expense of some other taxpayer, to go out and enjoy the niceties in life," he said.

Several of these affected programs use federal money, in whole or in part. But Antenori said he believes the state is still free to set eligibility standards.

DES spokesman Steve Meissner, whose agency screens applicants for all these programs, said the ability of the state to impose its own conditions "varies from program to program."

And Monica Coury, spokeswoman for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, said Antenori's bill, at least as crafted, would not affect eligibility for her agency's programs. Antenori said if that's true, he will amend the measure when it goes to committee.

While welfare recipients would not be able to buy alcohol and tobacco products, they could acquire other items that are not a necessity - up to a point.

His proposal would allow assistance beneficiaries to buy a vehicle worth no more than $5,000 or a television, as long as it doesn't cost more than $300. And basic cable service is "almost a necessity," Antenori said.

Antenori said he had not considered whether there should be programs to help those on public assistance quit smoking so they don't lose their benefits. But he said he's not sure they're necessary, adding that people could just quit.

"Not a lot of people are successful," he acknowledged. "But people have quit cold turkey."

He said it comes down to priorities.

"If you're basically hungry and can't afford to feed yourself, then I don't think you should be able to afford to buy cigarettes," Antenori said.

The measure, which has 12 co-sponsors, has not yet been set for a hearing.

On StarNet: Do you agree with Frank Antenori? Take part in an online poll at

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-an ... 95cae.html

I'm surprised that they didn't add: No Starbucks - instant coffee only, no pie, cake, chocolate or soft drinks with sugar in them. That's all expensive or bad for your health.

"PHOENIX - The way state Rep. Frank Antenori sees it, you shouldn't be smoking or drinking if the government is helping to pay for your food or health care.

And you shouldn't be buying more than a basic TV or car, shouldn't have a cell phone unless it's your only phone and shouldn't have cable TV with HBO or Showtime.

The Tucson-area Republican is sponsoring legislation to make public assistance off-limits to those who don't comply."

The Obamabots are gonna flip! No Crack!, No Heroin!

Another well-intentioned misguided moronic legislator who doesn't have the guts to change the policies that put these people in the poverty position to begin with and abusing government's right to intrude on the private lives of our citizens.

It is immoral to fill your state up with illegal aliens who steal the jobs of Americans who now destitute turn to assistance from the government to survive based on funding from taxes they paid when they were working, and then tell these people how to live their lives and pursue whatever little modicum of happiness or pleasure they derive from smoking a cig or watching a movie on TV. The Slave Cabins have been illegal in the US since 1865, Antenori. Time you caught up and got with the program of what it means to be free in the United States, for everyone.

POLL RESULTS

Do you agree with Frank Antenori?

YES 68%
NO 28%
Not Sure 5%

Total number of votes 944

VOTE @

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-an ... 95cae.html

Always good to see a politician actually doing something besides just talking about problems
without offering any solutions.

Do you agree with Frank Antenori?

Yes 66 %
No 29 %
Not sure 5 %

Total number of votes 1195

Poll results aren't scientific. Percentages may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding off.

This is dumb. Why not give them job training and JOBS. But no...instead they whine and complain that they might buy a beer or a cigarette. Or they might watch tv. OMG!!! THE HORROR!!! If we did not have visa workers from every place on the planet....and if the country was not FLOODED with illegals, then these people would have jobs. STOP COMPLAINING AND DO YOUR JOB. GET THE COUNTRY BACK ON TRACK. IDIOT. Btw, does Antenon buy booze or cigs with that TAXPAYER MONEY HE IS LIVING ON? WHAT SIZE TV DOES HE HAVE? DOES HE HAVE CABLE? I DONT THINK THE TAXPAYERS CAN AFFORD THAT RIGHT NOW SO HE WILL HAVE TO GIVE THEM UP!!!!

Originally Posted by redpony353

This is dumb. Why not give them job training and JOBS. But no...instead they whine and complain that they might buy a beer or a cigarette. Or they might watch tv. OMG!!! THE HORROR!!! If we did not have visa workers from every place on the planet....and if the country was not FLOODED with illegals, then these people would have jobs. STOP COMPLAINING AND DO YOUR JOB. GET THE COUNTRY BACK ON TRACK. IDIOT. Btw, does Antenon buy booze or cigs with that TAXPAYER MONEY HE IS LIVING ON? WHAT SIZE TV DOES HE HAVE? DOES HE HAVE CABLE? I DONT THINK THE TAXPAYERS CAN AFFORD THAT RIGHT NOW SO HE WILL HAVE TO GIVE THEM UP!!!!

Exactly. I wonder if the people who support this have thought about the fact that we could do the same thing to beneficiaries of Social Security and MediCare, and Disability and SSI, and Unemployment and Workman's Compensation and Farm Subsidies and why stop there? We could do it to Government Workers, Government Contractors, and the US Military, too.

Oh stop! We'll just put Muslims in charge of the whole thing, since they're already well-trained and experienced in this sort of "thing".

I dont know how ANY LEGISLATOR can complain about food stamp recipients. THEY MADE THEM POOR. Legislators who ride in jets and chauffeur driven limos....eating caviar...and drinking top of the line wine. Spending god only knows how much on trips and clothes and maids and nannys. All this while the COUNTRY GOES STRAIGHT INTO THE TOILET!! I WILL TELL YOU WHO IS NOT WORKING....IT IS OUR LEGISLATORS!! THEY ARE GETTING A FREE RIDE WITH FREE HEALTH CARE, FREE JETS, FREE TRIPS, FREE LUNCHES, FREE FREE FREE...ON THE BACK OF THE TAXPAYER. And they have destroyed the jobs and lives of many Americans ...AND THEN THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT THEM? Welfare recipients should be getting $50K a year since the reason they need welfare is because of OUR LEGISLATORS LETTING THE WHOLE EFFIN COUNTRY GO TO THE DOGS. Antenon, while he stands there in his thousand dollar suit, with a full stomach should be ashamed of himself....talking about welfare or food stamp recipients as though they are freeloaders. YOU KNOW WHO THE REAL FREELOADERS ARE? OUR LEGISLATORS!!