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Aloha! Massachusetts EBT cards used at posh hotels in Hawaii

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https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/12/02/aloha-massachusetts-ebt-cards-used-at-posh-hotels-in-hawaii/

 


 

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EBT card holders from Massachusetts have spent their tax-funded benefits in almost every state — including popular vacation spots like Hawaii where welfare money was withdrawn at hotels in “paradise,” right on Waikiki Beach and the “best address” on Hanalei Bay, records show.

A Herald review of more than 2 million EBT expenditures in fiscal year 2019 found the cards being used in Hawaii on 18 different occasions. Thousands of other out-of-state transactions included cash withdrawals in Las Vegas, and numerous card uses in Alaska, California, Florida and Louisiana. The state Department of Transitional Assistance on Monday did not provide any explanation for the out-of-state spending of benefits that are intended for the needy and hardship cases.

In Hawaii, records show a state-issued EBT card was used twice at the Princeville Resort on the island of Kauai for a total of $400 in November of last year. The resort bills itself as “a sanctuary for the modern luminary” and Hawaii’s “best address.”

Rooms are now going for more than $800 a night, but the EBT records obtained by the Herald through a public records request do not specify what exactly the card was used for at this resort located above legendary Hanalei Bay.

The DTA prohibits the use of EBT cards for vacation services, but hotels are not on the banned list. Pot, booze, tattoos, lottery tickets, adult entertainment and casinos are prohibited. The DTA did say ATM withdrawals are allowed “at permitted location types.”

Another EBT card from Massachusetts was used in January at the Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu, records show.

That expenditure was $140 at a destination called “paradise” and “priceless,” according to guest reviews online. The resort’s website adds the hotel is “just three miles from the famed Diamond Head crater.” The DTA did not address that bill either.

The cash used came from EBT cards from the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children. Food stamps were not included in the data shared.

A DTA spokeswoman said the agency monitors for “continuous out of state EBT card usage” to help determine if someone has moved to another state.

“DTA uses enhanced data analytics to proactively monitor Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card transactions and was the second state in the country to launch an aggressive program to stop fraud before it occurred by blocking locations where cash assistance use is prohibited,” the agency said when asked to explain all the out-of-state purchases.

The EBT program was reformed in 2012, after the Herald reported rampant abuse, with new restrictions put in place. But critics say the reforms didn’t go far enough.

Two welfare watchdogs said DTA’s current response does not address the unexplained use of EBT cards in Hawaii — thousands of miles and a $700 round-trip airfare away from Massachusetts.

“That’s a red flag,” said state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, who will take over as mayor of Taunton next month. “Hawaii? That’s outrageous. How do you get there if you are on tax assistance?

“We shouldn’t see expenditures at five-star resorts,” O’Connell added. “If there are ongoing expenditures in Hawaii that is a huge problem that needs to be investigated by the DTA.”

Greg Sullivan of the Pioneer Institute, a former state inspector general, said he’s also suspicious.

“This just breeds massive doubt and cynicism,” he said. “People who do that do a tremendous disservice to those who really need the money.”

The DTA said if an EBT card is exclusively used out of state for 45 days, a household must provide proof of current Massachusetts residence.

Sullivan called on the agency to share in the “shame and blame” for not going after questionable out-of-state uses of EBT cards, especially when taxpayers are paying for the benefits.

“I’ve always questioned why EBT cards were allowed to be used out of state,” Sullivan added. “Seeing money spent at the ‘Best Address’ in Hawaii just shows the system lacks controls.”

 

Taxachusetts at it's best :doh:

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I was at the Princeville for a week several years ago.  I didn’t notice any food stampers, but there were a helluva lot of flies.  

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14 hours ago, avoiding injuries said:

Pretty sure they don’t. 

Ya. Ok ....they bus them in. Pretty sure you're out of touch with the real world. 

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17 minutes ago, drobeski said:

Ya. Ok ....they bus them in. Pretty sure you're out of touch with the real world. 

I don’t believe people too lazy to work are motivated enough to vote. 🤷‍♂️ 

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2 hours ago, avoiding injuries said:

I don’t believe people too lazy to work are motivated enough to vote. 🤷‍♂️ 

if they are convinced they keep getting their free sh1t and ebt cards, you bet your ass they vote.

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2 hours ago, avoiding injuries said:

I don’t believe people too lazy to work are motivated enough to vote. 🤷‍♂️ 

You must live in a really small town. 

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Well, in Baltimore city, voters don’t go to voting stations to vote. Voting stations come to voters. They also have designated buses/vans/cars that pick people up to go vote and eat. They do this bc the “voters” are lazy. 

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12 minutes ago, avoiding injuries said:

Well, in Baltimore city, voters don’t go to voting stations to vote. Voting stations come to voters. They also have designated buses/vans/cars that pick people up to go vote and eat. They do this bc the “voters” are lazy. 

So they vote.  Got it. 

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11 minutes ago, avoiding injuries said:

The ones who get picked up, yes. Most, no. Got it?

Well,  most Americans don't vote. So your statement rings hollow. 

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Well it’s definitely concerning but allow me to point out that there are massive tent cities of homeless people right near the beach in Hawaii (or at least Oahu), so it’s quite possible and I’d say even likely that those folks weren’t actually staying at the resorts. Could be they were getting out cash which the article appears to say they can sometimes do, though I don’t understand how that’s consistent with limiting what you can purchase with the benefits.

Of course you still have the question of what they’re doing in Hawaii and I’d imagine if you’re not actually living in Massachusetts you aren’t entitled to the benefits. Definitely needs investigating.

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