 The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced new rules Tuesday
intended to curtail the illegal practice by food stamp recipients of
using the Internet to trade their government aid for cash.Food
stamps must be used by their recipients according to the specific
parameters set out by the federal government. Selling one's benefits
to another person for cash is specifically prohibited.
There were 1,715 cases of fraud in Illinois in fiscal 2011, said
Januari Smith, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human
Services, which administers the food stamp program in Illinois.
Food stamps, known in Illinois as Link cards, are a joint
federal-state program that provides low-income households with
credits to buy food.
To circumvent the law, some people have used social media to set
up deals to illegally sell their benefits.
An Illinois Statehouse News search of Twitter posts using the
words "food, stamps, sell" turns up results like "This is illegal
but I needa sell my food lmao.... wanna buy?" and "Found someone to
sell me some food stamps."
States were unsure whether they could act if someone simply
posted on Twitter his intent to sell his food stamps or if officials
had to wait until the actual sale took place.
USDA's new rules say someone saying online that he wants to sell
his benefits is punishable in the same way as someone who actually
sells his benefits.
Depending on the amount of money involved, punishment of those
who commit food stamp fraud ranges from no longer receiving aid to
being convicted of a felony and serving a prison sentence.
Fraud of less than $150, which is more than the worth of the
average monthly Link card, is a misdemeanor and can result in up to
a year in jail for the seller and buyer.
"This (Obama) administration is committed to meeting the highest
standards when it comes to protecting taxpayer dollars and enhancing
the integrity of the program to ensure those dollars are invested
wisely so the American people can have confidence in overall program
performance," Kevin Concannon, the undersecretary for Food,
Nutrition and Consumer Services division of the USDA, said in a
written statement.
Nationally, for every $100 of food stamp assistance provided,
about $1 is spent fraudulently, according to the USDA.
The percentage of fraud happening online is unknown. The
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported finding about 70 posts on
Facebook nationwide either selling or asking to buy food stamps.
Smith of DHS said all forms of fraud receive the equal attention
from the department.
Repeated calls to the USDA were not returned.
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Other changes the USDA announced Tuesday include:
-
Allowing states to
take stronger action against those who request an excessive
number of replacement benefit cards.
-
Pursuing stronger
penalties for retailers that accept food stamps fraudulently.
-
Upgrading the food stamp computer
tracking programs.
"To keep up with the latest trafficking strategies, we're using
state-of-the-art technology to identify new threats," Concannon
said. "We're continuing to enhance the effectiveness of our data
mining and analysis strategies."
The USDA's announcement comes at the same time as the number of
people receiving food stamps nationwide hits more than 46 million
people, a record high. In Illinois the number of participants has
increased from 1.3 million in fiscal 2008 to 1.7 million in fiscal
2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit
focusing on the major health care issues facing the United States.
The cost of the program also has increased. Food stamp recipients
in Illinois received $2.8 billion in benefits in fiscal 2010,
compared with $1.7 billion in fiscal 2008, according to the Kaiser
Family Foundation.
The cost of the program nationally has gone from $34.6 billion in
fiscal 2008 to $64.7 billion in fiscal 2010, according to the
foundation.
Lawmakers in Illinois tried passing a law last spring that would
require photo IDs on Link cards. The legislation was watered down to
only a study of the costs of adding the identification requirement,
which stalled in the Illinois Senate.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By ANDREW THOMASON]
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