It is illegal to use food stamps to purchase lottery tickets, but people can still use cash benefits to buy them. This is a reform that has been brought before the Legislature to vote on more than once – including last session. I voted in favor of putting that prohibition into law. Unfortunately, the bill, sponsored by Senate President Mike Thibodeau, did not pass. It had strong bipartisan support in the Senate, with only five members voting against it, but it could not get through the House of Representatives.
That same legislation would have also banned the use of welfare benefits to pay for bail, tattoos, liquor, and tobacco. To me, and I am sure to many of you, it just seems like common sense that the first priority for your money should be necessities. If people who are receiving public benefits are able to use them to pay for such things, what is being used for necessities? Every dollar spent on tattoos, lottery, or bail is a dollar that isn’t going to a meal or to household basics. People receive cash benefits so they can purchase items like clothes, personal hygiene products, school supplies, and other such goods that might not be eligible for purchase with food stamps.
Even before I arrived in the Legislature last year, Republicans were trying to make these changes but faced opposition. This was not the first year such prohibitions on the use of welfare were proposed. One prohibition that did pass in 2012 was a ban on the use of EBT cards at ‘adult entertainment venues,’ liquor stores, and casinos thanks to a bill sponsored by Senator Earle McCormick. Can you believe that it was legal to use welfare benefits at strip clubs right up until three years ago? I still have a hard time wrapping my head around that.
Banning the use of EBT cards at strip clubs was certainly the right move, but the recent revelations about the lottery make it clear the piecemeal approach to welfare reform is not doing enough to protect taxpayers and those who actually need the assistance. The conversation about welfare reform has been going on for years, and Mainers clearly support making sweeping changes. We’ve made progress, but there’s still work to be done. With the way our government is set up, we need buy-in from people of both parties to get it done. I am hopeful we can reach agreement on many aspects of reform in the coming legislative session.
As we enter the new year, I am looking forward to what I hope will be a more productive, less contentious legislative session. If you have thoughts or questions on the issue of welfare reform, or any legislative matter at all, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at dcwoodsome@gmail.com or 432-5643.
— Sen. David Woodsome represents Senate District 33, which includes Cornish, Limerick, Newfield, Parsonsfield, Sanford, Shapleigh and Waterboro.
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