Just a suggestion from a humble Small City Mayor.
Republicans wave 'red flag' over use of welfare benefit cards
By MIKE KASZUBA, Star Tribune
Last update: August 7, 2008 - 12:24 PM
Welfare recipients in Minnesota used state-issued benefit cards to make more than $10 million in purchases in other states last year, including places as far away as Hawaii, House Republicans charged today.
While acknowledging the purchases were not illegal, House Minority Leader Marty Seifert said the disclosure was "a red flag for the taxpayers." Seifert said Republicans, who are trying to recapture a majority in the House this fall, had asked the legislative auditor to investigate the findings and called for legislative hearings.
A chart and map distributed at a mid-morning news conference showed that the most transactions last year came in bordering states, such as Wisconsin and North Dakota. In Illinois, statistics provided by Republicans showed there were 48,821 transactions last year totaling $1.3 million. In Iowa, there were 14,037 transactions totaling $498,129.
Seifert acknowledged that some of the transactions in bordering states could simply be recipients in Minnesota crossing the state line to make purchases. He also said the $10.2 million in out-of-state purchases last year represented just a fraction of the $496.3 million in total transactions.
"Some people might say it's only $10 million," he said. "To me, $10 million is $10 million."
