Yep,
Minn. bill aims to restrict use of welfare cards
http://www.kttc.com/Global/story.asp?S=13885872
“The bill from Sen. Doug Magnus and Rep. Kurt Daudt would prohibit withdrawing cash or buying tobacco, alcohol or lottery tickets with the cards. It would also ban their use outside Minnesota and require users to show photo ID.
Magnus says he wants to stop abuse of the cards, which contain both federal food stamp benefits and state cash assistance for those on the Minnesota Family Investment Program.
Democratic Rep. Jeff Hayden says the proposal would punish the poor and could make it harder for people to look for work if they couldn’t get cash for bus fare or child care.”
I believe that tobacco and alcohol purchases are already prohibited. Unfortunately, when you free up the food money by having someone else pay then the recipients cash goes for fripperies. You can tell and EBT person if they’ve split their groceries into a pile of food type items (and only the best of cuts) and then have a giant bag of dog food, and a couple of twelve packs of beer in a separate pile. Not everyone using an EBT card does this, but almost everyone who does this has an EBT card. Personally I think that if someone is mooching off my money then they damn well should not have a pet or drink beer.