and New York takes another one in the........
Posted on 05/18/2012 2:28:47 PM PDT by NoKoolAidforMe
ALBANY — New York City would have to stop requiring the electronic fingerprinting of food stamp applicants under regulations proposed on Thursday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who has sided with advocates for the hungry who say it discourages people from seeking benefits.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
New York State stopped requiring the fingerprinting of food stamp recipients in 2007, but granted an exemption to the city at the request of the Bloomberg administration, which said fingerprinting was the best way to prevent fraud.
Mr. Cuomo said many New Yorkers eligible for the federal food stamp program did not receive them in part because of the stigma associated with being fingerprinted.
“We shouldn’t treat the poor or the hungry as criminals,” Mr. Cuomo told reporters by speakerphone in a news conference. “That’s what we’ve been doing and that’s what’s going to stop.”
In January, Mr. Cuomo called for the end of the city requirement in his State of the State address.
Public comments on the regulations will be accepted for 45 days, starting on May 30, before the rules go into effect. The regulations would be overseen by the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which also oversees the food stamp program.
New York City, where 1.8 million people a year receive food stamps, and Arizona are the only jurisdictions in the country that require the fingerprinting of all food stamp applicants.
The city maintains that fingerprinting is appropriate.
“We’ve found that finger-imaging identifies potential duplicate payments and prevents fraud, which saved more than $35 million over the last decade,” Robert Doar, commissioner of the city’s Human Resources Administration, said in a statement. “We remain committed to doing everything we can, consistent with state and federal regulations, to protect the integrity of the food stamp program.”
City officials said fingerprinting had not been a barrier to food stamp applicants. In 2009, the city estimated, 70.7 percent of the people who were economically eligible received food stamps in the city, compared with 68 percent statewide, according to data compiled by the city.
Mr. Cuomo’s counsel, Mylan Denerstein, said during the news conference that the state had put in place a new computerized application process that uses birth dates, addresses and Social Security numbers to cut down on fraud and reduce the chance that people would be able to double-dip in the food stamp program.
The governor said, “It is not necessary to use finger-imaging to prevent fraud.”
The state still requires fingerprints from applicants for welfare, a practice started by Mr. Cuomo’s father, Mario M. Cuomo, when he was governor.
Mark Dunlea, the executive director of the Hunger Action Network of New York State, said he would like to see the administration seek, through the passage of legislation, to end that practice as well.
“Unfortunately, I think the message has been, ‘We want you to apply for food stamps, but we don’t want you to apply for cash assistance,’ ” Mr. Dunlea said.
Asked if the administration was considering eliminating the fingerprinting requirement for welfare recipients, Lt. Gov. Robert J. Duffy said during the news conference, “Today the focus is food.” He said the administration had not discussed the issue.
Advocates for the hungry praised the decision to stop requiring fingerprints for food stamps.
“Poverty and hunger are not crimes,” Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany said in the news conference.
And in a joint statement, the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, and Annabel Palma, the chairwoman of the Council’s General Welfare Committee, said the food stamp program would keep its integrity without the fingerprinting.
“For over a decade,” they said, “finger-imaging has been an unnecessary and duplicative process that has served as a senseless barrier keeping New Yorkers from receiving federal aid.”
“Mr. Cuomo said many New Yorkers eligible for the federal food stamp program did not receive them in part because of the stigma associated with being fingerprinted.”
getting food stamps and being a burden on taxpayer = No stigma.
Getting fingerprinted to get food stamps = Stigma????
He probably did it to give a contract to someone or to "generate jobs" for some bureaucrat. Apart from that, the action makes no difference one way or the other.
It's because of FRAUD, pure-and-simple, and anyone who thinks otherwise is NOT applying the common sense they were born with.
Why is IDENTIFICATION ALWAYS opposed by the Democrats, if not for fear they will lose votes, donors, etc., etc. when their FRAUD is discovered, OR, their criminal outstanding Warrants or Convictions are shown?
This is BS!
If applicants need to be finger printed this is synonymous with having to earn the food stamps and for crying out loud have we gone that far to where we actually consider someone having to earn what they receive?
This is just plain and simply outrageous!
They should be free...(period)!
Sure, what could go wrong?
Ive been required to give my thumb print in order to take New York State Civil Service tests. Maybe I can claim stigma.
and New York takes another one in the........
The maggots have a “stigma” about being fingerprinted? Geesh! They’ve got more “issues” than just being “hungry”. Obviously, they are criminals who have left some fingerprints at the scene of one of their crimes. Cuomo is a moron.
I'll tell you what would stigmatize me, being called "the hungry" by a fag politician from New Yawk.
“Advocates for the hungry”? Has the author ever spent any time in New York City’s “food deserts”? Seen all the kids waddling around in their XXXL outfits?
I give a thumbprint every time I have a document notarized. I have to show my freakin' passport every few years to prove I'm a citizen for my job. But "poor people" might feel stigmatized by proving their identity in order to vote or get free food from the government? Grrrrr....
Actually, they should end any alleged “stigma”, by expanding the fingerprinting to many other purposes.
While I was originally opposed to fingerprinting for “casual” reasons, it presents a marvelous opportunity to avoid vast amounts of annoying paperwork. Think of it as an “instant signature”. Right index finger, unless you have none.
For those who seek *voluntary* use of government services, for just about any reason, fingerprints are great.
They can work as Memorandum for Record. Say John Smith needs to meet with Ted Taylor, bureaucrat, for a 9 o’clock appointment. The fingerprint “does attendance”, so that it can be proven that the appointment took place. Smith gives Taylor an application that is logged in. From that point, that document is the office’s responsibility.
When a bureaucrat wants to use a computer, he puts his finger in the hole, first. When he is done, a button push and he is logged off, or an automatic timer.
Any time money or anything valuable is transferred, giver and receiver use their fingerprint to authenticate.
It can also be used as a debit card. Stick your finger in the hole, confirm the amount, punch in your PIN, and you are good to go.
Even police in one state already use a single fingerprint instead of a driver’s license and proof of insurance. Very quick. Combined with the debit card thing, you could pay a fine on the spot.
I guess New Yiork State no longer requires that its employees be fingerprinted then...../???
I guess New York State no longer requires that its employees be fingerprinted then...../???
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