State To Go Plastic For Assistance Debit Cards Are Expected To Be Welfare Tender Statewide By Feb. 1

Idaho is boxing up food stamps and trading them in for plastic.

The Gem State has launched a project to replace cash assistance and food stamps with magnetized debit cards.

The cards will save money, reduce fraud and increase efficiency, state officials said.

The move is prompted by the federal government, which plans to eliminate food stamps entirely by 2002 as part of last year’s welfare reform package.

Eager Idaho officials started their program in the state’s southwestern corner on Labor Day, setting up accounts for residents in more than 6,000 households receiving welfare benefits.

“We couldn’t see any reason to roll out slowly,” said Jerry Quick, project manager for Idaho Health and Welfare in Caldwell.

Quick expects the entire state to be up and running by Feb. 1.

Washington will embark on a similar pilot program next May.

“By the time we’re statewide, we’ll be maybe the 10th or 12th state,” Quick said.

Idaho’s cards carry a logo similar to the state’s red, white and blue license plate, and will work at cash machines and grocery stores, like debit cards issued by banks.

Each month, recipients will have their welfare grants deposited directly into an account.

Retailers with machines for debit cards must sign onto the Quest network, a financial exchange system similar to Visa, to accept the welfare cards.

Most retailers already have machines to process debit cards, Quick said. Those that don’t can get them from the state for free, but Quick expects most will eventually buy their own.

“A lot of retailers are going to have other customers wanting to use those machines commercially,” he said.

The cards put an end to an inefficient food stamp program, officials say.

The stamps themselves are wasteful, because they’re printed on paper that’s used once, then destroyed.

They are stored in warehouses, then mailed to states. Shipments sometimes get lost, or diverted. Delivery can be delayed.

“There’s a lot of handling,” Quick said. “This just simplifies the process.”

Officials also expect the cards will kill the sale of bootleg food stamps. Today, coupons can be sold on the black market for 50 cents on the dollar.

Detailed tracking will also help prosecutors nail business that buy black market food stamps, said Kathleen Brockman, the Washington state official coordinating the project.

Idaho and Washington cards will work across state lines because of a reciprocal agreement.

“I really believe it will be very beneficial for clients,” said Brockman.

Kristin Valenzuela, a 26-year-old single mother of three received her state-issued debit card in Caldwell, Idaho.

“I think I’ll like it better,” she said, “but it’s a sort of a hassle.

“I went to a couple of places, and they weren’t on computer yet. Now we have to go to certain banks and certain grocery stores where we can get our cash money.”

Officials expect debit cards to reduce the stigma of public assistance, since the cards won’t stand out like food stamps.

Quick said there appear to be few drawbacks.

“A potential downside is a participant might lose their card and need to get it replaced - but you could lose cash or coupons, as well,” he said. “Another downside is not taking care of protecting your own card, or putting your personal ID number someplace where others could access it.”

McKenna said the state eventually may use the cards to handle Social Security payments and child support payments. Currently, child support payments for welfare recipients are paid to the state, which reimburses the parent.

, DataTimes