Referred to: The Public Health and Social Services Committee (Chairman Lopez and

Legislators Allen, Belfiglio, Litts, and Provenzano)

Chairman of the Public Health and Social Services Committee, Craig V. Lopez,

offers the following:

 WHEREAS, public assistance is designed to help needy families provide

care for their children, promote job preparation and achieve self-sufficiency; and

 WHEREAS, while food stamp benefits help low-income working people,

seniors, the disabled and others feed their families, temporary assistance programs,

like Family Assistance (FA), which is federally funded through Temporary

Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), provides additional cash assistance to help

pay for energy costs, paper products, school supplies and other expenses; and

 WHEREAS, cash assistance is increasingly administered to these families

through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and no current state law protects

public assistance cash benefits from either being misused to purchase alcoholic

beverages, tobacco or lottery tickets or withdrawals from Automatic Teller Machines

(ATMs) at locations such as liquor stores, casinos or establishments providing adultoriented entertainment; and

 WHEREAS, the Federal government has mandated that each state establish

a system of fraud prevention in place by February 2014 and if the state does not act,

the Federal government will penalize New York by cutting Federal funding for cash

assistance by 5 percent; and

 WHEREAS, the Public Assistance Integrity Act amends the Social Services

Law, in relation to prohibiting the sale or purchase of alcoholic beverages, tobacco

products or lottery tickets with public assistance benefits and prohibiting use of or

access to such benefits in a casino, liquor store or adult entertainment facility and to

amend the State Finance Law, in relation to establishing the public assistance

integrity fund to collect fines; and

 WHEREAS, the Public Assistance Integrity Act was passed by the NYS

Senate in June of 2013 and was not acted on by the NYS Assembly as mandated in

the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012; now, therefore be it 

- Page 2 -

Resolution No. 83 March 18, 2014

In Support Of New York State Senate Bill S966 –2013 And New

York State Assembly Bill A2386-2013 The "Public Assistance

Integrity Act" To Prohibit The Sale Or Purchase Of Alcoholic

Beverages, Tobacco Products Or Lottery Tickets With Public

Assistance Benefits

 RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature supports New York State

Senate bill S966-2013 and urges the passage of New York State Assembly bill

A2386-2013 to protect the taxpayers of Ulster County from fraud and abuse of public

assistance and prevent the forfeiture of nearly $122 million in federal temporary

assistance; and, be it further

 RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall send

certified copies of this Resolution to New York State Senators John Bonacic,

William Larkin, James Seward, and Cecilia Tkaczyk, and New York State Assembly

Members Kevin Cahill, Peter Lopez, Frank Skartados and Claudia Tenney, and to all

New York State County Legislature's for their memorialization,

and moves its adoption.

ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES: 23 NOES: 0

Passed Committee: Public Health and Social Services on March 10, 2014

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE

STATE OF NEW YORK

 ss:

COUNTY OF ULSTER

This is to certify that I, the undersigned Clerk of the Legislature of the County of Ulster have compared the

foregoing resolution with the original resolution now on file in the office of said clerk, and which was adopted by said

Legislature on the 18th Day of March, 2014, and that the same is a true and correct transcript of said resolution and of the

whole thereof.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of the County of Ulster this 20th Day of March

in the year Two Thousand and Fourteen.

|s| Victoria A. Fabella

Victoria A. Fabella, Clerk

Ulster County Legislature