BILL NUMBER: SB 417	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Dutton
   (Coauthor: Senator Berryhill)

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2011

   An act to add Section 10072.6 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 417, as introduced, Dutton. Electronic benefits transfer cards:
prohibition of use for alcohol and tobacco purchases.
   Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county
provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income
families.
   Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program, under
which food stamps are allocated to the state by the federal
government and are distributed to eligible households by each county.
Federal law prohibits the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of
alcohol and tobacco products.
   Existing law permits a county to elect to deliver CalWORKs and
SNAP benefits through the use of an electronic benefits transfer
(EBT) system. Existing law specifies criteria for the development and
administration of the EBT system, including issuance to a recipient
of an EBT card.
   This bill would require the EBT system to be designed to prevent
use of EBT cards by recipients for the purchase of alcohol or tobacco
products. The bill would require that its provisions not be
construed to prohibit the use of an EBT card to access SNAP benefits,
as authorized by federal law.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 10072.6 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
   10072.6.  (a) The electronic benefits transfer system designed
pursuant to this chapter shall be designed to prevent a recipient
from using an electronic benefits transfer card for the purchase of
alcohol or tobacco products.
   (b) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the use of an
electronic benefits transfer card to access federal Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in any manner authorized
by federal law.