Legislature to Fight Patrick's Veto of Welfare Restrictions
The House is expected to decide today whether to accept the governor's changes to an amendment that restricts how welfare money can be used.
The House today is expected to take up an amendment regarding the use of welfare money in response to Gov. Deval Patrick's veto on a law that restricts use of electronic-benefit cards. As part of the 2013 state buget, the Legislature included language that would have banned EBT card use to buy jewelry, manicures, tattoos, guns, pornography and other items. It is already illegal to use such cards to buy tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets. But last week, Patrick rejected these new restrictions and substituted language that forbids EBT card use at certain businesses, such as tattoo parlors, strip clubs, gun shops and casinos – but not on the individual items themselves. However, he declined to include jewelry stores and nail salons on …
