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Welfare fraud legislation A pair of Tennessee lawmakers have announced a plan aimed at what they call " reducing fraud among Tennessee welfare recipients." Republican Sen. Kerry Roberts said he wants to provide assistance to those truly in need. “We want to make sure that money is available to people who need it most,” said Roberts, pointing out that Tennessee spends more proportionally than any other state on welfare programs. Howell suggests that through the measures outlined in his bill, the state could see an annual savings in excess of $123 million. The bill would try to verify the assets of each welfare recipient. The second part of the legislation would be to monitor the purchases made by those receiving welfare in order to determine whether or not someone is using their EBT card in the right places. Places excluded are: tattoo and massage parlors, video arcades, movie theaters and swimming pools, theme parks and cruise ships, lingerie shops and “sexually oriented businesses.” Roberts says a third party would be hired by the state in order to monitor purchases, as well as verify the assets of welfare recipients. The third-party organization would only be paid if the company found fraud, Howell said. The third aspect of the legislation would be to create the ability for individuals who have defrauded the system to be prosecuted. “This will help deter future fraud and preserve those resources,” Roberts said. Throughout their press conference, Roberts and Howell stressed that their reform efforts were not aimed at hurting those truly in need. “There is no desire whatsoever to take benefits away from people who are entitled,” Roberts said. “Rather there is just an indignation that there are people out there that would cheat the system…and keep people who truly need this money from having access to it.”
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