Governator Halts Welfare Card Use At Casinos
source: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100625/NEWS06/6250328/Gov.+Schwarzenegger+halts+use+of+wel...
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Spurred by a newspaper's report that California's welfare debit cards can be used to withdraw cash in more than half the casinos in the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday issued an immediate ban on state-provided cash assistance at ATMs in gambling establishments.
The Los Angeles Times disclosed that Electronic Benefit Transfer cards work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms. The report also found the state Department of Social Services published a list of useable ATMs where the EBT cards that work like debit cards could be cashed.
That list included the addresses of two Coachella Valley casinos — Spotlight 29 Casino, 46-200 Harrison St., Coachella, and Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, 49-500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon.
“I will use every available power I have to protect taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse in government,'' Schwarzenegger said.
Spotlight 29 Casino spokeswoman Lisa Herman said the casino would not comment.
Global Cash Access Inc., which provides cash machines to Spotlight 29 and other casinos across the country, said it has blocked EBT cards for about 10 years.
“People who are recipients of EBT cards probably shouldn't be gambling, so it's something that would fall into our socially responsible mandate,” said Scott Dowty, executive vice president of Business Development. “It's really doing the right thing.”
Dowty said the company keeps welfare-program cards from using its machines by blocking bank identification numbers assigned to the programs.
“When we're notified of these BINs or when we get these BINs we will put them in our system and block them,” he said. “We've been doing it for close to a decade with updates on a timely basis.”
Patrick Dorinson, a spokesman for Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, said the Times' report came as a complete surprise.
As soon as the story broke, Dorinson said a team at the casino was instructed to figure out how to reprogram the machines to ban the benefit cards.
The Los Angeles Times disclosed that Electronic Benefit Transfer cards work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms. The report also found the state Department of Social Services published a list of useable ATMs where the EBT cards that work like debit cards could be cashed.
That list included the addresses of two Coachella Valley casinos — Spotlight 29 Casino, 46-200 Harrison St., Coachella, and Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, 49-500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon.
“I will use every available power I have to protect taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse in government,'' Schwarzenegger said.
Spotlight 29 Casino spokeswoman Lisa Herman said the casino would not comment.
Global Cash Access Inc., which provides cash machines to Spotlight 29 and other casinos across the country, said it has blocked EBT cards for about 10 years.
“People who are recipients of EBT cards probably shouldn't be gambling, so it's something that would fall into our socially responsible mandate,” said Scott Dowty, executive vice president of Business Development. “It's really doing the right thing.”
Dowty said the company keeps welfare-program cards from using its machines by blocking bank identification numbers assigned to the programs.
“When we're notified of these BINs or when we get these BINs we will put them in our system and block them,” he said. “We've been doing it for close to a decade with updates on a timely basis.”
Patrick Dorinson, a spokesman for Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, said the Times' report came as a complete surprise.
As soon as the story broke, Dorinson said a team at the casino was instructed to figure out how to reprogram the machines to ban the benefit cards.
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trut
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Arnold just found that out now? How long has he been in office ?
- 1 year ago
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trut
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knightlynight200
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that makes sense, because if people are getting money out of the atm machine, while they are at a casino, they are going to end up gambling it away
- 1 year ago
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knightlynight200
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diode
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arnold for president
- 1 year ago
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diode
