TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -
As state lawmakers move forward with measures to expand where and how people can carry handguns, they don't want Floridians trading government food aid to get firearms.
People found swapping state food-assistance benefits for firearms or drugs would face tougher penalties, under a bill that cleared its first legislative committee Tuesday.
The Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously supported the bill (SB 218), filed by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton. Hutson said the measure is needed as Florida is one of 10 states where trafficking involving Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, cards has become a problem, with most cases in the Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Myers, Palm Beach County and Lakeland areas.
"I've heard from our state attorneys and assistant state attorneys, where they've gone into individuals' homes and seen drugs, firearms and stacks of EBT cards," Hutson said. "Their thought process is, this is happening. It is a problem. But we don't give them enough tools in their tool belts to identify what they can do with the trafficking of these EBT cards."
Hudson's proposal would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to trade the benefits from EBT cards, better known as food stamps, for firearms, ammunition, explosives, controlled substances, cash or considerations other than eligible types of food.
A House bill (HB 105), sponsored by Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, also attacks the underground trading of EBT cards. It would go further than the Senate bill by making an initial arrest a third-degree felony for possessing two or more EBT cards that have been issued to other people or to attempt to sell one or more of the cards.
The penalty would also include a six-month mandatory sentence of community service spent with a non-profit that distributes food to the needy. Smith's bill goes before the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday.
In 2013, the Legislature approved a law that prohibited EBT cards from being used at strip clubs, liquor stores and gambling establishments. During the 2013 session, several Democrats called the Republican-backed proposal political posturing, noting that the state Department of Children and Families already had the ability to shut off EBT cards from being used at such facilities.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/lawmakers-seek-to-stop-trading-of-ebt-cards-for-guns/36243510
As state lawmakers move forward with measures to expand where and how people can carry handguns, they don't want Floridians trading government food aid to get firearms.
People found swapping state food-assistance benefits for firearms or drugs would face tougher penalties, under a bill that cleared its first legislative committee Tuesday.
The Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously supported the bill (SB 218), filed by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton. Hutson said the measure is needed as Florida is one of 10 states where trafficking involving Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, cards has become a problem, with most cases in the Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Myers, Palm Beach County and Lakeland areas.
"I've heard from our state attorneys and assistant state attorneys, where they've gone into individuals' homes and seen drugs, firearms and stacks of EBT cards," Hutson said. "Their thought process is, this is happening. It is a problem. But we don't give them enough tools in their tool belts to identify what they can do with the trafficking of these EBT cards."
Hudson's proposal would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to trade the benefits from EBT cards, better known as food stamps, for firearms, ammunition, explosives, controlled substances, cash or considerations other than eligible types of food.
A House bill (HB 105), sponsored by Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, also attacks the underground trading of EBT cards. It would go further than the Senate bill by making an initial arrest a third-degree felony for possessing two or more EBT cards that have been issued to other people or to attempt to sell one or more of the cards.
The penalty would also include a six-month mandatory sentence of community service spent with a non-profit that distributes food to the needy. Smith's bill goes before the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday.
In 2013, the Legislature approved a law that prohibited EBT cards from being used at strip clubs, liquor stores and gambling establishments. During the 2013 session, several Democrats called the Republican-backed proposal political posturing, noting that the state Department of Children and Families already had the ability to shut off EBT cards from being used at such facilities.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/lawmakers-seek-to-stop-trading-of-ebt-cards-for-guns/36243510
