Show r" r ymrr r TT" " iny — w w- - vw-w- w rr "-- — '" wy any Standard-Examin- — i rrrri'imrst Saturday er Nov 18 1989 5A National” Food stamp program may switch to ‘credit cards’ By ALISSA RUBIN Knight-Ridde- f Newspapers — When WASHINGTON Wanda Thompson started using food stamps last year she was ashamed to stand in the supermarket line with the conspicuous book of coupons “I used to wait until one or two o'clock in the morning to go to Safeway when nobody was there and I knew my friends weren’t around" said Thompson a working mother of two Today Thompson who lives just a mile from Capitol Hill in a predominantly black and poor neighborhood is a prime candidate for a new federal program that substitutes a plastic debit d card for the food stamps By switching to the debit card — which looks like a credit card — federal officials hope to reduce the stigma associated with food stamps which are used by 187 million people in the United multi-colore- States At the same time officials hope the program will save about $390 million of the $13 billion a year now being lost through fraud and error “Everybody likes it: the banks the retailers (grocery stores) the local welfare agencies and the recipients” said Gene Vincent a spokesman for the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service which runs the food stamp program Tests of the debit card in Reading Pa have been so successful that the Food and Nutrition Service plans to expand the program next year to Ramsey County Minn Thurston County Wash Albuquerque NM and sections of Baltimore Md Recipients in those four states receive close to the national average of $51 a month in food stamps If further tests are as successful federal officials say they hope to piggyback all poverty program payments on the debit card sys ‘Everybody likes it the banks the retailers the local welfare agencies and the recipients’ — Gene Vincent Probably the most attractive aspect to taxpayers will be the debit card’s potential for reducing food tem Among other things officials say that would help spread the costs that now loom as the main obstacle to using the cards nationwide In Reading federal officials found that the debit card got a high approval rating across the board It is especially well liked by younger food stamp users who grew up with America’s credit card culture The new card is plastic with the standard magnetic stripe used by most credit and debit networks Users also receive a personal identification number or “PIN" to use when the card is presented at the cash register as a protection against counterfeiting theft and other potential abuses stamp abuse particularly fraud said federal officials But for food stamp recipients the attraction is using a form of currency at the grocery counter that looks like a credit card “The recipients associated themselves with a type of technology that you find typically in e brackets and that made them feel more positive about the (food stamp) program” said Gary Rightmire executive director of the Berks County assistance office in Reading which supervises the debit card prohigher-incom- gram “And the card has given 3 gro- - cers a new kind of appreciation for (food stamp) recipients The cards have a turnaround time of 20 seconds That’s faster than a check transaction less than a coupon transaction and almost less than a cash transaction" said Rightmire Not only that the grocers' accounts are credited electronically by the following morning Rightmire said With food stamps it takes 30 to 60 days Although the grocery industry and consumer groups agree that the debit card is faster more efficient and less stigmatizing they do have some qualms “We are convinced that (the cards) are the wave of the future" said Dent Temples a senior vice president of Piggly Wiggly Southern a chain of supermarkets in Georgia But Temples worries that the government eventually will force grocers to pay for the computer equipment it takes to operate the program - In Reading the federal government picked up the $23 million bill for installing the computer systems in every grocery store “If it can help reduce the stigma if it's successful that's terrific" said Robert Fersh director of the Food Research and Action Center a national grassroots organization that works to alleviate hunger and poverty Fersh’s main concern is that supermarkets will buy the debit card equipment only for a few checkout lanes which would create food stamp lines and increase rather than reduce the users’ stigma Although federal officials are reluctant to discuss the losses involved in the $13 billion-a-ycfood stamp program they acknowledge that loss as a result of abuse is at least 0:4 percent or about $135 billion “It eliminates any fraud related to handling of the coupons” said Gene Vincent ar V” 4 While the San Francisco fireboat Phoenix spews water officials cut the ribbon reopening the repaired San Francisco-Oaklan- d Bay Bridge The bridge opened for traffic at earthquake-damage- d this morning but officials say Monday will be hectic if commuters abandon mass transportation in favor of using the bridge Several key approaches to the bridge are still closed 12 01 i Broadcasters claim cable TV is an unrestricted monopoly WASHINGTON (AP) — Cable television operators pay nothing for 72 percent of the programming viewed by their customers yet keep raising their rates broadcast competitors alleged Friday at a Senate hearing “Cable’s unrestricted monopoly operations" have led to “a completely distorted marketplace" Edward O Fritts president of the National Association of Broadcasters told a Senate communications subcommittee The criticism from representatives of independent and network broadcasters came at a subcommittee hearing of the Commerce Science and Transportation communications subcommittee on the possible need for changes in how the industry is regulated The cable industry disputed those contentions saying rates jumped after being kept artificial It said rates are now rising at a lower rate than inflation The industry through the National Cable Television Association also claims that cable helps networks by extending their reach and improving their signals The cable industry also says it has creased the amount of sports programming available and blames the team owners for jacking up the bids But Preston R Padden president of the Association of Independent Television Stations told the panel that cable has enjoyed the benefits of being a utility monopoly with none of the regulations As a result five companies serve 42 percent of cable households in the country and rates rose 29 percent in the first two years of deregulation starting in ly low by local regulation in-- L 1987 according to the critics In addition they say the same companies that produce cable programs also have their cable systems giving them control of what Padden called “conduit and content” Padden and Fritts said that despite their local monopolies 72 percent of the programs watched over cable stations are provided by the broadcasters Fritts’ group which represents the networks supports legislation proposed by Sen John Danforth the that would cable industry which was basically by the 1984 Cable o Act Padden also claimed that cable is monopolizing sports television He also complained that such sports siphoning was occurring in college conference sports Home Show Thursday-Sunda- y Come see what’s on the horizon in home improvement and enhancement Booths featuring home decorating cleaning and remodeling will fill the mall Senate panel proposes Indians be given control of tribal programs Scnpps Howard Newt Service WASHINGTON — A Senate panel proposed Friday that Indians be given control of all federal programs for their tribes and $33 billion in federal funds each year to run them The Interior Department said it would consider the idea The Senate proposal was sparked by an investigation that found “massive fraud corruption and mismanagement" in federal Indian programs As a result a Senate investigations committee formed in 1987 by the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs recommended that each tribe be given its proportionate share of the federal funds now targeted for Indian programs Interior Department Undersecretary Frank Bracken said his agency would not “reject (the idea) out of hand" adding that the committee’s report “certainly is constructive” He said the agency already has taken steps to resolve the problems outlined in the Senate report Interior officials also noted that 17 tribes are part of a demonstration project that could result in the tribes taking over such federal functions as law enforcement and social services for themselves Under the Senate committee’s recommendation the nation's 14 million Indians could use the $33 billion annual appropriation as their tribes see fit The appropriation would be increased annually with a cost of living adjustment The nation's largest tribe the 200000-membNavajos who live primarily in New Mexico and Arizona would receive approximately $600 million annually Even a small tribe of 350 members would receive more two-year-o- ld er than $1 million annually the report said “The history of the Indian people convinces us that where federal control has failed real will sucIndian Sen McCain John ceed" of the special Senate Committee on Investigations told a news conference CITY MALL riz J V an The report documented numerous problems in federal Indian programs including: “Shell" companies drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the program to promote Indian economic development In federally run schools for Indians Bureau of Indian Affairs officials knew that school administrators had hired teachers with prior offenses for child molestation Federal agencies responsible for protecting natural resources also neglected known problems 0 4 110 stor Easy Favorites FMIOO AM12SO ”SP v HKIDY1L including Lamonta JC Pennty Nordatrom Wainatock’a and ZCMt t |