Illinois Senate Further Burdens Poor Residents

In a move to further depress and hinder Illinois food stamps applicants, the Illinois Senate Committee has approved a motion to require SNAP benefit recipients to have their photo printed on their EBT Cards.

According the Champaign/Urbana News Gazette, The Illinois Senate has decided to approve the measure because of a belief that some Illinois food stamp recipients are trading their benefits for money, drugs, and other illegal uses.

The shift from paper food stamps to EBT cards (Illinois LINK Cards) helped to alleviate some of the stigma attached to receiving public aid. With this new photo requirement, the Illinois Senate Committee has managed to pile on even more stigma than paper food stamps ever caused.

There have been several news articles written about this issue since the motion passed mid march, the following is a listing of some of those articles:

Progressive Illinois - Bill would make it harder to use food stamps

Central Illinois News Gazette - Bill on photos for LINK cards clears committee

Alestlelive.com - Photo ID requirement on food stamps causes more problems than solutions