TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A Senate Republican from St. Johns County filed a proposal Thursday that would create tougher penalties, including a requirement to help feed the needy, for people found swapping state-issued food assistance benefits for firearms, drugs and non-approved food items.
The proposal (SB 218), filed by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, focuses on reducing trafficking involving Electronic Benefits Transfer "EBT" cards, formally known as food stamps.
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The measure would prohibit people from trading the benefits from EBT cards for firearms, ammunition, explosives, controlled substances, cash or considerations other than eligible types of food.
The proposal would also make it a third-degree felony to possess two or more EBT cards that have been issued to other people and 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.
Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, filed a similar measure (HB 105) last month in the House.
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.