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posted by takyon on Friday May 22 2015, @12:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the withdrawal-symptoms dept.

The Washington Post reports:

A dollar bill is a special kind of thing. You can keep it as long as you like. You can pay for things with it. No one will ever charge you a fee. No one will ask any questions about your credit history. And other people won't try to tell you that they know how to spend that dollar better than you do.

For these reasons, cash is one of the most valuable resources a poor person in the United States can possess. Yet legislators in Kansas, not trusting the poor to use their money wisely, have voted to limit how much cash that welfare beneficiaries can receive, effectively reducing their overall benefits, as well.

The legislature placed a daily cap of $25 on cash withdrawals beginning July 1, which will force beneficiaries to make more frequent trips to the ATM to withdraw money from the debit cards used to pay public assistance benefits.

Since there's a fee for every withdrawal, the limit means that some families will get substantially less money.

 
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @01:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @01:45PM (#186444)

    This isn't facetious or attempting to troll... I'm seriously wondering: For someone on public assistance, what are the legitimate reasons that person/family might require cash money? What transactions cannot be completed by direct debit? I remember fifteen or so years ago up in Washington state that the gas company wouldn't take any kind of cards or cash at the counter - it had to be a check or money order. I don't know if it has since changed.

    Anyway, I feel that if the state is offering assistance, it has every right to try and set legitimate controls on how the money gets used. The question of whether the controls work as intended is a different question.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @01:49PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @01:49PM (#186448)

    Rent, Babysitters (Highschool/Collage Age/Neighbors), Some farmers markets, Garage Sales

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @07:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @07:53PM (#186631)

    Kansas is a rural red state. It is common for small business owners, gas stations mostly, to not accept anything but cash- for tax purposes of course. I am not being critical of the practice, merely stating what I have seen. It is very odd the first time you pop into a tiny grocery store or go to fill up halfway through a long drive and they wont accept plastic.

  • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday May 23 2015, @09:13AM

    by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Saturday May 23 2015, @09:13AM (#186808)

    Yes, it's changed, I do mine online now, and they do accept cards at the counter, but, I do remember having to get a fucking money order just to pay my bill when I started using a card instead of checks for most things. I had to resort to Money Orders or Cashiers Checks (depending on if it was convenient to go to the bank) after I tried to pay with a card the first time after getting rid of my checks. I always paid in person due to getting a threatening letter for missing a payment when it got lost in the mail. That, however, is another rant for another thread....

      Their customer (mis)service is as bad as ever, but at least I never have to deal with them in person now.

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