Maine and Georgia joined Massachusetts and New York last month in putting photos on welfare cards to stop misuse of taxpayer money, and similar proposals have been offered in a dozen other U.S. states. Maine began adding photos April 28 in a pilot project, and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed a bill the next day requiring them. Bills have been introduced in Iowa, Rhode Island and Washington to add a photo to cards, require that recipients show a picture ID when using benefits, or to study the question, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. New York stopped mandating photos for food-stamp cards when it ended a fingerprint requirement in 2012, but it requires pictures for cash assistance. The photo requirements don’t prevent food-stamp abuse because of a federal requirement that all household members have access to the benefits on the card, said Patricia Baker, a policy analyst at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. Retailers can’t ask to see the photo unless they check all customers using plastic. Opponents question whether it saves more than it costs. They also say it shames people and dissuades them from getting benefits.
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