Millions From California Welfare Benefit Cards Spent in Las Vegas

When people fall on hard time in California, it’s good to know that there’s government support available for those in need. But accord to a report in the Los Angeles Times, a lot of that money is ending up not as food for the dinner table, but as chips on the poker table instead.

About $11.8 million in Californian welfare money was spent in Las Vegas casinos and ATMs, making it one of the top out-of-state locations where that money was withdrawn. In total, more than $69 million was spent out of the state, in locations like Florida, Hawaii, and Las Vegas. Some of these expenditures, which were made from January 2007 to May 2010, were in locations that clearly weren’t the result of poor spending habits of legitimately needy people, but were upscale locations where stolen or fraudulently claimed welfare cards were utilized.

"If it's on [the Hawaiian island of] Lanai, that should trigger an investigation," said Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. "California taxpayers, who are struggling to keep their own jobs, are subsidizing other people's vacations. That's absurd."

However, the biggest destination by far was Las Vegas, which collected more of the welfare money accessed out of state than any other destination. Millions were spent throughout the city, including over $1 million on the Las Vegas strip. While many casinos don’t allow the welfare cards to be used on the casino floor, there are plenty of other ways for gamblers to get at their money. For instance, one particular ATM at a 7-Eleven near the Encore Casino has had nearly $35,000 withdrawn from it over the past three years from welfare cards.

Of course, even if the money is being used by the intended recipients, the fact that the welfare cards are being used in Las Vegas does not necessarily make the usage all that wasteful. As we’ve recently reported, Las Vegas hotel rates are currently very low; by driving to Las Vegas from Los Angeles (about a four-hour drive) and having several people share a room, it’s possible to have a very frugal Las Vegas vacation.

It is also important to note that although the $69 million sounds like a large figure, it amounts to less than 1% of the total money spent by welfare recipients over the period of this study ($10.8 billion).