California Dem introduces bizarre new bill that would effectively legalize welfare fraud under $25,000
A California Democrat has introduced a new bill which would decriminalize certain welfare fraud under $25,000.
Los Angeles Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas proposed new legislation which would raise the threshold for prosecution of welfare fraud enacted due to administrative errors.
Senate Bill 560 also seeks to axe prosecutions for attempted welfare fraud amounting to less than $950.
'The bill would require a county human services agency to determine whether benefits were authorized as a result of an error in the Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) and prohibit the agency from referring a case for criminal action if benefits were authorized in error,' the proposal reads.
'This bill is about keeping families out of the criminal justice system from making administrative errors on raising the threshold for welfare fraud prosecutions,' Smallwood-Cuevas said.
Currently, welfare fraud is criminalized at any amount, but below $950 is considered a misdemeanor while any amount above is a felony.
' California 's safety net should lift families up, not trap them in poverty,' the lawmaker added in a statement to Fox News Digital.
'Right now, a missed deadline or paperwork mistake can lead to felony charges that tear families apart — even when there's no intent to deceive.'
However, around 8,000 welfare fraud cases are identified in Los Angeles County alone each year, according to the county's Department of Public Services.
Of these around 200 are referred for prosecution, with a 95 percent conviction rate.
Most of the convicted cases will have a court-order to pay the county back.
Smallwood-Cuevas' critics believe softening the laws on prosecution could lead to increased fraud.
The most common forms of welfare fraud uncovered by LA DPS' investigations are, an absent parent in the home, unreported income, lying about the number of children in the home and claims which originate from outside the county, according to the agency.
SB560 passed the Senate Human Services Committee earlier this month and is scheduled for a hearing on May 5.
DailyMail.com has contacted Smallwood-Cuevas for comment.
Welfare fraud is among the areas being tackled by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
The Tesla boss previously revealed staggering data showing there are millions of dead Americans still eligible for social security payments.
Musk posted a chart on X showing that there are more than 20 million Americans listed over the age of 100, including 3.9 million in the 130-139 range, more than 3.5 million aged 140-149 and more than 1.3 million in the range 150-159.
There was even an 'alive' citizen aged over 360, according to the records.
In one shocking case, DOGE said they found someone with a birthday in 2154 who claimed $41,000 in benefits.
Musk shared the findings on his X account, claiming he was so stunned by the numbers it took him multiple times to grasp the information.
'Your tax dollars were going to pay fraudulent unemployment claims for fake people born in the future,' Musk said. 'This is so crazy that I had to read it several times before it sank in.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
How Trump's $45 million DC parade will lower food prices
President Trump promised to get those grocery prices down. He's a master dealmaker, so he said prices would drop on Day 1. I've noticed that didn't happen, since I'm still paying $10 for a box of Patriot-O's cereal ("It's like an insurrection in your tummy!") and alternating which kid gets to eat dinner each night. Trump spending millions sending troops to LA will lower food prices But that's all part of Trump's genius. He SAID grocery prices would fall immediately, then they didn't, and now he's spending millions on things that appear to have nothing to do with lowering grocery prices or inflation. CHECKMATE, DEMOCRATS! Opinion: After LA, Trump hard launches new First Amendment: Only MAGA can protest I'm confident that once MY president uses loads of taxpayer money squashing the LA protests he smartly provoked and celebrating his birthday by destroying the streets of DC with a tank parade, grocery stores and food suppliers will have no choice but to drop their prices. Because who knows what this guy might do next? It's the art of the deal, baby! Trump's business savvy means we all benefit from his birthday parade Say you're a grocery store owner and you're about to slap a price tag on a box of cereal. Those cereal producers might be charging the store more because of Trump's incredibly smart tariffs, or because of supply chain issues, or because of the inflation Trump promised would disappear, that hasn't disappeared yet. (That's also part of his master plan - he's trying to confuse inflation so it won't know what to expect out of him. Classic dealmaker maneuver.) Opinion: Trump lied about LA protests to deploy the National Guard. He wants violence. If you're a Marxist, radical, socialist Democrat, you probably think: The grocery store owner is going to put a higher price on the cereal because it costs them more, and they need to make a profit. WRONG! 'I'm going to patriotically lower the cost of this cereal' That grocery store owner is going to think: "Since President Trump was willing to spend millions in taxpayer money to send the Marines into Los Angeles to fight people I don't like, and because he loves America so much he made America pay for his birthday parade, I'm going to patriotically lower the cost of this cereal to make my president look good, even if it means I'll go out of business in three months." Duh. That's a little thing called good ol' American capitalism, you lefty doorknobs. Look it up!! Enjoy the military parade and the US invasion of LA, MAGA! So yes, as an American who loves America and has invested my life savings in President Trump's cryptocurrency, I feel 1,000% confident that dropping nearly $200 million on invading Los Angeles and rolling tanks through our nation's capital will lower grocery prices and probably also reduce inflation. The rest of you just don't understand how America can get great again. Maybe if you watch the big June 14 military parade that we're paying for, you'll understand. Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @ and on Facebook at
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Live updates: New Jersey primaries decide candidates for governor
But unlike Virginia - the other off-year race state, where this year both the Republican and Democratic nominee for governor became official in April ahead of any primary - New Jersey's candidate field is packed on both sides. There are five Republicans on the ballot, though former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is widely seen as the favorite to win. He comes into Tuesday evening with President Donald Trump's full-throated endorsement. Among Democrats, Rep. Mikie Sherrill leads the pack of six by a slight polling margin. She faces competitors like Newark mayor Ras Baraka and fellow member of Congress Josh Gottheimer. This race is particularly important for national Democrats because it will be the first major competitive primary since their shattering defeat in the 2024 presidential race. A poll conducted by Emerson College in May found among registered Democratic voters, Sherrill had a solid lead with 28%, but another 24% were undecided. In the last weeks of the race she has faced attack ads for accepting donations linked from a corporate PAC tied to SpaceX, which is owned by Trump "frienemy" Elon Musk. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has pitched himself as the candidate most willing to take on Trump. He was thrust into the national spotlight in May after a confrontation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a federal facility But if electability remains a worry then N.J. Democrats may bet on a safer choice such as U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who co-founded a bipartisan group dubbed the "Problem Solvers Caucus" that tries to sniff out consensus in Congress. Others in the race, such as Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, are looking for an opening, too. He's been running as a "pragmatic progressive" for voters fed up with the state's political machine. -- Phillip M. Bailey Current New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is term-limited and cannot run again in this year's race. Murphy has served as top official in the state since 2018 and will conclude his second consecutive term next January. His absence from the race leaves the contest wide open for either party to claim the governor's mansion. The president first announced his support for Ciattarelli in a Truth Social post on May 12. "Jack Ciattarelli is a terrific America First Candidate running to be the next Governor of a State that I love, NEW JERSEY!" Trump wrote. "Jack, who after getting to know and understand MAGA, has gone ALL IN, and is now 100%" The two have not always been the best of buds publicly. In 2015, Ciattarelli called Trump a "charlatan." Then in his second campaign for governor in 2021, he kept the then-former president at arm's length. Bygones appear to be bygones, though. Trump told voters in a telephone rally on June 2 Ciattarelli "is the most experienced and battle-tested" candidate.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump wants 20,000 National Guardsmen to hunt, transport immigrants
Keeping 20,000 National Guardsmen on duty for one year would cost $3.6 billion, according to a U.S. official briefed on the potential deployment. However, it's unclear how many Guardsmen are available to fill the request, according to a Defense official. More: As ICE touts arrests, chaotic scenes emerge amid immigration crackdown The moves would shift the military from its mission of defending the nation against foreign enemies toward policing its streets, according to critics such as Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. Trump has upped the ante in recent days, ordering the 4,000 California National Guardsmen to Los Angeles and deploying 700 active-duty Marines to the city over the objection of Gov. Gavin Newsom. That deployment is costing $134 million. "Using the U.S. military to support immigration enforcement within our own borders would threaten the longstanding American principle of separating law enforcement from military power," Reed said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Such a move would erode civil liberties and set a dangerous precedent for the militarization of American communities. I've voted for billions in smart and focused immigration enforcement, but it is a duty for law enforcement, not the armed forces." More: LA protests went from small to substantial over three days. Here's what unfolded On June 10, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated the National Guard would soon take on a larger role in domestic security. He told a House committee that the United States was entering a new "phase" in which the National Guard would "become a critical component of how we secure that homeland." "The National Guard is a huge component of how we see the future," he said. At Fort Bliss in Texas, the Army has a facility holding about 100 immigrants in a detention facility. A larger facility is being built there to house as many as 5,000 people, according to a U.S. official briefed on the operation but not authorized to speak publicly. Other bases under consideration to detain immigrants include Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Travis Air Force Base and Camp Parks in California, Fort Walker in Virginia and Camp Atterbury in Indiana. Officials visited those bases months ago, but it's unclear if any have been selected to receive detainees, the Defense official said. The location of some of the bases near major metropolitan areas like New York City and San Francisco indicates that immigration sweeps like the one in Los Angeles could take place there, too, the official said. Separately, the request from Homeland Security calls for up to 21,000 National Guard troops whose "support will encompass both non-law enforcement support functions and sworn law enforcement activities." There are thousands of National Guard and active-duty troops at the southern border. However, a memo reviewed by USA TODAY acknowledges that it is the first formal request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deploy national staff "in support of interior immigration enforcement operations." ICE is carrying out a directive from Trump to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status. Protests have sprung up against the sweeps the agency is carrying out in various neighborhoods. Active-duty troops are generally prohibited from domestic policing under the Posse Comitatus Act, a 19th-century law that "embodies an American tradition that sees military interference in civilian affairs as a threat to both democracy and personal liberty," according to the Brennan Center for Justice. But National Guard troops are rarely subject to the law, and, under the direction of a state's governor, can participate in law enforcement activities. A governor of a state sympathetic to the request from Homeland Security could provide the troops for the request from Homeland Security, according to the U.S. official who is familiar with the request but not authorized to speak publicly about it. The request states that the National Guard troops would be funded under Title 32, the law that leaves the Guardsmen under the control of their state's governor but uses federal taxpayer dollars to fund their activities. The request seeks troops to aid immigration enforcement in five areas, including "Attempt to Locate" - Fugitives. Homeland Security is seeking as many as 3,500 Guardsmen for investigative units, surveillance and "Night operations and rural interdiction." The largest ask for troops falls in the category of "Transportation Support," with as many as 10,000 troops needed. These personnel would help transport detainees and "unaccompanied alien children." The request also seeks buses, vans and aircraft. As many 2,500 troops fall under the request for help in "Detention Support." These Guardsmen would support "overwhelmed detention facilities." Among their expected duties: "riot control." Other troops are being sought for search and rescue, medical units and public affairs to manage "public information during high-visibility operations." The deployment of thousands of additional National Guard troops in immigration enforcement could affect the public's perception of the military, said Lindsay Cohn, a political scientist and expert on the domestic use of the military. Cohn is also an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College, but spoke about this issue in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the college or federal government. Homeland Security can justify the request by arguing it lacks the manpower to conduct the sweeps, Cohn said. But raids on schools and businesses are unpopular with the American public. Also, how troops conduct themselves matters a great deal for public perception and confidence, she said. If they behave with restraint, Cohn said, they may be able to maintain an appearance of not "taking sides." However, given that many in law enforcement personnel dress in military-like uniforms, the public may not differentiate between troops and law enforcement.
