Liquor Stores Now Being Required To Accept Food Stamps (QUEST)?

One of my wife's relatives owns a liquor store, and she told us that the state came in to her
store and told her she was REQUIRED to accept Quest (or food stamps) cards. They told
her that if she didn't get the machine, she wouldn't be able to accept regular credit cards.

When I check the Quest regulations, it states that Quest cards are not allowed to be used
to buy liquor, but the guy that owns the local liquor store where we live, says he accepts Quest cards.

I'll have to go talk to him again to see if he was required to accept it, but he's out of town right now...

So I did some digging.

Info about it if very, very hard to find, but I did find this article. (Note, the original article was erased, so I had to go to the cache)

Tonya Spencer has a quest card and like most of the program's participants she uses it to shop at full service grocery stores. According to the USDA, 16% of all SNAP benefits are redeemed at mom and pop corner stores, gas stations and even liquor stores.

SNAP user Linda Garvey called us to ask why the liquor store in her West Allis neighborhood is allowed to accept Quest, considering that under the program rules you can't buy alcohol or tobacco with the card. "Food stamps are to make sure kids aren't going hungry not make sure I can drink and smoke cigarettes," Garvey says.

webcache.google

And here is another reference to liquor stores accepting Quest

Which Stores Accept Quest?

To accept Quest cards, a store must sell at least three varieties of the following: bread and grains; dairy; fruit and vegetables; and meat, poultry and fish. Or at least 50 percent of the store’s total sales must come from basic dietary items, which does not include snacks such as chips or soda.

There are 36 stores within 1½ miles of City Hall, 730 Washington Ave., that accept FoodShare, according to a search on the United States Department of Agriculture’s website. They include multiple convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations and liquor stores. The federal government regulates which stores can accept Quest cards.

To search for stores that accept Quest, go to:

snap-load-balancer-244858692.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com...

Read more: www.journaltimes.com...

www.journaltimes.com...

Now according to the Colorado Quest site,

You CANNOT buy any nonfood items such as: beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, tobacco, pet foods, soaps, paper products, household supplies, toothpaste, cosmetics, vitamins, medicines, foods that can be eaten in the store and hot foods.

www.colorado.gov...

What my friend who owns the liquor store said is that when he runs the Quest card, it shows up just like a normal debit card, telling me that they are doing this so the public can't find out that Quest cards are being used to buy liquor.

A little more digging reveals this



marigallagher.com...

So, I haven't been able to prove that liquor stores are being required to accept Quest, but I
have no reason to disbelieve my wife's relative. She's a straight shooter, and fought the requirement
pretty hard. Her husband is a contractor who travels around the country doing jobs for the government....

Anyone else heard about this alarming info?

Nonfood items ring up as nonfood items.
If a food is 50% groceries I personally would not call it a liquor store.

In any event, any smart drunk could just go buy a lot of grape juice and make their own.

Yeaaah bout that, I'ma need some proof first.
I know I know, trustworthy and all but...

Originally posted by hadriana
Nonfood items ring up as nonfood items.
If a food is 50% groceries I personally would not call it a liquor store.

In any event, any smart drunk could just go buy a lot of grape juice and make their own.

The two liquors stores that I'm speaking about in the OP are purely liquor stores, no food.

reply to post by COconspiracyguy


Same here where i live..

all that is in the liquor store is liquor...

not even beer, just wine and liquor...

On one hand I don't see the problem with acceptance at liquor stores in concept, because not everyone has 50 stores within walking distance. Some people are rather limited and liquor stores often have more than just booze and cigarettes. Uncle Sam just can't help but micromanage the living daylights out of everything.....just make it accepted but actually restrict what is bought with it, universally. Sheesh...

Now I see your OP also does suggest these ARE buying booze and other 'prohibited' list items. That sounds like outright criminal fraud by the stores who don't have their registers or employees stop the transactions AND the card holders doing it. Both sides of that transaction know what the score is...they're both good for criminal charges to my thinking. If people want to find ways to save budget money, starting there sounds like as good a place as any.

Originally posted by baddmove
reply to post by COconspiracyguy

 

Same here where i live..

all that is in the liquor store is liquor...

not even beer, just wine and liquor...

Yeah, the guy that owns the liquor store that accepts Quest can't even sell peanuts, because who would need a food license.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
On one hand I don't see the problem with acceptance at liquor stores in concept, because not everyone has 50 stores within walking distance. Some people are rather limited and liquor stores often have more than just booze and cigarettes. Uncle Sam just can't help but micromanage the living daylights out of everything.....just make it accepted but actually restrict what is bought with it, universally. Sheesh...

Well don't try to buy diapers.

reply to post by COconspiracyguy
Get used to it. With the economy the way it is, this new currency will be even more popular in the coming months/years.

Instead of food stamps, QUEST or other card names, why not call it Obama-bucks.

Because if he gets his way, that'll be the only currency avaliable to Americns anywhere.

it is impossible to buy non food items with a quest card,,,unless the teller is ringing booze up like it is a food item. most liquor stores (other than state owned) carry groceries. your friend is ill informed on how food stamps work. Some Quest cards carry cash benefits which is like an ATM card.

Originally posted by beezzer
Instead of food stamps, QUEST or other card names, why not call it Obama-bucks.

Obama invented Quest?

To the OP, is this for purchasing liquor or so people can access their LEAP funds? According to the state, liquor is still a big no no but this would save people an ATM fee for accessing money they need to heat their homes with.

Originally posted by outandopen
it is impossible to buy non food items with a quest card,,,unless the teller is ringing booze up like it is a food item. most liquor stores (other than state owned) carry groceries. your friend is ill informed on how food stamps work. Some Quest cards carry cash benefits which is like an ATM card.

Best reply in thread
so far!

Well you do know that those cards are not solely for food stamps right?

Its used for money too...


Last time I checked you can use your government pension to buy alcohol...

I'm just saying

Being a person who has used the QUEST card in past, I know for sure that there are food stamp benifits(snap) and cash assistance on the same card... You can use cash assistance for anything, gas, cigarettes, booze, clothes, etc. But the one thing that has always bugged me is that you don't always get both cash and food support. I mean they don't let you buy your other basic needs like, toilet papet, shampoo, dish soap, with food stamps and if thats all you get for assistance how do you get those things... I know I didn't qualify for cash even tho I didn't have a job(not the case anymore), still had to pay rent, find gas money to go job hunting, amongst other things...
Now back on track... If this were to be true and liquor stores accept food stamps, a lot of children will go hungry...

Didn't have time to read through the thread, but just in case nobody told you yet... Quest cards are not just only used for food stamps. They can be used to access two different accounts, one being the food stamps, which are not allowed to be spent on non food items like alcohol or cigarettes or even an energy drink like red bull, or any heated foods already made like the soup, or fried chicken in the deli sections of most grocery stores. Cold items, like potato salad from the deli, or other non cooked items like frozen burritos for example which you then microwave in the store would be fine. An already cooked one sitting on the warmer would not.

In addition to the food stamps accessible from the Quest card, there are also such thing as "cash benefits" available to some recipients. You can take the Quest card to an atm machine and get cash and go buy anything you want. So using it as a debit card in a liquor store is just like any debit transaction. And the system will not allow your food stamp balance to be used for unqualified purchases. So there is no cheating, even if you're cool with the guy at the liquor store... Trust me on this one

Feel free to pm me if you need to know anything else about the quest card, food stamps, or just being poor in general! I'm your man if that's what you need to know about

originally posted by: 3n19m470
Didn't have time to read through the thread, but just in case nobody told you yet... Quest cards are not just only used for food stamps. They can be used to access two different accounts, one being the food stamps, which are not allowed to be spent on non food items like alcohol or cigarettes or even an energy drink like red bull, or any heated foods already made like the soup, or fried chicken in the deli sections of most grocery stores. Cold items, like potato salad from the deli, or other non cooked items like frozen burritos for example which you then microwave in the store would be fine. An already cooked one sitting on the warmer would not.

In addition to the food stamps accessible from the Quest card, there are also such thing as "cash benefits" available to some recipients. You can take the Quest card to an atm machine and get cash and go buy anything you want. So using it as a debit card in a liquor store is just like any debit transaction. And the system will not allow your food stamp balance to be used for unqualified purchases. So there is no cheating, even if you're cool with the guy at the liquor store... Trust me on this one

Feel free to pm me if you need to know anything else about the quest card, food stamps, or just being poor in general!

I'm your man if that's what you need to know about

Thanks for the information.. I was not aware much about the quest cards..

Didn't have time to read through the thread, but just in case nobody told you yet... Quest cards are not just only used for food stamps. They can be used to access two different accounts, one being the food stamps, which are not allowed to be spent on non food items like alcohol or ecig called Aerotank Mega or even an energy drink like red bull, or any heated foods already made like the soup, or fried chicken in the deli sections of most grocery stores. Cold items, like potato salad from the deli, or other non cooked items like frozen burritos for example which you then microwave in the store would be fine. An already cooked one sitting on the warmer would not.

In addition to the food stamps accessible from the Quest card, there are also such thing as "cash benefits" available to some recipients. You can take the Quest card to an atm machine and get cash and go buy anything you want. So using it as a debit card in a liquor store is just like any debit transaction. And the system will not allow your food stamp balance to be used for unqualified purchases. So there is no cheating, even if you're cool with the guy at the liquor store... Trust me on this one

Feel free to pm me if you need to know anything else about the quest card, food stamps, or just being poor in general! I'm your man if that's what you need to know about
Thanks for the information.. I was not aware much about the quest cards.ya got some details about the quest cards..