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By Christopher Butler
Tennessee Watchdog

Recipients of EBT cards in Chattanooga and Knoxville used their benefits at a strip club, a bar, a tobacco shop, malls, high-end clothing stores, hotels and other places where non-essential items are sold.

As it did with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) transactions in Memphis, Tennessee Watchdog accessed state records and examined almost 22,000 EBT purchases in Chattanooga and Knoxville. These transactions took place in June 2012.

Of the transactions, 13,566 took place in Knoxville, while 8,424 occurred in Chattanooga.

As was the case in Memphis, most of the transactions occurred at grocery stores-- but a small number of transactions were at businesses that do not specialize in selling essential items.

According to state records, an EBT card was used to make three separate transactions at the Th'Katch Show Club in Knoxville (Photo courtesy of
TreeHugger.com).

An EBT can offer two different types of benefits -- the first being food products, commonly known as food stamps, and the second deriving from the Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF). Unlike food stamps, which are limited to certain food and related purchases, families on assistance through TANF receive as much as $500 per month in cash benefits and use them as they see fit.

Knoxville

According to state records, recipients of government assistance in Knoxville made the following transactions with their EBT cards in June:

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• On June 2, one or more people used an EBT card to make three separate transactions, amounting to a sum of $64, at the Th'Katch Show Club (listed as the Blue Room on the transaction form). Attempts to reach management of the Th'Katch Show Club were unsuccessful. According to online information from a variety of web sites, the club specializes in nude lap dances, as well as beer and wine sales.

• On June 12, transactions of almost $30 took place at Discount Tobacco. Tennessee Watchdog made a variety of attempts to contact the owner, but store employees said that he was unavailable for comment.

• Customers used EBT cards to make $1,212 in transactions at the Knoxville Center Mall and $402 at the West Town Mall.

The Indiana-based Simon Property Group operates both malls. Tennessee Watchdog found similar transactions earlier this year at the Wolfchase Galleria Mall in Memphis, which Simon also operates. When asked about Simon's policy on accepting EBT cards, spokeswoman Lexi Harris said the following: "The decision to accept EBT cards would rest in the policies of the individual retailer and not the mall."

• On June 12, a customer used an EBT card to purchase $242 of merchandise at a Knoxville Dillards.

• Customers also used their EBT cards to make transactions at a Little Caesars pizza restaurant and Papa Murphys. A Little Caesars' representative was unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, Papa Murphy's spokeswoman Lindsay Taylor said the restaurant has always accepted EBT cards.

• A customer made a $24 EBT transaction at the Royal Inn and Suites. Owner Don Patel told Tennessee Watchdog that his hotel does not accept EBT as payment.

• A Super 8 Hotel in Knoxville accepted a $182 EBT transaction from a customer on June 1. Super 8 spokesman Rob Myers said each hotel is independently owned and operated and payment policies vary from one hotel to the next.

• An EBT recipient used his or her card to make a $102 transaction at the US Cellular Complex in Knoxville. Tennessee Watchdog was still awaiting comment from a US Cellular spokesperson at the time of publication.

According to state records, an EBT card was used to make transactions at Knoxville's West Town Mall.

• Customers used their EBT cards to make a sum total of $239 worth of transactions at United States Postal Service (USPS) offices throughout Knoxville. USPS spokesman David Walton told Tennessee Watchdog in July that the government agency does not accept EBT cards.


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