Another attempt to fight fraud by putting ID photos on Illinois' food stamp cards looks doomed, but not because of political opposition inside the Capitol.
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association is making it clear to lawmakers that the gas stations, grocery stores and local shops don't want to deal with the headaches or possible legal nightmare that might be created by adding pictures to LINK cards.
State Senator Chapin Rose said he thought his proposal would be an easy way for clerks, at the point of sale, to make sure that the person using the LINK card is supposed to be using that card.
But the legislation likely will never become law.
Some question how much money it would cost the state to add pictures to LINK cards. U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers from October of 2012 show over 2 million people in Illinois received these types of benefits.
