WSAZ Investigates | W.Va. Gov. Morrisey announces investigation into school clothing vouchers program

OCEANA, W.Va. (WSAZ) - West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced he has called for an investigation into how school clothing vouchers are spent. The announcement came during an event Tuesday night in Oceana.

Tuesday morning, the governor had alleged that money from the vouchers could be withdrawn at ATM machines, and said he worried they could be used to purchase other items like “beer and cigarettes.”

“I asked for a team to begin looking at this and determine what percentage of the dollars that were spent at the school clothing allotment are actually done through ATM machines, where there’s no constraints, no parameters whatsoever about how the monies are being spent,” Morrisey said Tuesday night. “We just learned it’s close to 50 percent.”

While answering questions from WSAZ about the clothing vouchers Tuesday morning in Huntington, Morrisey said he had concerns about how the vouchers could be spent, alleging the money could be spent to buy items other than school clothing.

“I want the money for school clothes, not for beer and cigarettes,” he said. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to push for that, and I’m not going to let people change the topic. We’re going to make sure that we have a good system.”

When WSAZ asked if Morrisey’s office had found any fraud similar to what he had alleged, he responded by saying that people could withdraw the money as cash from an ATM.

“I’m saying that these are cash cards,” he said. “So, by definition, we know when you have cash cards, when you can go to an ATM and take money out, yes, there’s absolutely going to be problems with it. What we’re trying to do is isolate exactly how much money goes through these ATM cards and how much money we could have directed for clothing for kids who need it.”

Morrisey said Tuesday night he doesn’t believe that all the money given out in the program is being spent on clothing.

“People whine and complain about this, when in reality, we’ve been trying to protect taxpayers and our kids at the same time. That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “I am never, ever gonna shy away from that.”

The governor also said he is working with Sen. Brian Helton (R-Fayette), who chairs the Senate’s Health and Human Resources Committee, on an investigation.

“We’re gonna get to the bottom of how all this occurs, and we’re gonna put constraints in place so that the precious dollars are for school clothing,” Morrisey said.

In a social media post, DoHS Secretary Carl Ayers wrote, “direct POS purchases of alcohol or tobacco are blocked; however, TANF school clothing allowance recipients can withdraw physical cash at ATMs.”

Ayers also clarified that, “the recipient can withdraw the clothing voucher funding from an ATM. SNAP is a different program and funding can’t be withdrawn from an ATM.”

“While ATMs inside of liquor stores or casinos are restricted by law, standard bank ATMs allow withdrawals that can be spent on anything including alcohol or tobacco,” Ayers wrote in another post. “The Governor and I are focused on ensuring every dollar is spent solely on children’s clothing.”

After Morrisey answered questions Tuesday morning, but before he announced the investigation, Del. Sean Hornbuckle (D-Cabell) told WSAZ that the “beer and cigarettes” comment was “inaccurate and false.”

“That’s a narrative that has played against, you know, people of lesser means time and time again to turn the public against them to get something else,” he said. “In the legislature, we took a look at this several years ago, and we found that there was little to no fraud that was actually happening. Again, that’s just rhetoric to get people riled up to be able to do something on the other hand.”

The clothing voucher program has been a source of confusion and concern this year for both families and lawmakers. First, the program was delayed by nearly three weeks as the governor’s office said it was reviewing funding. Then, when applications did open, they closed just seven days later, when the Department of Human Services said funds for the program ran out.

According to the latest numbers from Gov. Morrisey’s office, about 57,000 children received the vouchers last year, while approximately 52,000 applications were received before they closed this year. But Morrisey’s office said in a statement Monday that applications for this year are still being processed.

“We expect this year’s program to match or exceed last year’s level of support,” the statement read.

WSAZ asked Morrisey on Tuesday if applications would reopen if the projections are not met.

“Well, we want to make sure that what we projected happens,” Morrisey responded. “So I think you can count on that. I think we’re going to match or exceed. And so people can count on that promise.”

Morrisey also said the decision to close applications was based on “some early numbers,” but that the system “doesn’t give exact real-time information.” WSAZ asked how DoHS could have known funds ran out if there isn’t real-time information.

“Last year, it spent $11.4 million,” Morrisey responded. “Now, when you don’t have the real-time data, people try to do the best job they can to estimate how much is being spent by a given point. And so, our direction was to say, ‘listen, let’s try to make sure we’re at least matching last year.’”