Reply #30: They are actually EBTs: Electronic Benefits Transfer cards [View All]

[Tesha]

There was a fixed pool of money allocated for the program and
each card represents a commitment of money from the program.
Therefore, if you requested a card but never used it, the program
would have assumed $40 was committed that might, in fact, never
be expended. So they set a short expiration period to force you to
spend the $40 they committed to you or lose your place in line and
allow them to recommit "your" $40 to someone who would actually
use it.

'Pretty sensible, really.

Tesha