New York was among the first states to require electronic fingerprinting of welfare recipients as a way to prevent fraud.

New Jersey, too, is instituting a pilot program for electronic fingerprinting.

Extends electronic fingerprinting of welfare recipients statewide.

Mr. Giuliani, for instance, had said the city would save $203 million this year by using electronic fingerprinting and other methods to lower the welfare rolls.

Similar efforts he made in 1995 and 1996 were rebuffed, though he did gain anti-fraud measures, like electronic fingerprinting of recipients.

Those measures call for mandatory electronic fingerprinting of welfare recipients and work requirements for able-bodied home-relief applicants, among other things.

Today's Columns Efforts to root out welfare fraud with electronic fingerprinting are generating renewed interest in companies that make the almost-foolproof systems.

Such fraud will be difficult to repeat after electronic fingerprinting is introduced for welfare recipients, Ms. Mariani said.

Los Angeles is the only other major city that uses electronic fingerprinting to detect fraud among both single adults and families receiving welfare benefits.

The electronic fingerprinting is part of a larger effort to computerize and streamline arrests and bookings in both counties.