By Jordan Gerard | Arizona Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Arizona senator proposes bill to reduce SNAP payment errors
- Bill requires monthly or quarterly reviews of recipients’ eligibility
- Arizona’s SNAP error rate may cost the state $139 million by 2028
An Arizona senator is looking to decrease the state’s error rate for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments to avoid paying more money to the federal government in the future.
Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, pre-filed a bill that would direct the Department of Economic Security to work with three state agencies and four federal agencies to conduct monthly or quarterly reviews of individuals’ eligibility information for changes in circumstances. Such reviews would include earnings of $3,000 or more from gambling, employment status, changes in residency, incarceration and changes in income or wages.
The bill would also require the Department of Economic Security to publish the amounts of money that were obtained from noncompliance, fraud investigations and the amount of improper payments, among other requirements.
At least monthly, the Department of Health Services and the Department of Economic Security would review information from federal sources to assess a recipient’s continued eligibility for SNAP. Those include earned income information, supplemental security income and pension information. It also includes employment information, child support enforcement data and national fleeing felon information maintained by the FBI.
