Bill Text: AZ SB1071 | 2025 | Fifty-seventh Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: SNAP; TANF; public welfare; verification
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-16 - Senate read second time [SB1071 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2025-SB1071-Introduced.html
|
REFERENCE TITLE: SNAP; TANF; public welfare; verification |
|
State of Arizona Senate Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025
|
|
SB 1071 |
|
|
|
Introduced by Senator Kavanagh
|
AN ACT
amending title 46, chapter 2, article 2, arizona revised statutes, by adding section 46-232; amending section 46-297.01, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to public assistance.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 46, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 46-232, to read:
46-232. Supplemental nutrition assistance program; eligibility evaluations; public posting; definitions
A. To determine or evaluate SNAP eligibility, the department of economic security shall:
1. Enter into a data matching agreement with the department of gaming to identify households with lottery or gambling winnings of $3,000 or more and, to the extent permissible under federal law, to treat the data obtained as verified on receipt. To the extent the data may not be verified on receipt, the department of economic security shall refer those households with lottery or gambling winnings that are equal to or greater than the resource limit for elderly or disabled households as defined in 7 Code of federal Regulations section 273.8(b) to the department of gaming for further investigation.
2. On at least a monthly basis, review information that is provided by the department of health services and that identifies individuals who have had a change in CIRCUMSTANCES that may affect SNAP eligibility.
3. On at least a quarterly basis, review information that is provided by the industrial commission of arizona and that identifies individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may affect SNAP eligibility, including a CHANGE in unemployment benefits, employment status or wages.
4. On at least a monthly basis, review the department's information that identifies individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may affect SNAP eligibility, including potential changes in residency as identified by out-of-state electronic benefit transfer card transactions.
5. On at least a monthly basis, review information that is provided by the state DEPARTMENT of corrections and that identifies individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may affect SNAP eligibility.
6. On at least a quarterly basis, review information that is provided by the department of revenue and that identifies households that have had a change in circumstances that may affect SNAP eligibility, including potential changes in income, wages or residency as identified by tax records.
7. On at least a quarterly basis, post on the department's public website the following aggregated amounts that were obtained from noncompliance and fraud investigations related to SNAP, excluding confidential and personally identifiable information:
(a) The number of SNAP cases that were investigated for intentional program violations or fraud.
(b) The number of SNAP cases that were referred to the attorney general's office for prosecution.
(c) The amount of Improper payments and expenditures.
(d) The amount of Monies recovered.
(e) The amount of monies spent for improper payments and ineligible RECIPIENTS as a percentage of cases that were investigated and reviewed.
(f) The amount of monies spent by electronic benefit card transactions that occurred outside of this state, categorized by state.
B. On at least a monthly basis, the department of health services and the department of environmental quality shall review the following information from federal sources to assess a recipient's continued eligibility for SNAP:
1. Earned income information, death register information, incarceration records, supplemental security income information, beneficiary records, earnings information and pension information that is maintained by the United States social security administration.
2. Income and employment information that is maintained in the national directory of new hires database and child support enforcement data that is maintained by the united states department of health and human services.
3. Payment and earnings information that is maintained by the united states department of housing and urban development.
4. National fleeing felon information that is maintained by the United States federal bureau of investigation.
C. If the department receives information that identifies an individual who is enrolled in SNAP and that indicates a change in circumstances that may affect that individual's SNAP eligibility, the department shall review that individual's case.
D. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Department" means the department of economic security.
2. "SNAP" means the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
Sec. 2. Section 46-297.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
46-297.01. Electronic benefit transfer cards; replacements; out-of-state spending; fraud investigation
A. The department shall send each recipient who requests two replacement cards within a twelve-month period a letter informing the recipient that another request will initiate an investigation by the department to determine whether there is fraud. If a third-party vendor is administering replacement cards directly to recipients, the vendor shall notify the department after a recipient requests a second replacement card in a twelve-month period and makes any subsequent request thereafter.
B. After a recipient's request for a third replacement card within any twelve-month period, and any subsequent request thereafter, the department shall schedule an interview with the recipient and, if the department has been granted a waiver, determine whether there is fraud before issuing a new card. The recipient's request for a fourth replacement card requires the department to schedule an interview with the recipient to determine whether there is fraud before issuing a new card. The department shall request any necessary federal waivers to comply with this section.
C. If a recipient uses more than ten percent of the recipient's electronic benefit transfer card balance in a six-month period on out-of-state purchases, the department shall schedule an interview with the recipient to determine whether there is fraud.
D. On at least a monthly basis, the department shall use the data from an electronic benefit transfer card to identify any individual who has made purchases exclusively out-of-state over a ninety-day period. The department shall contact the individual who is identified within thirty days to determine whether that individual resides in this state. If the individual does not reside in this state, the department shall remove that individual within thirty days after contacting the individual. Within fifteen days after the individual's removal, the department shall refer the individual to the United States attorney's office for the district where the individual claims to reside.
