Welfare Reform: Few States Are Likely to Use the Simplified Food Stamp Program
RCED-99-43
Published: Jan 29, 1999. Publicly Released: Mar 01, 1999.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the impact of welfare reform on the Food Stamp Program, focusing on: (1) the number of states that have adopted or are planning to adopt the Simplified Food Stamp Program; (2) the concerns that may be preventing other states from adopting the simplified program; and (3) the impacts that the adoption of the simplified programs may have on households' eligibility and benefits.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| To fulfill the Simplified Food Stamp Program's potential, Congress may wish to consider working with the Department of Agriculture to develop modifications to the legislation that established the program in order to address the implementation concerns discussed in this report. Among other things, Congress could consider providing the states with more flexibility in meeting the simplified program's cost-neutrality requirement by, for example, allowing a longer period of time to measure cost-neutrality, instead of annually as is required by the current legislation. |
Closed – Implemented
|
In the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Congress made changes to the Food Stamp Program that gave states new options to better align their TANF and Food Stamp program eligibility requirements. This closer alignment was also the goal of the 1996 Simplified Food Stamp Program, which required that any changes be cost neutral. However, in the 2002 Act, Congress eliminated the requirement that changes to better align programs be cost neutral. As a result, states have more flexibility under the 2002 Act provisions, and more states are adopting the new options than adopted the 1996 simplification provisions. |
| Congress could also examine the feasibility of granting the states a grace period in which increased error rates attributed to the implementation of the simplified program are exempted from financial penalties. |
Closed – Implemented
|
In the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Congress made significant changes to the way financial penalties are applied to states with high error rates. States must have an error rate above a level set by law for 2 years in a row before they are sanctioned. The effect of these changes is to provide states with a grace period of 1 year to make complex program changes and begin correcting for errors before they face financial penalties. |
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Topics
Disadvantaged personsEligibility determinationsFood relief programsState-administered programsWelfare benefitsMedicaidTemporary assistance for needy familiesWelfare reformfood stamp benefitsMinimum wage