Food Stamp Integrity and Accountability Act

Summary

Food Stamp Integrity and Accountability Act - Title I: Definitions - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to eliminate the minimum six-month certification period for monthly reporting households. Limits households reporting no income to a three-month maximum certification. Authorizes States to determine whether an individual living with others and purchasing food and preparing meals separate and apart shall be treated as a separate household or as a member of a single household. Title II: Eligible Households - Includes certain presently-exempted student loan and grant amounts as income for purposes of food stamp eligibility and benefits. Requires that the resources of students ineligible for food stamp benefits be counted as part of a household's resources. Treats nonrecurring lump-sum payments as income for the month received. Limits real property that may not be considered as resources to the principal house and lot (up to ten acres) and a burial plot for each member of the household. Title III: Eligibility Disqualifications - Requires that all resources of an ineligible alien be counted (presently a pro-rata share) for purposes of determining a household's eligibility. Title IV: Issuance and Use of Coupons - Terminates authority for the issuance of cash change for amounts less than one dollar. Title V: Administration - Requires all adult applicants and recipients to certify in writing, under penalty of perjury, that information provided in applications, reports, and other related documents is true. Makes presently-required expedited service for certain households discretionary with the States. Requires States to implement a photographic identification system for recipients. Authorizes States to use alternatives to Social Security wage data if approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. Requires States to establish fraud detection offices in areas serving 5000 or more households. Authorizes the use of Internal Revenue Service interest and dividend information to protect the integrity of the food stamp program. Title VI: Disqualification of Retail Food Stores and Wholesale Food Concerns - Makes stores disqualified from the food stamp program ineligible for participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC). Title VII: Collection and Disposition of Claims - States that each adult member of a household shall be jointly and severally liable for the value of any coupon overissuance. Requires (presently authorizes) States to collect agency-caused coupon overissuances unless such actions would not be cost-effective. Authorizes States to intercept unemployment benefits and Federal tax refunds in order to collect overissuances brought about by fraud. Title VIII: Administrative and Judicial Review - Changes the conditions appellant retail stores, wholesale food concerns, and State agencies must meet in order to get judicial stays of administrative penalties under such Act (presently must demonstrate irreparable injury). Title IX: Administrative Cost-Sharing and Quality Control - Requires States to reimburse the Federal Government for error rates in excess of three percent. Authorizes the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture to develop geographical error-prone project profiles. Authorizes the imposition of additional program requirements in such cases. Requires an annual report to the appropriate congressional committees. Title X: Effective Date - Makes the provisions of this Act effective January 1, 1984, unless otherwise provided for.

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 25 October 1983

  Open at official source

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