[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13791-13792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05133]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Request for Information: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) Income Conversion Factors for Anticipated Income
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks input on the use of
the current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) income
conversion factors used to anticipate a household's income for the
purposes of SNAP eligibility when a household's income is received on a
weekly or biweekly basis. FNS hopes to obtain perspective from State
agencies and other stakeholders as it considers how to best balance the
flexibilities States are granted in calculating anticipated monthly
income under current SNAP regulations, while adhering to the
legislative intent of reducing administrative burden on State agencies
and removing barriers to eligibility for needy households.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 15, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Sasha Gersten-Paal, Chief,
Certification Policy Branch, Program Development Division, Food and
Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center
Drive, Room 812, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments will also be accepted
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting
comments electronically. All written comments will be open for public
inspection at the FNS office located at 3101 Park Center Drive,
Alexandria, Virginia, 22302, Room 812, during regular business hours
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday). All responses to this
notice will be summarized and included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will be a matter of
public record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of this request for information should be directed to Sasha
Gersten-Paal via email to [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SNAP regulations at 7 CFR 273.10(c)(2)(i)
provide State agencies with three options when converting weekly and
biweekly income into anticipated monthly income: Multiplying by 4.3 for
weekly income or by 2.15 for biweekly income; using the State agency's
public assistance (PA) conversion standard; or, using a household's
exact amount, if it can be anticipated. These options have been
available to State agencies since the enactment of the Food Stamp Act
of 1977, and the majority of States opt to use the first set of
conversion factors.
Generally, when calculating a SNAP recipient's benefit amount, the
lower the recipient's income, the greater their SNAP benefit will be.
Some stakeholders contend that using the first set of conversion
factors (4.3 for weekly income or 2.15 for biweekly income)
underestimates a recipient's actual monthly income, which in turn
raises the amount of the recipient's SNAP benefit. These stakeholders
maintain that not only does this result in an overpayment to the
recipient, it also creates inequity between SNAP recipients paid on a
monthly basis and those paid on a weekly or biweekly basis. These
stakeholders recommend that FNS increase income conversion accuracy by
amending current SNAP regulations to carry the current factors out by
two decimal places, specifically, to 4.33 for weekly income, and 2.17
for biweekly income.
In 1971, Congress amended the Food Stamp Act of 1964 and directed
FNS to establish standards of eligibility for the Food Stamp Program.
In implementing the amendment, FNS began adjusting a household's
monthly income to include income anticipated to be received during the
certification period. For income received less frequently than a
monthly basis, the factors used to average income were 4.3 for weekly
income, and 2.15 for biweekly income.
In the Food Stamp Act of 1977, Congress expanded the definition of
anticipated income in Section 5(f) to include ``income reasonably
anticipated to be received'' during the certification period, and again
provided FNS the authority to establish standards for calculating
anticipated income. The House Committee of Agriculture's Report on the
Food Stamp Act of 1977 states that the purpose in adopting this
standard was ``. . . to smooth the way for participation by the needy,
not to place obstacles in their path by making them out to be less
needy than they in fact are.''
FNS codified these conversion factors through rulemaking, including
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published on May 2, 1978, and a Final
Rule published on October 17, 1978. Between the Proposed Rulemaking and
the Final Rule, FNS received nearly 500 comments regarding the sections
on determining anticipated income. In the preamble to the Final Rule,
FNS stated that ``State and local agencies were frequently concerned
with the use of the proposed multipliers for converting income received
on a weekly (4.3) or biweekly (2.15) basis. Some recommended using
4.333 and 2.167 to conform to the [Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC)] factors for weekly and biweekly income conversions.''
To address this concern, in addition to using the established factors
of 4.3 and 2.15, the Final Rule permitted State agencies to align their
conversion factors with other public assistance programs, or to use the
exact monthly figure if it could be obtained for the entire
certification period.
In 1981, Congress added Section 5(f)(4) to the Act and directed FNS
to ensure, ``to the extent feasible,'' that the income of households
receiving both Food Stamp benefits and benefits from AFDC, the
predecessor to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, were
``calculated on a comparable basis under the two Acts.''
With this history in mind, FNS is seeking information from State
agency partners and stakeholders on the following particular questions:
1. Of the three income conversion options provided by 7 CFR
273.10(c)(2)(i), which option does your State agency use?
a. Why does your State agency use this particular option?
b. What are the perceived strengths, if any, of this option?
c. What are the perceived weaknesses, if any, of this option?
2. What, if any, administrative challenges would your State agency
face in adopting a different income conversion option?
3. What, if any, technological challenges would your State agency
face in adopting a different income conversion option?
4. Is there another methodology in converting weekly and biweekly
income that FNS should consider?
[[Page 13792]]
a. Why should this methodology be used in place of the current
options outlined in 7 CFR 273.10(c)(2)(i)?
b. Does this methodology support the legislative intent of Congress
in removing barriers to access to households in need of nutritional
assistance?
c. Does this methodology support the legislative intent of Congress
to grant States more flexibility?
Dated: March 6, 2017.
Jessica Shahin,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-05133 Filed 3-14-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P