FNS has recently been reviewing its SNAP waiver processes and procedures. This memo serves to notify SNAP state agencies that FNS is no longer approving new interest income verification waivers or extending existing waivers.
FNS is issuing this memorandum in fulfillment of the commitment made in the preamble of the SNAP: Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 final rule to provide additional guidance for state agencies on how to carry out the exclusion of certain military combat-related pay from income for purposes of SNAP eligibility determinations.
FNS is issuing this memorandum in an effort to clarify the characteristics of BBCE programs and the actions states must take to ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.
FNS offered state agencies the opportunity to test whether using Quarterly Wage Report data was sufficiently accurate to verify and project earned income in certain SNAP cases. Two state agencies, Texas and Utah, agreed to participate and run projects that ran through 2014 and 2015.
The attached questions and answers are intended to address state agency concerns about the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on SNAP.
Questions and Answers for the 2008 Farm Bill
The purpose of this memorandum is to implement a provision affecting mandatory direct certification for children in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households.
Some state agencies have adopted a version of simplified reporting for other programs, such as Medicaid and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, and are using multi-program report forms for the various programs, including SNAP.
This policy applies to all TANF-funded subsidized employment paid to SNAP clients or applicants in the form of wages, regardless of the source of TANF funding, including but not limited to funds available to states and Indian tribes through the Emergency Contingency Fund for state TANF programs.
It has come to our attention that a number of states have begun using the emergency fund to develop and implement a wide range of subsidized employment efforts. In addition to the Emergency Fund program, subsidized employment may be funded under the regular TANF block grant or state Maintenance of Effort funds.