The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is proposing to revise Food Stamp Program (FSP) regulations that cover the establishment and collection of food stamp recipient claims, including collections at the federal level.
This rule aims to improve claims management in the FSP while providing state agencies with increased flexibility in their efforts to increase claims collections. The provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) affecting recipient claims are incorporated into this rulemaking and this action is consistent with the President’s regulatory reform effort.
This proposed rule also strives to achieve a balance between state agency flexibility and fiscal accountability. Food stamp recipient claims are established against households that receive more benefits than they are entitled to receive. The last major revision to these regulations was in 1983. Recent legislation, technological advances and changes in federal debt management regulations have rendered many portions of the current regulations obsolete. In addition, the current regulations place unnecessary burdens on state agencies.
The proposed changes are intended to: incorporate changes mandated by PRWORA; simplify presentation of policy; incorporate federal debt management regulations and statutory revisions into food stamp recipient claim management; and provide state agencies with additional tools to facilitate the establishment, collection and disposition of food stamp recipient claims.