This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide a notice and comment period prior to making certain substantive changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) quality control system, with exceptions.
As background, the SNAP quality control system measures how accurately SNAP state agencies determine a household’s eligibility and benefit amount and determines overpayments of benefits and underpayments. State agencies must conduct quality control reviews of their SNAP caseloads and report these findings to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
The bill requires USDA to provide a notice and public comment period of at least 60 days prior to finalizing any new or updated guidance that proposes substantive changes for conducting quality control reviews. This applies to any proposed guidance reasonably expected to require state agencies to make changes to systems, procedures, or staffing pertaining to quality control reviews or that impact verification requirements for SNAP recipients.
In the case of an urgent and immediate need, USDA may issue interim final guidance simultaneously with the notice and comment requirements.