The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as the Food Stamp Program, provides funds for food to citizens and some non-citizens who meet low-income eligibility requirements.
But a recent report from Florida TaxWatch shows the state needs to crack down on people who receive food stamps.
According to TaxWatch, the core of the problem is a “SNAP payment error.”
One important area where this occurs is in overpayments to recipients. Overpayments or SNAP payment errors are often due to processing errors by state agencies, missed or misreported changes by recipients (income, household size), and often fraud.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) has found that most SNAP errors are due to unverified eligibility for program benefits. State errors often result from difficulties in verifying an applicant’s citizenship, educational enrollment, employment status, economic status, household size, identification, or residence.
Breakdown of SNAP benefit recipients.
Children (39%), the elderly (20%), and non-elderly individuals with disabilities (10%) are eligible, but any citizen who meets income eligibility requirements is eligible.
Over the past decade, participation rates in Florida have hovered primarily between 1.5 million and 2 million households.
In fiscal year 2023, Floridians received more than $6 billion in issued SNAP benefits, with an average benefit per person of $191.06 per month.
The increase is due to COVID-19 pandemic dollars that temporarily increased demand for SNAP, and states received additional federal funding through Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act.
Under a new Republican tax bill passed in July, the Trump administration wants states to play a bigger role in deciding who should receive welfare benefits.
But that also means that state spending on SNAP will increase dramatically, especially if states like Florida do not reduce their SNAP payment error rates.
Nationally, Florida ranks only 18th in SNAP dependence, but TaxWatch says Florida has one of the highest SNAP payment error rates in the nation.
