[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]


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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.

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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