Corporation Counsel James E. Johnson Joins 22-State Coalition Urging USDA to Remove Bureaucratic Barriers Threatening SNAP During Pandemic

September 17, 2020

Waiving Burdensome Administrative Requirements Will Enable States to Expedite Critical Food Assistance to Vulnerable Residents
 
New York City Corporation Counsel James E. Johnson today joined a group of 22 states in urging the Trump administration to waive certain administrative burdens so that states can expedite the distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to residents during the pandemic. In a letter to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the coalition makes clear that adjustments to administering SNAP help tens of thousands of SNAP recipients receive food assistance by allowing states to safely and efficiently recertify eligibility and process applications. While FNS approved these waivers at the beginning of the pandemic, the agency has recently started denying some requests without sufficient explanation. The coalition urges the Administration to provide guidance on what is required for approvable waivers, expand the flexibility of waiver options, and continue granting waivers during the pandemic.
 
"Feed the hungry. It is a core principle of human decency," said Corporation Counsel James E. Johnson. “Ensuring access to healthy and affordable food is critical when so many in our communities are facing economic and health challenges brought about by Covid-19. New York City urges the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to recognize the unprecedented challenges that cities and states across the country continue to face in administering SNAP safely and without interruption and to support us as we make every effort to meet the needs of our communities in these difficult times."

“In the midst of this unprecedented crisis, the USDA must act on behalf of our City and our nation’s most vulnerable residents,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Banks. “The food assistance we provide to those in need is more important now than ever before, especially as we know this pandemic has disproportionately impacted low-income communities and communities of color. The common-sense adjustments we are seeking would make a big difference for millions of people who rely on us to make ends meet every day, ensuring our City—and cities and communities across the country—can continue to effectively provide this vital lifeline, while also implementing best practices and health guidance, like social distancing and staying home as much as possible, that helped us flatten the curve and which continue to keep all of us safe.”

SNAP, commonly known as “food stamps,” is our country’s most important anti-hunger program and a critical part of federal and state efforts to help lift people out of poverty. The program provides people with limited incomes the opportunity to buy nutritious food that they otherwise could not afford.
 
In March 2020, as states began declaring public health emergencies, FNS approved waiver requests that helped ease regulatory burdens on state SNAP agencies so they could focus their resources on issuing SNAP benefits even as caseloads drastically increased. These waivers included waiving certain recertification requirements and providing extensions on reporting deadlines.
 
However, in a move to return to pre-pandemic operations, FNS recently told states that waivers would be approved only on more limited bases. The criteria for obtaining waiver approvals appears to have become increasingly strict, and it is unclear how FNS is evaluating these criteria state-by-state. A lack of clear, public guidance on the criteria for these waivers and FNS’s lack of explanation for denials have left some states scrambling to formulate requests. Without waivers, states cannot process large backlogs of applications and eligibility re-certifications in time to prevent families from temporarily losing benefits.
 
The coalition urges FNS to help states secure longer-term waivers by:
 
• Posting clear guidance and criteria for how waivers are approved: FNS has not posted guidance on its website about what information states should include in waiver requests despite being required to do so by the Families First Coronavirus Recovery Act. Without this guidance, states cannot easily determine why some states’ requests have been approved while others have been denied. Posting this guidance publicly will allow states to see what data must be supplied to request adjustments and whether FNS is fairly assessing the economic and public health conditions in those states.
 
• Increasing duration and flexibility of waiver options: FNS is currently requiring states to apply for most of the available waivers on a monthly basis even though all states and the federal government continue operating under public health emergency declarations and the pandemic is likely to continue for many more months. This requirement for monthly applications has placed a significant regulatory burden on the states at a time when most state SNAP agencies are overwhelmed with increased caseloads. The coalition urges FNS to allow states to liberally apply for multiple multi-month waivers of all commonly requested adjustments.
 
The letter is available here.

Corporation Counsel Johnson is joined by Attorneys General from California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Contact
pressoffice@law.nyc.gov
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