Amends and adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program integrity measures and verification.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 730 BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; AMENDING CHAP-2 TER 2, TITLE 56, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 56-205A,3 IDAHO CODE, TO ESTABLISH PROVISIONS REGARDING SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION4 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM INTEGRITY MEASURES; AMENDING SECTION 56-211, IDAHO5 CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING VERIFICATION FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL6 NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING7 AN EFFECTIVE DATE.8

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:9

SECTION 1. That Chapter 2, Title 56, Idaho Code, be, and the same is10 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-11 ignated as Section 56-205A, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:12 56-205A. SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM INTEGRITY13 MEASURES. (1) The department of health and welfare shall enter into a14 data-matching agreement with the Idaho state lottery commission to identify15 households with lottery winnings of three thousand dollars ($3,000) or more16 and, to the extent permissible under federal law, shall treat this data as17 verified upon receipt. To the extent that the data may not be verified upon18 receipt, the department shall make referrals for further investigation to19 identify households with winnings equal to or greater than the resource20 limit for elderly or disabled households as defined in 7 U.S.C. 2014(g)(1).21 The department shall promptly disenroll from the supplemental nutrition as-22 sistance program (SNAP) any household with winnings equal to or greater than23 the resource limit for elderly or disabled households.24 (2) On at least a monthly basis, the department of health and welfare25 shall:26 (a) Review information from the bureau of vital records and health sta-27 tistics concerning individuals in households enrolled in SNAP that in-28 dicates a change in circumstances that may affect eligibility for SNAP,29 including but not limited to death records;30 (b) Receive and review information concerning individuals in house-31 holds enrolled in SNAP that indicates a change in circumstances that32 may affect eligibility for SNAP, including but not limited to potential33 changes in residency as identified by out-of-state electronic benefit34 transfer transactions;35 (c) Receive and review information from the state department of cor-36 rection concerning individuals in households enrolled in SNAP that in-37 dicates a change in circumstances that may affect eligibility for SNAP,38 including but not limited to incarceration status; and39 (d) To assess continued eligibility and act on findings, review and act40 on the following data from federal sources:41

2 (i) Earned income information, death register information, in-1 carceration records, supplemental security income information,2 beneficiary records, earnings information, and pension informa-3 tion maintained by the United States social security administra-4 tion;5 (ii) Income and employment information maintained in the national6 directory of new hires database and child support enforcement data7 maintained by the United States department of health and human8 services;9 (iii) Payment and earnings information maintained by the United10 States department of housing and urban development;11 (iv) National fleeing felon information maintained by the federal12 bureau of investigation; and13 (v) Address change information maintained in the United States14 postal service national change of address database.15 (3) On at least a quarterly basis, the department of health and welfare16 shall:17 (a) Receive and review information from the department of labor con-18 cerning individuals in households enrolled in SNAP that indicates a19 change in circumstances that may affect eligibility for SNAP, including20 but not limited to changes in employment or wages; and21 (b) Receive and review information from the state tax commission con-22 cerning individuals in households enrolled in SNAP that indicates a23 change in circumstances that may affect eligibility for SNAP, including24 but not limited to potential changes in income, wages, or residency as25 identified by tax records.26 (4) On at least a biannual basis, the department of health and welfare27 shall make available to the public on its website data from findings of non-28 compliance and fraud investigations in SNAP for the following aggregate,29 nonconfidential, and non-personally identifying information:30 (a) The number of households investigated for intentional program vio-31 lations or fraud;32 (b) The total number of households referred for prosecution to the at-33 torney general's office and United States attorney's office;34 (c) Improper payments and expenditures;35 (d) Moneys recovered;36 (e) Aggregate data concerning improper payments and ineligible recipi-37 ents as a percentage of those investigated and reviewed; and38 (f) The aggregate amount of funds expended by electronic benefit trans-39 fer card transactions in each state outside of Idaho.40 (5) If the department of health and welfare receives information con-41 cerning an individual receiving SNAP benefits that indicates a change in42 circumstances that may affect eligibility for SNAP, the department shall43 review the household's case.44 (6) In no case shall categorical eligibility under 7 U.S.C. 2014(a) or45 7 CFR 273.2(j)(2)(ii) be granted for any noncash, in-kind, or other benefit,46 unless expressly required by federal law for SNAP.47 (7) The department of health and welfare shall not apply gross income48 standards for SNAP higher than the standards specified in 7 U.S.C. 2014(c)49 or allowable financial resources higher than the standards specified in 750

3 U.S.C. 2014(g)(1), other than financial resources described in 7 U.S.C.1 2014(g)(2)(D), unless expressly required by federal law. Exempting house-2 holds from such gross income standards or allowable financial resource3 standards shall not be granted, unless expressly required by federal law.4 (8) The department of health and welfare may apply alternate vehicle5 allowance standards authorized by 7 U.S.C. 2014(g)(2)(D).6 (9) The department of health and welfare shall assign certification pe-7 riods no greater than four (4) months to households with zero (0) net income,8 households that include an able-bodied adult without dependents, and other9 households whose circumstances are determined by the department to be unsta-10 ble, unless otherwise prohibited by federal law.11 (10) The department of health and welfare shall assign certification12 periods of one (1) to two (2) months to households that the department deter-13 mined will become ineligible for SNAP in the near future, unless otherwise14 prohibited under federal law.15

SECTION 2. That Section 56-211, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby16 amended to read as follows:17 56-211. APPLICATION FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE -- VERIFICATION FOR FEDERAL18 FOOD STAMP SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. (1) Application for19 public assistance under this act section shall be made in the manner and form20 prescribed by the state department and the application shall contain such21 information bearing on the applicant's eligibility as the state department22 may require and as required in subsection (2) of this section.23 (2) Applicants seeking benefits under the federal food stamp24 supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) shall verify to the state25 department the identity of each household member the applicant lists on26 the application for such benefits. Identification may be verified either27 through readily available documentary evidence, such as a birth certifi-28 cate, or through a collateral contact as set forth in federal law, 7 CFR29 273.2. Upon a showing of good cause by the applicant as to why such doc-30 umentary evidence or collateral contact has not been provided, the state31 department shall grant an extension and the applicant may receive the pub-32 lic assistance for which he or she has applied for one (1) month. A showing33 of good cause shall be required each month the applicant fails to provide34 the state department with the required documentary evidence or collateral35 contact. Good cause is not shown where a delay in providing documentary36 evidence or providing a collateral contact is due to illness, lack of trans-37 portation or temporary absences. The provisions of this subsection shall38 not apply to applicants who provide, or who have previously provided, a docu-39 ment as set forth in section 67-7903(4)(b)(viii) or (ix), Idaho Code.40 (3) Pursuant to 7 U.S.C. 2015(f), no individual shall be eligible to re-41 ceive SNAP benefits unless the individual is a resident of the United States42 and is:43 (a) A citizen or national of the United States;44 (b) An alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence as an immigrant,45 as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15) or 1101(a)(20), excluding alien46 visitors, tourists, diplomats, students, or other individuals admit-47 ted temporarily without intent to abandon their residence in a foreign48 country;49

4 (c) An alien who has been granted the status of Cuban or Haitian en-1 trant, as defined in section 501(e), P.L. 96-422; or2 (d) An individual lawfully residing in the United States in accordance3 with a compact of free association pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1612(b)(2)(G).4 (4) The department shall verify the eligibility for SNAP of applicants5 and enrollees pursuant to subsection (3) of this section as follows:6 (a) If an individual is not a citizen or national of the United States7 but is eligible to receive SNAP benefits pursuant to subsection (3) of8 this section, the department shall be required to verify eligible alien9 status using the systematic alien verification for entitlements (SAVE)10 program during enrollment and each eligibility recertification. If11 SAVE verification is unsuccessful, the individual shall submit accept-12 able documentation to verify eligible alien status, including but not13 limited to a permanent resident card, an employment authorization doc-14 ument, or other official documentation issued by a federal government15 agency, as determined by the department.16 (b) If an individual is a citizen or national of the United States for17 the purposes of eligibility pursuant to subsection (3) of this section,18 the department shall verify such citizenship or nationality during en-19 rollment using secure and verifiable documentation, including but not20 limited to a certified birth certificate, a United States passport, a21 certificate of naturalization, a certificate of citizenship, or a con-22 sular report of birth abroad. Verification at recertification shall be23 required only if the department has reason to question the individual's24 previously verified citizenship or nationality.25 (5) If verification confirms that an applicant or enrollee for SNAP is26 not lawfully present in the United States or no longer qualifies pursuant to27 this section or any successor provision of state or federal law, the depart-28 ment shall immediately terminate future SNAP benefits and initiate disen-29 rollment.30 (6) The department shall submit to the United States department of31 agriculture information concerning any household member for whom it is un-32 able to verify eligible citizenship or ineligible alien status pursuant to 733 U.S.C. 2015(f) and this section, regardless of whether such household member34 is applying to participate in the program as a member of such household.35 (7) When administering SNAP, the department shall:36 (a) Consider the entire income and financial resources of any individ-37 ual rendered ineligible for participation in SNAP pursuant to 7 U.S.C.38 2015(f) and subsection (3) of this section when determining the eligi-39 bility and benefit allotment of the household of which such individual40 is a member; and41 (b) Notwithstanding any options provided pursuant to 7 CFR42 273.11(c)(3), not prorate or exclude the income or financial resources43 of ineligible aliens pursuant to 7 U.S.C. 2015(f) and subsection (3) of44 this section. All such income and resources shall be fully considered.45 (3) (8) The state department may promulgate rules, subject to legisla-46 tive approval, to implement the provisions of this section.47

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby48 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after49 July 1, 2026.50