ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 8
BY REPRESENTATIVE ECHOLS
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services to investigate
out-of-state retailers at which the greatest amounts of Louisiana-issued Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are expended and to report findings of the
investigation to the House Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee
on Health and Welfare.
WHEREAS, the program formerly known as "food stamps" was renamed the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008; and
WHEREAS, SNAP, which is administered at the state level by the Louisiana
Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), is the largest of all federal food
assistance programs and provides support to needy households and to those making the
transition from welfare to work; and
WHEREAS, in January of 2021, nine hundred eighty-one thousand seven hundred
fifty-one individuals received nutrition assistance benefits through Louisiana's SNAP
program; and
WHEREAS, according to data furnished by DCFS, in calendar year 2020, Louisiana-
issued SNAP benefits in excess of one hundred thousand dollars were expended at each of
forty-five different out-of-state retail locations; and
WHEREAS, with respect to administration of public assistance programs, the term
"program integrity" refers to actions by the administering agency to detect and prevent fraud,
waste, and abuse in those programs, and thereby ensure that public dollars are expended only
on assistance and services for people who are eligible for benefits provided through those
programs; and
WHEREAS, policing by DCFS of out-of-state expenditures of Louisiana-issued
SNAP benefits will enhance program integrity in SNAP.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Children and
Family Services to investigate out-of-state retailers at which the greatest amounts of
Louisiana-issued Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are expended for
purposes of fraud detection and prevention.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Children and Family Services
shall report findings of the investigation called for in this Resolution to the House
Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Health and Welfare on or before
December 31, 2021.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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