By: Perry, Menéndez, West S.B. No. 224
(In the Senate - Filed December 2, 2020; March 3, 2021, read
first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human Services;
March 22, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8,
Nays 0; March 22, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to simplified certification and recertification
requirements for certain persons under the supplemental nutrition
assistance program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 33.015(a), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) In administering the supplemental nutrition assistance
program, the commission shall, except as provided by Subsection (c)
and Section 33.019, allow a person to comply with initial
eligibility requirements, including any initial interview, and
with subsequent periodic eligibility recertification requirements
by telephone instead of through a personal appearance at commission
offices if:
(1) the person and each member of the person's
household:
(A) have no earned income; and
(B) are elderly or persons with disabilities; or
(2) the person is subject to a hardship, as determined
by commission rule.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 33.019 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.019. SIMPLIFIED CERTIFICATION AND RECERTIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN SNAP APPLICANTS AND RECIPIENTS. (a) The
commission shall develop and implement simplified certification
and recertification requirements for supplemental nutrition
assistance program benefits for an individual who:
(1) is 60 years of age or older or is a person with a
disability, as determined by commission rule; and
(2) resides in a household in which every individual
residing in the household is 60 years of age or older or is a person
with a disability, as determined by commission rule.
(b) The simplified requirements must:
(1) allow an individual described by this section to
waive recertification interview requirements;
(2) simplify and reduce the number of verification
requirements for certifying and recertifying eligibility to
receive benefits, which must include the use of a shortened
application form; and
(3) allow the individual to remain eligible for
benefits for 36 months after certification and after each
recertification.
(c) An individual described by this section is required to:
(1) submit to the commission a change reporting form
every 12 months during the 36-month eligibility period; and
(2) report to the commission, in accordance with
federal law, when the individual receives an increase in income.
(d) The commission shall, in a manner that complies with
federal law, use data matching to help enroll in the supplemental
nutrition assistance program eligible individuals described by
this section who are receiving Medicaid benefits. The commission
may seek or use private funding or contract with a public or private
entity to carry out this section.
SECTION 3. Section 33.019, Human Resources Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to an application or recertification of
eligibility of a person for supplemental nutrition assistance
program benefits submitted on or after January 1, 2022.
SECTION 4. If before implementing any provision of this Act
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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