|
|
|
Commissioners All States
On October 28, 2000, the President signed Public Law 106-387, the
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, which includes several provisions affecting
the Food Stamp Program. This memorandum describes the two provisions of
this act which increase the maximum excess shelter expense deduction,
and allow States to substitute their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) vehicle rules for the food stamp vehicle rules where doing so would
result in a lower attribution of resources to food stamp households.
The following information is provided for your guidance.
Section 846 - Maximum Amount of Excess Shelter Expense Deduction
This section amends section 5(e)(7)(B) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977
to increase the cap on the excess shelter expense deduction for fiscal
years 2000 and beyond for households which do not contain an elderly or
disabled member. For fiscal year 2001, maximum excess shelter expense
deductions shall not exceed $340, $543, $458, $399, and $268 per month
for the 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii,
Guam, and the Virgin Islands, respectively. Maximum excess shelter expense
deductions for fiscal years 2002 and beyond are to be computed based on
the applicable amount for the preceding fiscal year, adjusted to reflect
changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the 12-month
period ending the preceding November 30. This provision is effective March
1, 2001, but does not apply to certification periods beginning before
this date. States must, therefore, implement the new shelter expense deduction
cap when certifying or recertifying households on or after the March 1,
2001, effective date. We realize some States may have difficulties in
programming their computers to allow for dual excess shelter caps. However,
the statute does not permit application of the new shelter deduction allowances
for all households on the March 1st effective date.
Section 847 - Vehicle Allowance
This section amends section 5(g)(2) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (FSA)
to allow State agencies the option to use their TANF vehicle allowance
rules rather than the fair market value vehicle rules used in the Food
Stamp Program where doing so will result in a lower attribution of resources
to food stamp households. Vehicles that are excluded in their entirety
under section 5(g)(2)(C) of the FSA would continue to be excluded before
applying the TANF option. The new vehicle provision is effective July
1, 2001, but does not apply to certification periods beginning before
this date. States may, therefore, implement this change through certifications
and recertifications occurring anytime on or after July 1, 2001.
Until final regulations are published, States have flexibility in determining
how these provisions should be implemented. It may be helpful to review
the floor statements made October 11 and 18, 2000, by Representative Charles
W. Stenholm, and Senator Tom Harkin, respectively, concerning the conference
report on the bill which was signed into law as Public Law 106-387. These
statements can be found on page H9691 of the October 11, and pages S10682
and S10683 of the October 18, 2000, Congressional Record. (Copies of the
transcripts have been enclosed for your convenience). We would like to
emphasize these points for your information:
- States may adopt vehicle allowance rules from any program that receives
TANF or TANF maintenance-of-effort (MOE) funds as long as that program
provides benefits that meet the definition of "assistance"
according to TANF regulations at 45 CFR 260.31. This definition includes
cash, payments, vouchers, and other forms of benefits designed to meet
a family’s ongoing basic needs including such benefits when they are
provided in the form of payments by a TANF agency, or other agency on
its behalf, to individual recipients and conditioned on participation
in work experience or community service or any other work activity under
TANF regulations. It also includes supportive services such as transportation
and child care provided to families who are not employed. (A comprehensive
definition of "assistance" under TANF is enclosed for your
information.)
- If a State decides to apply the policies from a State TANF or MOE-funded
program to evaluate vehicles for food stamp purposes, those policies
will apply to all food stamp households in the State, whether or not
they receive or are eligible to receive TANF assistance of any kind.
- Although section 847 of Public Law 106-387 amends section 5(g)(2)(B)(iv)
of the FSA pertaining solely to the fair market value test for vehicles,
States may, however, apply this provision to the food stamp equity test
for vehicles which is not mandated by statute. States may, therefore,
apply their borrowed TANF option to those vehicles which are subject
to the equity test for food stamps. If a State TANF program has a more
lenient vehicle test than food stamps for fair market and equity evaluation
purposes, it may use this policy for both. If the food stamp fair market
test is more lenient than a State TANF program, but the program’s equity
test is more lenient than food stamp rules, the State may choose the
food stamp test for fair market evaluation, and TANF rules for the equity
test.
- Where a household has more than one vehicle, a State electing the
option may evaluate each vehicle separately under whichever rules
will result in the lower attribution of resources to the household.
States would not be required to perform two complete resource calculations
for each household to determine whether TANF or food stamp vehicle rules,
when applied to the household’s circumstances, result in a lower attribution
of food stamp resources for that household. They may instead decide
which rules are more liberal on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis. For example,
if TANF policy is to exclude the primary car completely and count the
fair market value of any additional cars, the State may exclude one
car in its entirety, since this policy is more liberal than food stamp
procedures. For a second vehicle, States could apply food stamp vehicle
rules which count the fair market value of a vehicle only to the extent
it exceeds $4,650 and is more liberal than its TANF fair market policy.
In using their TANF policy to exclude one vehicle, States may apply
their exclusion to the vehicle with the highest value as provided in
their rules.
- States can borrow TANF- or MOE-funded program rules for food stamp
purposes which exclude cars completely, or do not apply resource rules
at all. In such cases, any vehicle owned by any household in the State
would not be considered a resource for food stamp purposes.
Quality Control Hold-Harmless Procedures
The following procedures shall be used for all cases with review dates
on or after the effective date of the above provisions.
- Once the State implements the excess shelter deduction provisions,
variances resulting from the incorrect implementation of these provisions
shall be excluded from error analysis (in accordance with regulations
at 7 CFR 275.12(d)(2)(vii)) in cases that are certified or recertified
during the first 120 days of the required implementation date beginning
on March 1, 2001. If a State implements the optional TANF vehicle policy,
variances resulting from the incorrect implementation of these provisions
shall be excluded from error analysis for cases certified or recertified
during the first 120 days of the implementation period beginning either
on July 1, 2001, or on the date of implementation, whichever is later.
Under these procedures, the variance exclusion would be applied to cases
in which the allotment authorized as of the review date is based on
a certification or recertification action occurring during the variance
exclusion period. For these cases, the variance exclusion would be applied
until the case is recertified after the expiration of the variance exclusion
period or an interim change occurs and is processed after the expiration
of the variance exclusion period, whichever is earlier. The review date
itself does not have to fall within the variance exclusion period for
these hold-harmless procedures to apply. The hold-harmless provisions
shall not apply to cases certified or recertified either prior to or
after the 120-day variance exclusion period.
Regulations reflecting revisions to the Act made by Public Law 106-387
will be published as soon as possible. States electing the TANF option
should inform their Regional Office which TANF assistance program they
intend to use for vehicles and the rules of that program.
If you have any questions concerning these issues, please contact XXXX
at XXXX.
Sincerely,
Enclosures
Back to the Top
|
|
|