Republican state lawmakers sent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs a package of 12 bills they say will end fraud in government programs.
The bills mainly impose stricter eligibility requirements to receive SNAP and Medicaid benefits. House Majority Leader Michael Carbone (R-Buckeye) said they will protect Arizona from losing out on federal funding by bringing the state in line with the federal budget bill that passed last year:
“We have to rein in — if there’s people who do not qualify for these benefits, they’re hurting the people that do qualify,” Carbone said on Tuesday.
If Arizona can’t bring its “error rate” down, the state stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, due to new requirements in federal law. Currently, the state’s SNAP error rate is 8.8%. GOP lawmakers want to bring it down to 3% or lower.
“The penalties are real,” Carbone said.
Over the last few years, participation in multiple benefits programs has increased substantially, as have the cost of those programs.
Carbone said it doesn’t make sense for Arizona to struggle to bring in enough revenue when economic development is booming, indicating that paying into public programs is draining the coffers.
“We went from $1 billion to $2 billion dollars in SNAP. You have to ask why,” he said. “We are creating the jobs, we’re doing what we need to do, but our money is being transferred somewhere,” he said.
Democrats oppose every bill in the package.
They argue that some of the new proposed eligibility requirements are overly restrictive and will kick legitimate users off of the programs they need to survive.
The legislation mainly affects eligibility requirements for SNAP and Medicaid benefits. Democratic Rep. Jamescita Peshlakai (D-Cameron) said new requirements for things like employment training for SNAP recipients will hurt rural and tribal communities, where people would have to travel far to get to employment training centers.
“A lot of these people don’t have transportation or even computers, so this is I just think this is totally wrong for all people that are on this reservation land or rural areas in Arizona,” Peshlakai.
One of the bills in the package doesn't seem to be aimed at fraud prevention, and goes beyond federal requirements. The bill would restrict SNAP users from using their benefits to buy certain foods like candy, energy drinks and prepared hot foods.
Carbone said he was one of four kids growing up supported by a single mom who worked three jobs, but she still found time to come home and cook for them an hour a day.
“I know that not everyone has that, maybe, opportunity or ability to do that, but I have to look back on how I was raised, and it was tough where we had mac ‘n’ cheese and TV dinners, so I understand,” he said.
Democrats said dictating what foods people can buy on SNAP is condescending and wrong.
“I believe kids, even poor kids, should be able to have cake on their birthday, should be able to have candy in their Easter basket, should be able to be celebrated by their parents with a soda after school if they do well on a test. These are basic tenants of freedom,” Sen. Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix) said.
Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) responded that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t fund the obesity epidemic by paying for “nutritionally meaningless” foods.
“We heard that, gosh, people want kids to have cake and cupcakes, and ice cream. Well, I’m proud to tell my colleagues across the aisle that even on SNAP, you can buy flour, and sugar, and eggs, and milk and all the other ingredients that you would need to make those for your child's birthday,” he said.
Another bill included in the package would require hospitals that receive public money to ask patients about their immigration status and give the data to the state Department of Health Services.
Hobbs vetoed a version of that legislation last year. GOP lawmakers have said the bill won’t be used to aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is purely for information gathering purposes, but Democrats aren’t convinced.
If Hobbs vetoes the package, Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) said the Legislature may send the package to the ballot for voters to decide on.
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