If you need additional evidence to support welfare reform, look no further than the latest quality control report on the food stamp program. While the report boasts improved reporting measures, the findings are not as encouraging — 80 percent of improper food stamp payments are overpayments at taxpayers’ expense.
The new report released by the Trump administration measures error rates in the food stamp program, and is the first report of its kind during this administration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture postponed error rate reports after concerns were raised about their accuracy in 2015. At that time, the national error rate for the food stamp program was measured at 3.66 percent.
In addition to its commitment to reforming welfare overall, the administration has focused on improving quality control measures, and this new report indicates the data is becoming more reliable. But that reliability is proving something else — the food stamp program is even worse off than we thought.
At 6.3 percent, the error rate has nearly doubled since the last report, a clear indication that previous reports weren’t accurately depicting just how poor the program’s integrity was. In reality, that number could be even higher. It’s clear old quality control measures were not working, but even now, current food stamp loopholes exist, allowing states to avoid checking incomes and assets of the individuals applying for the program.
These integrity gaps leave the door wide open to enrollees who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for food stamps, so it’s no wonder the report found more than 80 percent of improper payments are overpayments. This is just further proof that states follow a policy of “when in doubt, hand it out,” which unnecessarily directs taxpayer dollars away from the truly needy. States have used gimmicks, bad regulations, and the excuse of administrative burdens to allow people to go months, sometimes even years, without ever having their assets checked despite having received food stamps. But these gimmicks have costs. Sometimes, they even allow millionaires to collect food stamps.
Unfortunately, these bad practices have become normalized. Recent polling shows that reality is unacceptable to the vast majority of voters. In fact, 77 percent of all likely voters want states to check assets before individuals receive food stamps. Simply put, people want a welfare system that puts the truly needy first and protects valuable resources.
There are commonsense measures that can be (and have been) implemented at both the state and the federal level to combat welfare fraud and restore the integrity of the food stamp program. States must be held accountable for the way they implement and monitor the distribution of food stamps, and policymakers should work to close the loopholes that allow for simplified reporting, infrequent or nonexistent asset checks, and little to no income verification.
Congress can look to states who have adopted some of these reforms as pilot programs for welfare reform to further combat fraud and abuse of the system. With a record low national unemployment rate and millions of available jobs across the country, we know the economy is strong and able to support individuals breaking free from government dependency. Lawmakers should seek to connect those able-bodied adults receiving improper payments and unneeded benefits with a job, preserving welfare resources for the truly needy.
USDA was able to act unilaterally to build more confidence in their quality control measures, but to actually build more integrity into the food stamp program itself, Congress will need to act — and now is the perfect time to do so.
Kristina Rasmussen is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is vice president of federal affairs for the Foundation for Government Accountability.
