Rogers / 3 Senator Moser

S.W._____

A BILL
To implement enhanced data-matching technology to track and monitor the use of food stamps
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the SNAP Surveillance Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) $2.6 billion worth of improper SNAP payments were made during 2013.
2) SNAP fraud has cost taxpayers nearly $3 billion in 2015
3) 46.3 million people get taxpayer-funded food stamps at an annual cost of $76 billion
4) Thousands of people who are not eligible for food stamps are getting them by lying or using the social
security number of dead individuals
5) Half of Food Stamp aid goes to individuals who have received aid 8.5 years or more
6) Welfare penalizes marriage because a low-income couple will experience a significant drop in combined
income if they marry.
7) The U.S. welfare system is comprised of over 70 means-tested aid programs providing cash, food,
housing, medical care, and social services to low-income persons
8) Approximately one in seven Americans received food stamps, a 140 percent increase since 1990.
9) In the last five years 944 convictions against individuals and businesses that have cheated the system.
10) In 2013 Arkansas payed millions in benefits to Medicaid enrollees who were also receiving
ObamaCare assistance
11) In New York, implemented biometric fingerprint identification has helped identify 1,900 cases of
duplicate applicants and saved almost $5.3 million.
12) Medicaid, has been listed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as particularly vulnerable to
fraud, waste, abuse and improper payments
A) The SNAP Surveillance Act of 2015 shall hereby implement enhanced data-matching technology paired
with biometric fingerprint identification in order to reduce duplicate and illegitimate fraud within welfare
assistance programs by verifying and cross checking income, residency, identity, employment, citizenship
status and other important eligibility criteria . Complete nationwide implementation within USDA of
enhanced data-matching technology and biometric fingerprint identification technology shall be complete
through the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022. All states must implement enhanced data-matching
technology in order that citizens receiving benefits must be further screened upon first receiving benefits,
regularly reviewed for their eligibility within their programs, and be prosecuted with force when found
abusing and scamming the welfare system. Citizens that are receiving benefits from government sanctioned
welfare programs must be regularly reviewed for eligibility, in order to cut down on fraud involving falsely
reported income and receiving payments for a deceased person.
B) For necessary survival and enforcement operations pertaining to infrastructure, centralized equipment,
staff preparation, and quality control, a total of $900,000,000 shall be required, of which 300,500,000 shall
be derived from the US Environmental Protection agency. States must do a more complete job screening
initial welfare benefit users, using enhanced data-matching technology, that would enable them to deter
fraud within the USDA Food Stamp Program. The US Department of Agriculture shall administer and
implement the Act.
C) The SNAP Surveillance Act of 2016 shall be enacted on January 1, 2017 and shall hereby be amended
as seen fit through the fiscal year, and after it is seen that the base purpose of this Act remains intact. If not
enacted, the state's threaten the long-term stability of government sanctioned welfare programs.

Billions of taxpayers dollars has been lost, due to identity fraud and illegitimate transactions revolving around the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or more commonly known as the the Food Stamp program (FSP).
Millions worth of Medicaid benefits have been dealt out to dead or duplicate identities due to inadequate eligibility
review, a large number of false reported income levels has cost us millions, and corrupt retailers and FSP recipients have
been caught illegally trafficking food stamps all across the nation. These blatant examples of wasteful spending and
lackluster monitoring by the states, threaten the long-term stability of government sanctioned welfare programs, and will
continue to if not dealt with concise and premeditated action. All states must implement enhanced data-matching
technology in order that citizens receiving benefits must be further screened upon first receiving benefits, regularly
reviewed for their eligibility within their programs, and be prosecuted with force when found abusing and scamming the
system. States must do a more complete job screening initial welfare benefit users, using enhanced data-matching
technology paired with biometric fingerprint technology, that would enable them to verify and crosscheck income,
residency, identity, employment, citizenship status and other important eligibility criteria. When fraudulent or convicting
data is found , states can suspend eligibility from welfare recipients until the discrepancies are resolved and applicants
are given a fair opportunity to come forward with sufficient evidence to restablish their eligibility. By cross checking
applicants to a database using new data matching technology, we could have saved taxpayer dollars and been sure they
were giving financial assistance only citizens truly eligible. People applying with duplicate applicants has been a rising
issue, but in certain cities who have implemented forms of advanced identification, there has been success in cracking
down on these crimes. In New York, implemented biometric fingerprint identification helped identify 1,900 cases of
duplicate applicants and saved almost $5.3 million in that year alone. Citizens caught abusing the welfare system by
means of fraud and other illegitimate activities, must must be prosecuted with force in order to ensure the long-term
stability of the welfare system. If we fail to improve and police the system we currently have installed within our welfare
system, the corruption will only grow, thus further weakening the system. The corruption seen in the welfare system
should concern United States citizens immensely as it has been proven that without change, billions of dollars will
continue to drain from our nation as those trapped in poverty continue to slip away into desolation as criminals and
fraudulents enjoy illegitimate wealth. This looming issue in our society today cannot be ignored. Vote to pass this bill.