HB2206 • 2026

SNAP; error rate; forensic audit

HB2206 - SNAP; error rate; forensic audit

Agriculture

Vetoed

The latest official action shows the governor vetoed this bill. Check the bill history to see whether lawmakers later overrode that veto.

Sponsor: Nick Kupper
Last action: 2026-02-20
Official status: Governor vetoed
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official status indicates a veto; readers must check legislative history to see if an override occurred, as this determines if any part of the bill is active.

HB2206: SNAP Error Rate Reduction and Audit

This bill requires reducing food assistance payment mistakes to under three percent by 2030, orders a special audit of the program's errors, mandates quarterly reports on progress, and sets penalties if targets are missed.

What This Bill Does

Requires the department to reduce SNAP payment error rates to no more than three percent by December 30, 2030.
Mandates quarterly reports to lawmakers starting in fiscal year 2026-2027 that detail progress and barriers.
Orders a special audit by November 15, 2027, to find causes of errors and suggest fixes.
Requires the department to pay half of any federal fines caused by high error rates if targets are missed.
Reduces administrative funding for the department by ten percent if it fails to follow a corrective plan.

Who It Names or Affects

The state agency that manages SNAP benefits
State lawmakers who receive reports and approve plans
The Auditor General's office which conducts the special audit

Terms To Know

SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal aid program for food.
Payment error rate: The percentage of SNAP payments that are incorrect as reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Corrective action plan: A written strategy explaining why goals were missed and how the department will fix them, required if targets are not met.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill was vetoed by the governor on February 20, 2026, so it did not become law unless lawmakers overrode that decision.
Specific interim targets for reducing errors are set later by rule rather than in this text.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HOUSE - Floor Amend to Bill - Kupper - passed (Adopted)

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment changes how often the state must report on food assistance payment errors, removes direct oversight of error-fixing plans by the Auditor General, and sets a new deadline for an audit to find out why these errors happen.

Requires the Department of Economic Security (DES) to send quarterly reports to lawmakers within 30 days after each quarter ends instead of one annual report per year.
Removes the requirement that the Auditor General must oversee the state's plan for fixing payment error rates if targets are missed.
Sets a deadline of November 15, 2027, for the Auditor General to finish a special audit identifying causes of errors and suggesting fixes, instead of December 30, 2031.
Allows the Auditor General to ask DES for written updates on whether they are following the recommendations from the new special audit.

The amendment text does not explain what specific strategies or barriers will be included in the quarterly reports, only that they must be listed.
It is unclear how much funding might change if errors are fixed early, as the bill says lawmakers 'may' allocate additional money without specifying amounts.

Bill History

2026-02-17 V
Governor vetoed
2026-02-16 House
Transmitted to House
2026-02-16 Senate
Senate third read passed
2026-02-16 Senate
Senate first read
2026-02-16 Senate
Senate passed
2026-02-12 Senate
Transmitted to Senate
2026-02-12 House
House third read passed
2026-02-11 House
House committee of the whole
2026-02-10 House
House minority caucus
2026-02-10 House
House majority caucus
2026-02-09 House
House consent calendar
2026-01-20 House
House second read
2026-01-15 House
House Rules: C&P
2026-01-15 House
House Health & Human Services: DP
2026-01-15 House
House first read

Official Summary Text

HB2206 - SNAP; error rate; forensic audit

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB2206 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

SNAP; error rate;
forensic audit

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2206

AN
ACT

amending title 46, CHAPTER 2, article 2, arizona
revised statutes, by adding section 46-232; repealing section 46-232,
arizona revised statutes; relating to the supplemental nutrition assistance
program.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 46, chapter 2, article 2,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 46-232, to read:

START_STATUTE
46-232.

Payment error
rate; reduction; quarterly reports; requirements; auditor general

A. On or before December 30, 2030,
the department shall reduce the supplemental nutrition assistance program's
payment error rate as reported by the United States department of agriculture
to not more than three percent.

B. Beginning in fiscal year
2026-2027 and each fiscal year thereafter, the department shall
submit
a quarterly report to the legislature
within thirty days after the end of the quarter that details the
department's
monthly progress towards reducing the
payment error rate and that includes strategies and barriers that may be
present in reducing the payment error rate.

C. If the department fails to meet
annual interim targets established by rule or the final target as prescribed in
subsection A of this section, the department shall:

1. Submit a corrective action plan to
the legislature within sixty days that includes an analysis of why the targets
were not met and timelines for correcting the payment error rate.

2. Pay fifty percent of any federal
liabilities that may be imposed due to the excess payment error
rates. The remaining federal liabilities shall be paid from the
state general fund.

3. Implement a corrective
plan. If the department fails to comply with the corrective plan,
the department's administrative funding shall be reduced by ten percent until
resolved.

D. On or before
November 15, 2027, The auditor general shall complete a
special audit. the
special audit
shall determine what factors contributed to the payment error rate and shall
include recommendations to reduce the payment error rate. The
department shall implement the recommendations within twelve months after
receiving the recommendations from the auditor general unless the
recommendations are waived by the joint legislative audit committee.�
The auditor general may request that the department submit a written
status report on the department's implementation of the special audit
recommendations.

E. If the department corrects the
payment error rate ahead of schedule, the legislature may allocate additional
funding for program improvements.

END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.
Delayed repeal

Section 46-232, Arizona Revised
Statutes, as added by this act, is repealed from and after December 31, 2032.

Sec. 3.
Short title

This act may be cited as the "Oh
SNAP Act".