Official Summary Text
HB2797 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet
Assigned to
GOV����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� AS
VETOED
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session
VETOED
AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1002/ H.B. 2797
SNAP; TANF; public
welfare; verification
Purpose
Establishes
evaluation and fraud detection requirements for the Department of Economic
Security (DES) to confirm eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) benefits.
Background
SNAP is a
federal program that provides food benefits to low-income families to
supplement a family's grocery budget and help the family afford nutritious
food. To be eligible for SNAP benefits, an applicant must meet specific age,
household, employment and income requirements. Arizona's SNAP program is
administered by DES and is knowns as the Arizona Nutrition Assistance Program (
DES
).
To qualify for
SNAP, the countable resources for a household may not exceed $3,000, such as
cash or money in a bank account, or $4,500 if at least one member of the
household is 60 years of age or older or has a disability. Certain resources,
including a home or social security income are not counted in determining
resources. A one-person household must earn no more than $19,584 in annual
gross income. The threshold increases by $6,996 for each additional person in
the household (
USDA
).
General work
requirements to qualify for SNAP, for applicants between 16 and 59 years old,
include: 1) registering for work; 2) participating in SNAP employment and
training or workfare, if assigned by DES; 3) accepting a suitable job if
offered; and 4) not voluntarily quitting a job or reducing work hours below 30
hours a week without a good reason. To be exempt from the requirements, an
applicant must be: 1) already working at least 30 hours a week; 2) meeting work
requirements for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or the
unemployment compensation program; 3) taking care of a child under 14 years old
or an incapacitated person; 4) unable to work due to a physical or mental
limitation; 5) participating regularly in an alcohol or drug treatment program;
or 6) studying in school or training program at least part-time. An applicant
between 18 and 65 years old, that can work and has no dependents, may need to
meet the additional able-bodied adult without dependents work requirements in
addition to the general work requirements (
USDA
).
In 2025, the
Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) published a fiscal note on S.B 1071,
an identical measure to S.B. 1002, which estimated that the bill would increase
administrative costs by requiring DES to perform more frequent redeterminations
of member eligibility and for agencies to share relevant information with DES.
DES estimates a total impact of $66,600,000 ongoing and $1,400,000 in one-time
costs. Of that, $34,000,000 would be from the state General Fund and
$34,000,000 would be from SNAP federal dollars (
JLBC
).
Provisions
SNAP
Eligibility Evaluations
1.
Requires
DES, when determining or evaluating SNAP eligibility, to:
a)
enter into a data matching agreement with the Arizona Department of
Revenue (ADOR) to identify households with lottery or gambling winnings of
$3,000 or more; and
b)
treat
the data obtained as verified on receipt, as permissible under federal law.
2.
Requires DES, to the extent that the ADOR data is not verified on
receipt, to refer households with lottery or gambling winnings that are equal
to or greater than the resource limit for elderly or disabled households as
defined under federal law to DES for further investigation.
3.
Requires
DES, on at least a monthly basis, to review information that identifies
individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may affect SNAP
eligibility as provided by:
a)
the Department of Health Services (DHS); and
b)
the
Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.
4.
Requires DES, on at least a monthly basis, to review DES information
that identifies individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may
affect SNAP eligibility, including potential changes in residency as identified
by out-of-state electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card transactions.
5.
Requires DES, on at least a quarterly basis, to review DES's information
that identifies individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may
affect SNAP eligibility, including potential changes in residency, unemployment
benefits, employment status or wages.
6.
Requires DES, on at least a quarterly basis, to review information that
is provided by ADOR and that identifies households that have had a change in
circumstances that may affected SNAP eligibility, including potential changes
in income, wages or residency as identified by tax records.
7.
Requires
DES to post on the DES website on a quarterly basis the following aggregate
amounts obtained from noncompliance and fraud investigations related to SNAP,
excluding confidential and personally identifiable information:
a)
the number of SNAP cases that were investigated for international
program violations or fraud;
b)
the number of SNAP cases that were referred to the Attorney General�s
Office for prosecution;
c)
the amount of improper payments and expenditures;
d)
the amount of monies recovered;
e)
the amount of monies spent for improper payments and ineligible
recipients as a percentage of cases that were investigated and reviewed; and
f)
the
amount of monies spent by the EBT card that occurred outside of Arizona,
categorized by state.
8.
Requires
DHS and DES, to assess a recipient�s continued eligibility for SNAP, to review:
a)
earned income information, death registration information, incarceration
records, supplemental security income information, beneficiary records,
earnings information and pension information that is maintained by the U.S.
Social Security Administration;
b)
income and employment information that is maintained in the National
Directory of New Hires database and child support enforcement data that is maintained
by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services;
c)
payment and earnings information that is maintained by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development; and
d)
national
fleeing felon information that is maintained by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
9.
Requires DES to review an individual's case if DES receives information
that identifies an individual who is enrolled in SNAP and indicates a change in
circumstances that may affect that individual's SNAP eligibility.
EBT
Transactions
10.
Requires
DES to use the data from an EBT card to identify any individual who has made a
purchase exclusively out-of-state over a 90-day period.
11.
Requires
DES to contact the identified individual within 30 days to determine whether
that individual resides in Arizona.
12.
Requires
DES to remove the individual within 30 days after contact if the individual
does not reside in Arizona.
13.
Requires
DES, within 15 days after the removal, to refer the individual to the U.S.
Attorney�s Office for the district of Arizona.
Miscellaneous
14.
Defines
terms.
15.
Becomes
effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by
Committee of the Whole
�
Requires DES to refer an individual who exclusively uses an EBT
card out-of-state to the U.S. Attorney�s District Office for the district of
Arizona, rather than the district where the individual claims to reside.
Governor's Veto Message
The Governor
indicates in her
veto
message
that DES has already taken steps
to improve the accuracy of SNAP benefit determinations and that S.B. 1002 would
duplicate these efforts and disrupt agency operations. The Governor further
states that S.B. 1002 imposes unfunded mandates without providing funding for
implementation or system modernization.
Senate Action
���������������������������������������������������������
House
Action
GOV�������������� 2/4/26������� DP������ 4-3-0������������������ HHS��������������� 2/2/26������� DP������������� 7-5-0-0����������������������
3
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Read��������� 2/11/26����������������� 17-13-0�������������� 3
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Read��������� 2/11/26������������������������� 33-25-2
(S.B. 1002
was substituted for H.B. 2797 on 3rd Read)
Prepared by Senate Research
February 24, 2026
AN/KP/ci
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
HB2797 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
SNAP; TANF; public
welfare; verification.
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2797
AN
ACT
amending title 46, chapter 2, article 2,
arizona revised statutes, by adding section 46-232; amending section 46-297.01,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to public assistance.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section
1.
1. Title
46, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 46-232, to read:
START_STATUTE
46-232.
Supplemental nutrition assistance program; eligibility
evaluations; public posting; definitions
A. To determine or evaluate SNAP
eligibility, the department of economic security shall:
1. Enter into a data matching
agreement with the department of
Revenue to identify
households with lottery or gambling winnings of $3,000 or more and, to the
extent permissible under federal law, to treat the data obtained as verified on
receipt. To the extent the data may not be verified on receipt, the
department of economic security shall refer those households with lottery or
gambling winnings that are equal to or greater than the resource limit for
elderly or disabled households as defined in 7 Code of Federal Regulations
section 273.8(
b
) to the department of
economic security for further investigation.
2. On at least a monthly basis,
review information that is provided by the department of health services and
that identifies individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may
affect SNAP eligibility.
3. On at least a quarterly basis,
review
the department'S information that identifies
individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may affect SNAP
eligibility, including a CHANGE in unemployment benefits, employment status or
wages.
4. On at least a monthly basis,
review the
department's information that identifies
individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may affect SNAP
eligibility, including potential changes in residency as identified by out-of-state
electronic benefit transfer card transactions.
5. On at least a monthly basis,
review information that is provided by the state DEPARTMENT of corrections and
that identifies individuals who have had a change in circumstances that may
affect SNAP eligibility.
6. On at least a quarterly basis,
review information that is provided by the department of revenue and that
identifies households that have had a change in circumstances that may affect
SNAP eligibility, including potential changes in income, wages or residency as
identified by tax records.
7. On at least a quarterly basis,
post on the department's public website the following aggregated amounts that
were obtained from noncompliance and fraud investigations related to SNAP,
excluding confidential and personally identifiable information:
(
a
) The number
of SNAP cases that were investigated for intentional program violations or
fraud.
(
b
) The number
of SNAP cases that were referred to the attorney general's office for
prosecution.
(
c
) The amount
of Improper payments and expenditures.
(
d
) The amount
of monies recovered.
(
e
) The amount
of monies spent for improper payments and ineligible RECIPIENTS as a percentage
of cases that were investigated and reviewed.
(
f
) The amount
of monies spent by electronic benefit card transactions that occurred outside
of this state, categorized by state.
B. On at least a monthly basis, the
department of health services and the department of
economic
security shall review the following information from federal sources to assess
a recipient's continued eligibility for SNAP:
1. Earned income information, death
register information, incarceration records, supplemental security income
information, beneficiary records, earnings information and pension information
that is maintained by the United States social security administration.
2. Income and employment information
that is maintained in the national directory of new hires database and child
support enforcement data that is maintained by the united states department of
health and human services.
3. Payment and earnings information
that is maintained by the united states department of housing and urban
development.
4. National fleeing felon information
that is maintained by the United States federal bureau of investigation.
C. If the department receives
information that identifies an individual who is enrolled in SNAP and that
indicates a change in circumstances that may affect that individual's SNAP
eligibility, the department shall review that individual's case.
D. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Department" means the
department of economic security.
2. "SNAP" means the
supplemental nutrition assistance program.
END_STATUTE
Sec.
2.
2. Section 46-297.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is
amended to read:
START_STATUTE
46-297.01.
Electronic
benefit transfer cards; replacements; out-of-state spending; fraud
investigation
A. The department shall
send each recipient who requests two replacement cards within a twelve-month
period a letter informing the recipient that another request will initiate an
investigation by the department to determine whether there is
fraud. If a third-party vendor is administering replacement
cards directly to recipients, the vendor shall notify the department after a
recipient requests a second replacement card in a twelve-month period and
makes any subsequent request thereafter.
B. After
a recipient's request for a third replacement card within any twelve-month
period, and any subsequent request thereafter, the department shall schedule an
interview with the recipient and, if the department has been granted a waiver,
determine whether there is fraud before issuing a new card. The
recipient's request for a fourth replacement card requires the department to
schedule an interview with the recipient to determine whether there is fraud
before issuing a new card.� The department shall request any necessary federal
waivers to comply with this section.
C. If a recipient uses more than ten percent of the
recipient's electronic benefit transfer card balance in a six-month
period on out-of-state purchases, the department shall schedule an
interview with the recipient to determine whether there is fraud.
D. On at least a monthly basis, the
department shall use the data from an electronic benefit transfer card to
identify any individual who has made purchases exclusively out-of-state
over a ninety-day period.� The department shall contact the individual
who is identified within thirty days to determine whether that individual
resides in this state.� If the individual does not reside in this state, the
department shall remove that individual within thirty days after contacting the
individual.� Within fifteen days after the individual's removal, the department
shall refer the individual to the United States attorney's office for the
district
of arizona.
END_STATUTE