Official Summary Text
SB1333 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet
Assigned to
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VETOED
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session
VETOED
FACT SHEET FOR
H.B. 2206/S.B. 1333
SNAP; error rate;
forensic audit
Purpose
Requires the
Department of Economic Security, by December 30, 2030, to reduce the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment error rate to no more
than three percent. Establishes reporting requirements and procedures for
corrective action by the Auditor General.
Background
SNAP is a
federal program that provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement
their 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, the Arizona Nutrition
Assistance Program, is administered by DES and provides nutrition assistance to
eligible low-income households and is administered in accordance with federal
SNAP requirements. Eligibility is primarily based on household income, which
generally may not exceed 130 percent of the federal poverty level for gross
income and 100 percent of the federal poverty level for net income, adjusted by
household size. Arizona uses broad-based categorical eligibility, under which
most households are not subject to a resource test. Income eligibility limits
are updated annually by the USDA (
USDA
).
SNAP payment
error rates measure the accuracy of each state's eligibility and benefit
determinations. A payment error occurs when a SNAP recipient receives either
more or less money than the individual was otherwise entitled to. In FY 2024,
Arizona had an overpayment rate of 7.56 percent and an underpayment rate of
1.28 percent, with a total payment error rate of 8.84 percent (
USDA
).
H.R. 1, a
federal budget reconciliation measure enacted in 2025, amended the Food and
Nutrition Act of 2008 to require states, beginning in FY 2028, to pay a share
of SNAP benefit costs based on the state�s payment error rate. States with
error rates below six percent will have no benefit cost share, whereas states
with error rates at or above six percent will be required to pay between 5 percent
and 15 percent of benefit costs, depending on the magnitude of the error rate.
Implementation of this requirement is tied to prior-year error rates and
includes delayed implementation options for states with especially high error
rates (
P.L.
119-21, 119th Congress, 2025
).
There is no
anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund (state GF) associated with
this legislation.
Provisions
1.
Requires DES, by December 30, 2030, to reduce the SNAP payment error rate
to no more than three percent.
2.
Requires DES, beginning in FY 2027, to submit a quarterly report to the
Legislature, within 30 days after the end of the quarter, detailing DES's
monthly progress towards reducing the payment error rate, including strategies
used and barriers encountered.
3.
Requires
DES, if it fails to meet the annual interim targets or final target, to:
a)
submit a corrective action plan to the Legislature within 60 days that
includes an analysis of why the targets were not met and timeliness for
correcting the payment error rate;
b)
pay 50 percent of any federal liabilities imposed due to the excess
payment error rate, with the remaining federal liabilities being paid out of
the state GF; and
c)
implement
a corrective action plan.
4.
Specifies that, if DES fails to comply with the Auditor General's
corrective plan, DES administrative funding is reduced by 10 percent until
resolved.
5.
Requires the Auditor General, by
November
15, 2027, to complete a �special audit determining what factors contributed to
the payment error rate, including recommendations to reduce the payment error
rate.
6.
Directs DES to implement the Auditor General's recommendations within 12
months, unless the recommendations are waived by the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee.
7.
Allows the Auditor General to request that DES submit a written status
report regarding implementation of the special audit recommendations.
8.
Allows the Legislature to allocate additional funding for program
improvements if DES corrects the payment error rate ahead of schedule.
9.
Repeals the SNAP payment error rate requirements on January 1, 2033.
10.
Designates
this legislation as the
Oh SNAP Act
.
11.
Becomes
effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by
Committee
1.
Requires the SNAP payment error rate report to be submitted quarterly,
rather than annually, and to detail progress monthly.
2.
Accelerates the initial reporting year for the SNAP payment error rate
report from FY 2028 to FY 2027.
3.
Requires the Auditor General to complete a special audit, rather than a forensic
audit, to determine contributing factors to the payment error rate, and
accelerates the audit completion deadline from December 30, 2031, to November
15, 2027.
4.
Allows the Auditor General to request that DES submit a written status
report regarding implementation of the special audit recommendations.
5.
Removes Auditor General oversight of any DES corrective action plan.
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 HB 2206 would
duplicate these efforts and disrupt agency operations. The Governor further
states that HB 2206 imposes unfunded mandates without providing funding for
implementation or system modernization.
House Action
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Senate
Action
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(S.B. 1333 was returned to the Senate
where H.B. 2206 was substituted for S.B. 1333 on
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rd
Read)
Vetoed by the Governor on 2/20/26
Prepared by Senate Research
February 24, 2026
MM/hk
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
SB1333 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
SNAP; error rate;
forensic audit.
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
SENATE BILL 1333
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".