Lawmakers push TABS Act and tech solutions to detect improper SNAP payments
Summary
Several members lauded the TABS Act pilot and urged broader use of technology and data integration to verify income, limit duplicate enrollments and reduce improper payments, while critics questioned costs and privacy implications of large-scale data requests.
Multiple members of the subcommittee endorsed the Timely and Accurate Benefits (TABS) Act and other technology-driven proposals as a way to reduce improper payments. Representative Cloud said pilots showed savings and argued for using bank data and payment platforms to verify earnings and reduce delay.
Rachel Gresler and Don Royal supported data-sharing improvements and consistent measurement; Gresler urged requiring states to follow federal measurement standards and applying cost-sharing where excessive improper payments occur. Witnesses also warned about privacy and legal constraints: Gina Plata noted the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Paperwork Reduction Act as constraints on broad data requests and expressed concern about five-year raw participant-level data transfers without appropriate safeguards.
Members asked about CBO cost estimates, pilot results and whether technology can both speed benefits and reduce fraud. The panel discussed balancing privacy protections with the need to detect duplicate enrollments, and OIG described subpoenas for noncompliant states as an enforcement step.
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