JBC debates TANF reforms, approves SNAP error team and new SNAP education line (zeroed)

The Joint Budget Committee resumed figure setting with the Department of Human Services, where Tom Dermody (JBC staff) organized 18 decision items and emphasized the linkage between county administration, centralization proposals and SNAP/TANF fiscal pressures.

BA 3 (county administration districts): the department requested legislation to establish district‑based administration and asked for $1.5 million and 2 FTE in year one. Staff recommended denial of the appropriation until counties and the department reached consensus, citing unresolved disagreements and the fiscal complexity of shifting administration. The committee accepted staff’s denial while directing continued inter‑party work; staff said any eventual legislation should include both districting and centralization elements together because they are linked.

SNAP and HSMA (Healthy School Meals for All): the department proposed shifting lost federal SNAP administrative dollars to HSMA cash funds (a multi‑year, multi‑fund shift). Staff recommended using HSMA revenue only to offset existing SNAP administrative programs on the long bill and recommended denying three proposed new line items that would create ongoing state obligations (county admin overspend, county cost allocation federal pass‑through and a SNAP outreach plan). Committee members stressed outreach should focus on accuracy not promotion and pressed for a nutrition‑education component. The committee added a fourth line, "SNAP Nutrition Education," with $0 appropriated now and asked staff to come back with a dollar amount and possible statute/footnote language; the motion passed 6–0.

TANF policy (R5): the department proposed sweeping TANF state policy changes estimated to reduce cash spending by $19.2 million, including changes to basic cash assistance (BCA) adjustments and eligibility provisions. Staff recommended denial of the immediate request but recommended the committee pursue legislation that would roll back several post‑HB22‑1259 statutory requirements (pause the annual BCA adjustment for two years, eliminate the state requirement to backfill long‑term reserves, and reconsider county extension mandates). Members expressed divergent views — some favored a two‑year pause on BCA adjustments, others opposed removing the earned‑income disregard or turning TANF into a state entitlement — and asked staff to return with narrower, consensus‑oriented options. The committee tabled drafting decisions pending further stakeholder work.

SNAP error accuracy team (BA1): following a supplemental earlier in the session, staff asked to continue a SNAP payment error accuracy team. Dermody described the team's role as a starting point for technical assistance and county coordination; the committee approved the continuation (BA1), with members asking the department to return with an amplified plan that integrates with broader county‑department work on regionalization and error reduction.

Budget balancing and reductions: staff proposed several targeted, discretionary reductions (transitional jobs, county tax‑based relief, diaper distribution). The committee approved some staff‑initiated trims, rejected a proposed reduction to the community food assistance grant program, and asked staff to continue negotiating offsets for specific TANF proposals (e.g., funding kinship foster care via TANF requires offsets within TANF supportive services or a clear county consensus).

Next steps: staff will continue stakeholder conversations, refine TANF legislative options (aiming for compromise elements such as a time‑limited pause to BCA and removing a mandatory general‑fund backfill requirement), return with price tags for SNAP nutrition education and SNAP error‑rate amplification, and provide fiscal note estimates for any bill drafts.