Notice2022-07419
Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Reporting of Lottery and Gambling, and Resource Verification
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Published
April 7, 2022
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentFood and Nutrition Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection and existing burden in use without a valid OMB control number in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This information collection captures the burden associated with the requirement that States make ineligible SNAP participants with substantial lottery or gambling winnings and establish cooperative agreements with gaming entities within their States to identify SNAP participants with substantial winnings. Individuals and households are required to report substantial winnings. This revision removes the one-time start-up burden hours that were associated with establishing the collection of this information and modifies the ongoing burden hours associated with SNAP State agency eligibility workers in addition to bringing other burden activities associated with resource verification requirements into compliance.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 67 (Thursday, April 7, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 67 (Thursday, April 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20381-20387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07419]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program: Reporting of Lottery and Gambling, and Resource
Verification
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment
on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of a
currently approved collection and existing burden in use without a
valid OMB control number in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP). This information collection captures the burden
associated with the requirement that States make ineligible SNAP
participants with substantial lottery or gambling winnings and
establish cooperative agreements with gaming entities within their
States to identify SNAP participants with substantial winnings.
Individuals and households are required to report substantial winnings.
This revision removes the one-time start-up burden hours that were
associated with establishing the collection of this information and
modifies the ongoing burden hours associated with SNAP State agency
eligibility workers in addition to bringing other burden activities
associated with resource verification requirements into compliance.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or June 6, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Program Design Branch, Program
Development Division, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314.
Comments may also be submitted via email to Jessica Luna at 703-305-
4391 or via email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#adfee3ecfdfde9efffd8c1c8deedd8dec9cc83cac2db"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9ccfd2ddccccd8decee9f0f9efdce9eff8fdb2fbf3ea">[email protected]</span></a>. Comments will also be
accepted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, and follow the online instructions for submitting
comments electronically.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will
be a matter of public record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of this information collection should be directed to Jessica
Luna at 703-305-4391.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
that were used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden
of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including
use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Reporting of
Lottery and Gambling, and Resource Verification.
Form Number: N/A.
OMB Control Number: 0584-0621.
Expiration Date: November 30, 2022.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection and
addition of an existing collection in use without an OMB control
number.
Abstract:
Lottery and Gambling
In accordance with section 4009 of the Agricultural Act of 2014,
households in which members receive substantial lottery and gambling
winnings are ineligible for SNAP until
[[Page 20382]]
they meet allowable financial resources and income eligibility
requirements. Substantial winnings are defined as winnings that are
equal to or greater than the resource limit for elderly or disabled
households as defined in 7 CFR 273.8(b). States are also required to
work cooperatively with entities responsible for gaming in their State
to identify individuals and households with substantial winnings. SNAP
households must report substantial winnings to State SNAP agencies.
These requirements at 7 CFR 273.11(r) were implemented in 2019 through
final rulemaking titled ``Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program:
Student Eligibility, Convicted Felons, Lottery and Gambling, and State
Verification Provisions of the Agricultural Act of 2014'', published on
April 15, 2019 (84 FR 15083, RIN 0584-AE41). A technical correction to
the 60-Day Notice associated with this rulemaking was published on June
21, 2019 (84 FR 29029, RIN 0584-AE41).
In the process of renewing this information collection, FNS
modified the reporting burden to remove the one-time start-up burden
hours associated with the initial implementation of the requirements,
such as establishing cooperative agreements. FNS also adjusted its
calculation of burdens on State agency eligibility workers. Therefore,
the burden for this set of requirements represents a decrease of -
408,406.25 burden hours from the previous approval for this collection.
In the previous approval for this collection, the Agency assumed
that 3 State SNAP agencies do not have lottery or gambling entities and
are not likely to incur burden related to the lottery and gambling
requirements. Because there is not an authoritative and comprehensive
source of lottery and gambling legality information nationwide, and
given wide variation across States, the Agency maintains this
assumption for the purposes of this renewal.
The Agency assumes that the 50 State SNAP agencies subject to this
requirement (the Agency assumes 3 State SNAP agencies do not have
lottery or gambling entities) have already established cooperative
agreements with the public agency gaming entities (1 per State, 50
total) and private gaming entities (4 per State, 200 total) in their
State. These agreements use computerized data matching to identify
winners within the SNAP participation list. The gaming entities must
input data on each individual with winnings over the winnings threshold
into the matching system, which FNS estimates to take 5 minutes (.0835
hours). There is no national database of how many people win large
amounts of money in State lotteries or through gaming activities.
Therefore, FNS will continue to use the previously approved estimates
as there has been no indication that they require adjustment. The
Agency assumes that each of the public and private gaming entities
would have 6,000 individuals (members of the general public) who win
over the threshold each year and whose data would need to be uploaded
to the matching system. The information technology staff from each
State SNAP agency maintains the matching system, which the Agency
estimates takes 320 hours per year. Once the data is uploaded, the
Agency assumes that matches occur automatically.
FNS estimates that 27,500 SNAP households will receive substantial
lottery winnings per year, with most instances identified via the
matching systems. FNS assumes that the matching systems will identify
approximately 36,000 SNAP participants (average 720 per State agency)
nationally each year. Of these, the State agencies will find that
approximately 23,000 (average 460 per State agency) have actual
substantial winnings (the others may be simply misidentified because of
a similar name, inaccurate reporting, etc.). These matches are
hereinafter referred to as ``substantive matches.'' Under 7 CFR 272.17
and 7 CFR 273.11(r), FNS anticipates that the 50 State SNAP agencies
will receive approximately 13,000 records (average 260 per State
agency) annually with misidentified participants. It will take about 40
minutes (.668 hours) for eligibility workers to identify each
misidentification.
For each substantive match, an eligibility worker will do the
following:
<bullet> The eligibility worker will generate a request for contact
(RFC) requesting more information. The burden associated with RFCs is
already accounted for in OMB Control Number 0584-0064 (expiration 2/29/
2024) and is not counted in the total burden of this information
collection.
<bullet> If the participant returns the RFC, the worker will review
the returned information from the participant and engage in any
additional verification. Under 7 CFR 272.17 and 7 CFR 273.11(r), FNS
estimates that this will take eligibility workers approximately 20
minutes (.334 hours) and that approximately 80 percent of participants
will return the RFCs. This estimate for the rate of return is based on
a prior estimate in OMB Control Number 0584-0064 (expiration 2/29/2024)
regarding RFCs. Therefore, FNS estimates that eligibility workers will
handle approximately 18,400 returned RFCs (average 368 per State
agency) from substantive matches.
<bullet> If the matched participant responds to the RFC and the
eligibility worker finds them to be a substantial winner, the worker
will close the case and send a notice of adverse action. If the
participant does not return the RFC (an estimated 20 percent), the
worker will close the case and send a notice of adverse action for
failure to return the RFC. The burden associated with notices of
adverse action is accounted for in OMB Control Number 0584-0064
(expiration 2/29/2024) and is not counted in the total burden of this
collection.
Under 7 CFR 273.11(r), households are also required to report their
substantial winnings to their State SNAP agency. Out of the 27,500 SNAP
participants who will receive substantial lottery winnings, FNS
estimates 23,000 substantial winners will be identified through the
matching process and 4,500 households will self-report lottery and
gambling winnings.
In response to the 4,500 (average 90 per State agency) households
that self-report winnings, State eligibility workers will do the
following:
<bullet> Under 7 CFR 272.17 and 7 CFR 273.11(r), Eligibility
workers will review the information submitted by the participant. FNS
estimates that this will take eligibility workers approximately 11
minutes (0.1837 hours). This estimate is based on a prior estimate in
OMB Control Number 0584-0064 (expiration 2/29/2024) for a similar
simplified reporting requirement for able-bodied adults without
dependents.
<bullet> If the eligibility worker finds the participant to be a
substantial winner, the worker will close the case, and send notice of
adverse action. Again, this burden is accounted for in OMB Control
Number 0584-0064 (expiration 2/29/2024) and is not counted in the total
burden of this collection.
Under 7 CFR 273.11(r), SNAP households identified as substantial
lottery winners via the matching process will receive and potentially
respond to RFCs and notices of adverse action. The participant burdens
associated with RFCs and notices of adverse action are accounted for in
OMB Control Number 0584-0064 (expiration 2/29/2024) and are not counted
in the total burden of this collection. FNS estimates that self-
reporting households will spend 10 minutes (.167 hours) per response to
report their substantial winnings to the State SNAP agency. FNS
utilized the estimate of 10 minutes based on a prior estimate in OMB
Control Number 0584-
[[Page 20383]]
0064 (expiration 2/29/2024) for the time it takes a household to
complete a periodic report.
FNS recognizes that households who previously lost eligibility for
SNAP due to lottery or gambling winnings may later re-apply to the
program. The burden associated with submitting and processing
applications is accounted for in OMB Control Number 0584-0064
(expiration 2/29/2024) and is not counted in the total burden of this
collection.
This section of the information collection does not require any
recordkeeping burden.
Resource Verification
Per Section 5(g) of the Food and Nutrition Act, all applicant
households must meet the SNAP resource limits unless they are
considered categorically eligible (Section 5(j) of the Food and
Nutrition Act) for SNAP benefits. State eligibility workers must
evaluate the resources available to each household to determine whether
these households meet the SNAP resource limits as defined by 7 CFR
273.8(b). Resources are one of several criteria that SNAP State
agencies use to determine SNAP eligibility and States may elect to
mandate verification of resources (7 CFR 273.2(f)(3)). All States must
verify any resource information that appears to be questionable, in
accordance with 7 CFR 273.2(f)(2)(i).
With this information collection request, FNS is seeking OMB
approval for the burden hours associated with resource verification
information that is currently being collected in violation without a
valid OMB control number or approved by OMB. Therefore, the burden
hours for this requirement represent an additional 2,913,736.63 burden
hours not included in the previous approval of this collection.
Households are considered categorically eligible for SNAP if each
member receives certain cash assistance benefits, including
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) assistance. States also have the option to implement
broad-based categorical eligibility policies to deem recipients of non-
cash or in-kind TANF benefits or services to be categorically eligible
for SNAP. Out of 53 SNAP State agencies, 44 have adopted broad-based
categorical eligibility policies. Therefore, only 9 States currently
collect resource information as part of the SNAP eligibility
determination process. State agencies conducting this process may need
to contact financial institutions, Departments of Motor Vehicles, and
other entities to obtain documentation of a household's resources.
Households may need to submit proof of their available resources.
In 2018, FNS consulted with 8 States operating the resource test to
estimate the amount of time that State agency staff spent verifying
resources with clients at initial certification and subsequent
recertifications. Through this consultation with States, FNS learned
that 4 States verify resources when reported resources are close to the
limit or questionable (hereinafter referred to as ``High Limit''
States), 2 States only verify when the report is questionable (``Self-
Attestation'' States), and 2 States always verify resources (``Always''
States). For the purposes of this estimate, FNS assumes the 9th State
verifies when a household is close to the asset limit or questionable
(``High Limit''). In 2021, FNS confirmed that the following estimates
remained accurate by consulting with States that verify resources.
Using the estimates obtained during State consultation on resource
verification, FNS estimates that State SNAP agency staff spend the
following average times on resource verification:
<bullet> ``High Limit'' or ``Self-Attestation'' Staff: 12.3 minutes
(0.205 hours) per case at initial certification and 7.4 minutes (0.123
hours) per case at recertification.
<bullet> ``Always'' Staff: 43.75 minutes (0.729 hours) per case at
initial certification and 26.25 minutes (0.438 hours) per case at
recertification.
To estimate the total burden hours on State agencies, FNS applied
these average times to the most recently available participation data
(FY20) for SNAP initial and recertification applicant households in the
9 States that verify resources.\1\
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\1\ National Data Bank data from FY2020, FNS 366-B, Total
Initial Applications and Total Recertification Applications. OMB
Control Number 0584-0594 (expiration 7/31/2023).
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FNS then estimated the burden hours for households to provide
verification using the same FY20 participation data. The Agency
estimates that providing verification would take 4 minutes (0.0668
hours) per household at initial certification and 6 minutes (.1002
hours) at recertification. These time estimates come from other
verification activities in OMB Control Number 0584-0064 (expiration 2/
29/2024). Using the estimates above for the number of households in
each State subject to verification requirements, FNS then calculated
the total number of households in each State that would have to
participate in this annual burden in the chart below.
This section of the information collection does not require any new
recordkeeping burden. The related recordkeeping burden for State
agencies is currently covered under the approved information collection
burden for application processing, OMB Control Number 0584-0064
(expiration 2/29/2024), which accounts for the casefile documentation
that States maintain for each SNAP household at 7 CFR 273.2(f)(6).
Reporting
Affected Public Individuals/Household
Respondent Type: SNAP households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 30,977,197.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.00.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 30,977,197.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.078.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,421,974.31.
Affected Public State Agencies
Respondent Type: State SNAP agencies (50), State gambling and
gaming entities (50).
Estimated Number of Respondents: 100.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 21,740.38.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 2,174,038.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.252.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 548,170.07.
Affected Public Business
Respondent Type: Business private gambling and gaming entities.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 200.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 6,000.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 1,200,000.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.08.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 96,000.00.
Total Affected Public
Respondent Type: SNAP households, State SNAP agencies, State
gambling and gaming entities, and business private gambling and gaming
entities.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 30,977,497.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.11.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 34,351,235.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.089.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 3,066,144.38.
[[Page 20384]]
Reference Burden Table Below
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Estimated
Estimated Estimated Estimated number of Estimated Burden hours Previously Difference Differences
Burden activities Reg. section Respondent type Description of activity number of frequency total burden total burden in use without approved due to due to
respondents of annual hours per hours a valid OMB burden adjustments program
response responses response control number hours changes
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Lottery & Gambling.................. 7 CFR 273.11(r)........ SNAP Individuals/ *Self-report lottery or 4,500 1 4,500 0.167 751.50 0.00 4,593.00 -3,841.50 0.00
Households. gambling winnings to
State SNAP Agency.
Resource Verification............... 7 CFR 273.2(f)(1) & (2) SNAP Individuals/ Verification of 20,426,390 1 20,426,390 0.0668 1,364,482.85 1,364,482.85 0.00 N/A 0.00
Households. resources at initial
application.
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7 CFR 273.2(f)(8)(i)... SNAP Individuals/ Verification of 10,546,307 1 10,546,307 0.1002 1,056,739.96 1,056,739.96 0.00 N/A 0.00
Households. resources at
recertification.
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SNAP Individual/Household Subtotal Reporting............................................................... 30,978,697 1.00 30,978,697 0.078 2,422,224.81 2,421,222.81 4,593.00 -3,841.50 0.00
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Lottery & Gambling.................. 7 CFR 272.17(a) & (b).. State SNAP Agency ** Establish 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 80,000.00 -80,000.00 0.00
Managers. cooperative agreements
with State public
agency and private
business gaming
entities.
7 CFR 272.17(c)........ State Public Agency ** Establish 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 16,000.00 -16,000.00 0.00
Gaming Entity Managers. cooperative agreements
with State SNAP agency.
7 CFR 272.17(c)........ State SNAP IT Staff.... ** Create a data 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 208,000.00 -208,000.00 0.00
matching system with
State public agency
and private business
gaming entities.
7 CFR 272.17 and 7 CFR State SNAP Agency Eligibility worker 50 260 13,000 0.668 8,684.00 0.00 8,671.00 13.00 0.00
273.11(r). Eligibility Worker. follow-up (matched,
misidentified).
7 CFR 272.17 and 7 CFR State SNAP Agency Eligibility worker 50 368 18,400 0.334 6,145.60 0.00 23,000 -16,027.75 0.00
273.11(r). Eligibility Worker. follow-up (matched,
substantive).
7 CFR 272.17 and 7 CFR State SNAP Agency Eligibility worker 50 90 4,500 0.184 826.65 0.00
273.11(r). Eligibility Worker. follow-up (self-
reported winners).
7 CFR 272.17(c)........ State Public Agency Input data into data 50 6,000 300,000 0.08 24,000.00 0.00 24,000 0.00 0.00
Gaming Entity Staff matching system for
Member. use by State SNAP
agency.
[[Page 20385]]
7 CFR 272.17(c)........ State SNAP IT Staff.... Maintain a data 50 1 50 320 16,000.00 0.00 16,000 0.00 0.00
matching system with
State public agency
and private business
gaming entities.
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Resource Verification............... 7 CFR 273.2(f)(1) & (2) State SNAP Agency Verification of 2 119,172 238,344 0.729 173,752.78 173,752.78 0.00 N/A 0.00
Eligibility Worker. resources at initial
application (States
verifying all
resources).
7 CFR 273.2(f)(1) & (2) State SNAP Agency Verification of 2 119,172 238,344 0.205 48,860.52 48,860.52 0.00 N/A 0.00
Eligibility Worker. resources at initial
application (States
verifying resources if
questionable).
7 CFR 273.2(f)(1) & (2) State SNAP Agency Verification of 5 119,172 595,860 0.205 122,151.30 122,151.30 0.00 N/A 0.00
Eligibility Worker. resources at initial
application (States
verifying resources if
close to the limit).
7 CFR 273.2(f)(8)(i)... State SNAP Agency Verification of 2 85,060 170,120 0.438 74,512.56 74,512.56 0.00 N/A 0.00
Eligibility Worker. resources at
recertification
(States verifying all
resources).
7 CFR 273.2(f)(8)(i)... State SNAP Agency Verification of 2 85,060 170,120 0.123 20,924.76 20,924.76 0.00 N/A 0.00
Eligibility Worker. resources at
recertification
(States verifying
resources if
questionable).
7 CFR 273.2(f)(8)(i)... State SNAP Agency Verification of 5 85,060 425,300 0.123 52,311.90 52,311.90 0.00 N/A 0.00
Eligibility Worker. resources at
recertification
(States verifying
resources is close to
the limit).
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State Agency Subtotal Reporting............................................................................ 100 21,740.38 2,174,038 0.252 548,170.07 492,513.82 375,671.00 -320,014.75 0.00
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Lottery & Gambling.................. 7 CFR 272.17(a) & (b).. Private Business Gaming ** Establish 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 64,000 -64,000.00 0.00
Entity Managers. cooperative agreements
with State SNAP agency.
7 CFR 272.17(c)........ Private Business Gaming Input data into data 200 6,000 1,200,000 0.08 96,000.00 0.00 96,000 0.00 0.00
Entity Staff Member. matching system for
use by State SNAP
agency.
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Business Subtotal Reporting................................................................................ 200 6,000.00 1,200,000 0.08 96,000.00 0.00 160,000.00 -64,000.00 0.00
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[[Page 20386]]
Reporting Grand Total Burden Estimates................................................................. 30,978,997 1.11 34,352,735 0.089 3,066,394.88 2,913,736.63 540,264.00 -387,856.25 0.00
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* FNS assumes that all participants reporting lottery and gambling winnings will also have either an initial or recertification application in the same year. To avoid double counting, these households are not separately included in
the total number of respondents for this section.
** The start-up burden from the previous approval for this collection has been removed from the renewal.
[[Page 20387]]
Cynthia Long,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-07419 Filed 4-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
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