A recent alarming analysis of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) data has found that Minnesota usage skyrocketed over the past few years. Minnesota issued nearly $725 million in food aid during 2020. By 2021, the figure was close to $2 billion - that’s a 174% year-over-year increase.
So, is this a sign of yet another fraud in Minnesota or something less sinister?
According to the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) - the state agency that administers SNAP - the 2021 through 2023 issuance numbers are inaccurate. In a recent news report, it stated “Minnesota mistakenly included Pandemic EBT [electronic benefit transfer] in the FNS-46 submission, which is the basis for the numbers in the SNAP State Activities report. Not only was Pandemic EBT included, it was included on two lines of the report in a way that double counted these expenditures. It appears the issue is also present in reporting for FY2022 and FY2023.”
The DCYF has stated fraud in SNAP is rare, however information coming from the federal government strongly contradicts this notion.
When the Trump administration began its tenure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) told every state to share its SNAP data with the federal government. The goal was to ensure that struggling American families were receiving these benefits and not illegal aliens. While 29 states shared their data, 21 did not, including Minnesota.
Of those 29 states who willingly shared their SNAP data, the USDA announced that 500,000 recipients are receiving double benefits, and 186,000 people who are dead are still receiving SNAP. Because of this, it now will require more than 40 million SNAP recipients to reapply to the program and demonstrate their households still meet eligibility requirements in order to continue receiving these benefits.
This is a breathtaking amount of fraud in a program that massively expanded with a 40% increase under the Biden administration, and now clearly needs to be rebuilt. When a government program does not have modern checks-and-balances, it invites people with bad intent to abuse the program and, unfortunately, when word gets out that no one is checking - more people see this as an easy welfare giveaway to exploit.
Minnesota’s failure to comply with the USDA has not only led to the problem of verifying its data, but ultimately DCYF’s conclusion that SNAP’s rise in this state was basically an accounting error.
As you are aware, Minnesota has a huge fraud problem with billions of dollars already swindled from state taxpayers. At best, this SNAP news is yet another example of mismanagement and dysfunction within the Walz Administration. At worst, it’s an attempt to conceal the growing web of fraud that continues to unravel under the Governor’s watch.
With the holidays approaching, we know there are families who need help putting food on the table. There is not a Republican or Democrat out there who wants people to go hungry. But we should also have overwhelming bipartisan support to ensure the programs that feed the hungry aren’t abused by those looking to scam the system.
Its clear SNAP has gone unchecked across this country, which has led to the exploitation of a program that was built from compassion and provides humanitarian aid. Because Minnesota’s track record regarding fraud couldn’t be worse, I believe it’s imperative that we share our SNAP data with the federal government. Let the USDA investigate whether our state simply has data entry issues or is part of something much worse.