SB194 Alabama 2017 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Arthur OrrSenator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2017

Title

Public assistance, additional requirements for TANF and SNAP benefits, termination of benefits for certain benefits, review of certain EBT card purchases required

Summary

SB194 would tighten Alabama's SNAP and TANF programs by limiting assets, increasing penalties for noncompliance, and adding monitoring and fraud-prevention measures.

What This Bill Does

It would align SNAP asset limits with federal rules, ban waivers of work requirements and categorical eligibility, and create a tiered SNAP disqualification system with possible household-wide effects. It would terminate SNAP benefits for noncooperation with child support and impose a 36-month lifetime limit on TANF cash payments, plus sanctions for TANF noncompliance. It would also establish ongoing monitoring for TANF-related purchases, residency status, replacement EBT cards, and fraud investigations, requiring adequate fraud investigative staff.

Who It Affects

• SNAP recipients in Alabama, who would face federal asset limit rules, loss of work-requirement waivers and categorical eligibility, new disqualification periods for noncompliance (with possible household-wide effects), and potential termination of benefits for failure to cooperate with child support.
• TANF recipients and their households, who would be subject to a 36-month lifetime limit on cash benefits (with federal exceptions), written eligibility agreements, sanctions for noncompliance (including three-month first sanctions and termination after the second noncompliance), constraints on adults in households where another member committed fraud, and enhanced monitoring of purchases, residency, and replacement EBT card use, plus mandated fraud-investigation staffing and interim suspensions during investigations.

Key Provisions

• SNAP provisions: set SNAP resource limits to federal asset limits; prohibit waivers of work requirements and prohibit categorical eligibility for non-cash SNAP benefits; establish tiered disqualification periods (3 months first, 6 months second, 12 months third or more) with discretion for full-household disqualification and potential non-intentional-first-instance exceptions that reset counting for future instances.
• TANF provisions: cap lifetime TANF cash benefits at 36 months (with federal exceptions); require written eligibility agreements; impose sanctions (3-month first noncompliance, termination for second noncompliance); deny benefits to adults in a household where another adult has committed public assistance fraud; implement monitoring of out-of-state TANF purchases, residency review triggers, monitoring of frequent or large even-dollar purchases, replacement EBT card tracking (notice after 4 in 12 months), maintain fraud-investigation staff, and suspend cash TANF payments for fraud investigations.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Public Assistance