Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
Housing, Human Services & Veterans Committee
SSB 5785
Brief Description: Concerning transitional food assistance.
Sponsors: Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation (originally sponsored by Senators Lovelett, Wilson, C., Das, Dhingra, Hasegawa, Nobles, Salda?a and Stanford; by request of Department of Social and Health Services).
Brief Summary of Substitute Bill
  • Directs the Department of Social and Health Services to provide transitional food assistance for five months to a household that ceases to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and is not in full-family sanction status.
Hearing Date: 2/22/22
Staff: Serena Dolly (786-7150).
Background:

The Basic Food Program is Washington's name for the combination of the federally-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the state-funded Food Assistance Program (FAP).  The FAP is for individuals who are legal immigrants and meet all eligibility requirements for SNAP except for citizenship and immigration status. 

 

The Transitional Food Assistance (TFA) program provides five months of a fixed food benefit to households who stop receiving TANF, provided the household is not in sanction status.  Sanction status occurs when a household does not meet WorkFirst program participation requirements, and households in sanction status receive a 40 percent decrease in their TANF grant.  A full-family sanction is the termination of a household's TANF after receiving a reduced grant, or sanction, for a certain time period.

 

In fiscal year 2021, a monthly average of 11,180 households received TFA.
Summary of Bill:

Beginning January 1, 2024, the DSHS must provide TFA for five months to a household that ceases to receive TANF and is not in full-family sanction status.  If a member of a household has been sanctioned but the household is still receiving benefits, then remaining eligible household members may receive TFA.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.  New fiscal note requested on February 20, 2022.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect on January 1, 2024.