The following government payments are received for a specific
purpose and are excluded as income.
A. General
1. P.L. No. 89-642, Section 11(b) of the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, excludes the value of assistance to
children under this Act.
2.
Reimbursement from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property
Acquisition Policy Act of 1970, as amended, (P.L. No. 91-646, Section
216).
3. Any payment to volunteers
under Title II (RSVP, Foster Grandparents and others) of the Domestic Volunteer
Services Act of 1972, as amended, (P.L. No. 93-113).
Payments under Title I (AmeriCorps Volunteers in the Service
of America/VISTA -including University Year for Action and Urban Crime
Prevention Program) to volunteers shall be excluded for those individuals
receiving SNAP or PA at the time they joined the Title I Program, except that
households which are receiving an income exclusion for a VISTA or other Title I
Subsistence Allowance at the time of conversion to the Food Assistance Act of
1977 shall continue to receive an income exclusion for VISTA for the length of
their volunteer contract in effect at the time of conversion. Temporary
interruptions in SNAP participation shall not alter the exclusion once an
initial determination has been made. New applicants who are not receiving PA or
SNAP at the time they joined VISTA shall have these volunteer payments included
as earned income.
4. P.L.
No. 101-610, Section 17(d), 11/16/90, National and Community Service Act (NCSA)
of 1990, as amended, provides that Section 142(b) of the Job Training
Partnership Act (JTPA) applies to projects conducted under Title I of the NCSA
as if such projects were conducted under the JTPA. Title I includes three Acts:
a. Serve-America: the Community Service,
Schools and Service-Learning Act of 1990, as amended.
b. American Conservation and Youth Service
Corps Act of 1990, as amended.
c.
NCSA, as amended.
There are approximately forty-seven (47) different NCSA
programs and they vary by state. Most of the payments are made as a weekly
stipend or for educational assistance. The Higher Education Service-Learning
program and the AmeriCorps umbrella program come under this title. The National
Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a federally managed AmeriCorps program. The
Summer for Safety program is an AmeriCorps program under which participants
earn a stipend and a one thousand dollar ($1,000) post-service educational
award. The National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (P.L. No. 103-82)
amended the NCSA but did not change the exclusion.
5. P.L. No. 93-288, Section 312(d), the
Disaster Relief Act of 1974, as amended by P.L. No. 100-707, Section 105(i),
the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Amendments of 1988. Payments
precipitated by an emergency or major disaster as defined in this Act, as
amended, are not counted as income for SNAP purposes. This exclusion applies to
Federal assistance provided to persons directly affected and to comparable
disaster assistance provided by states, local governments, and disaster
assistance organizations.
A major disaster is any natural catastrophe such as a
hurricane or drought, or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion,
which the President determines causes damage of sufficient severity and
magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance to supplement the efforts and
available resources of states, local governments, and disaster relief
organizations in alleviating the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering caused
thereby.
An emergency is any occasion or instance for which the
President determines that Federal assistance is needed to supplant state and
local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property and public
health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.
Payments made to homeless people with funds from Federal
Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA) to pay for rent, mortgage, food, and
utility assistance when there is no major disaster or emergency are not
excluded under this provision.
6. Payments, allowances and earnings under
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) are excluded as income.
Earnings paid for on-the-job training are still counted for SNAP. On-the-job
training payments for members under nineteen (19) years of age who are
participating in WIOA Programs and are under the parental control of an adult
member of the household shall be excluded as income. The exclusion shall apply
regardless of school attendance and/or enrollment as outlined in Section 4.405,
C. On-the-job training payments under the Summer Youth Employment and Training
Program are excluded from income.
7. P.L. No. 99-425, Section(e), the
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act, 1986. Payments or allowances made under
any federal laws for the purpose of energy assistance. P.L. No. 104-193 states
that any payment or allowances made for the purpose of providing energy
assistance under a federal law other than Part A of Title IV of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C.
601 through
42 u.S.C.
619), or a one-time payment, or allowance
made under federal or state law for the cost of weatherization, or emergency
repair or replacement of an unsafe or inoperative furnace or other heating or
cooling device is excluded from income.
8. Payments received from the Youth Incentive
Entitlement Pilot Projects, the Youth Community Conservation and Improvement
Projects, and under the Title IV of the Comprehensive Employment and Training
Act Amendments of 1978 (P.L. No. 95-524).
9. P.L. No. 100-175, Section 166, Older
Americans Act. Funds received by persons fifty-five (55) years of age and older
under the Senior Community Service Employment Program under Title V of the
Older Americans Act are excluded from income. State agencies and eight
organizations receive funding under Title V. The eight organizations are: Green
Thumb, National Council on Aging, National Council of Senior Citizens, American
Association of Retired Persons, U.S. Forest Service, National Association for
Spanish Speaking Elderly, National Urban League, National Council on Black
Aging.
10. Payments in cash
donations, based upon need, from one or more private, nonprofit charitable
organizations, but not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300) in the aggregate,
per fiscal quarter (P.L. No. 100-232).
11. The portion of a military retirement
payment, which goes to an ex-spouse under a divorce decree property settlement,
is not counted as income to the retiree. (P.L. No. 97-252, Uniform Service
Former Spouse Protection Act.) These payments are excluded as vendor
payments.
12. Military combat
payments received by a member of the United States Armed Forces deployed to a
designated combat zone shall be excluded from the household income for the
duration of the member's deployment as long as the additional payment was not
received immediately prior to serving in a combat zone.
13. Mandatory deductions from military pay
for education purposes while the individual is enlisted. (P.L. No. 99-576,
Veterans' Benefits Improvement and Health-Care Authorization Act of 1986,
Section 303(a) (1)). Section 216 of P.L. No. 99-576 authorizes stipends for
participation in study of Vietnam-Era veterans' psychological problems which
are not excluded from income.
14.
Payments to U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident Japanese
non-citizens of up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) each and payments to
certain eligible Aleuts of up to twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) each (P.L.
No. 100-383, Civil Liberties Act of 1988).
15. Emergency assistance payments made by a
state or local agency for migrants or seasonal farm-workers in the job stream
(P.L. No. 100-387).
16. Benefits
received from the special supplemental food program for women, infants and
children (WIC), including benefits that can be exchanged for food at farmers'
markets or part of a WIC demonstration project (P.L. No. 92-443). This payment
is excluded as an in-kind benefit (P.L. No. 100-435, Section 501, amended,
Child Nutrition Act).
17. P.L. No.
100-485, Section 301, the Family Support Act, 10/31/88 which amended Section
402(g)(1)(E) of the Social Security Act. The value of any child-care payments
made under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, including transitional
child-care payments, are excluded from income.
18. Payments made from the Agent Orange
Settlement Fund (P.L. No. 101-201). All payments from the Agent Orange
Settlement fund or any other fund established pursuant to the settlement in the
Agent Orange product liability litigation are excluded from income retroactive
to January 1, 1989.
The veteran with disabilities will receive yearly payments.
Survivors of deceased veterans with disabilities will receive a lump-sum
payment. These payments were disbursed by the AETNA insurance company.
P.L. No. 102-4, Agent Orange Act of 1991, 2/6/91, authorized
veterans' benefits to some veterans with service-connected disabilities
resulting from exposure to Agent Orange. These VA payments are not excluded by
law.
19. P.L. No. 101-508,
Section 5801, which amended Section 402(i) of the Social Security Act, 11/5/90.
At-risk block grant child care payments made under section 5801 are excluded
from being counted as income for SNAP purposes and no deduction may be allowed
for any expense covered by such payments.
20. P.L. No. 101-508, the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990, Title XI Revenue Provisions, Section 11111,
Modifications of Earned Income Tax Credit, subsection (b) provides that any
earned income tax credit shall not be treated as income. This provision is
effective with taxable years beginning after December 31, 1990.
21. Any payment made to an Employment First
participant for costs that are reasonably necessary and directly related to
participation in the Employment First Program. These costs include, but are not
limited to, dependent care costs, transportation, other expenses related to
work, training or education, such as uniforms, personal safety items, or other
necessary equipment, and books or training manuals. These costs shall not
include the cost of meals away from home. Also, the value of any dependent care
services provided for or arranged by the Employment First Unit is
excluded.
22. Amounts necessary for
the fulfillment of a Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) under Title XVI of
the Social Security Act (P.L. No. 102-237). This money may be spent in
accordance with an approved PASS or deposited into a PASS savings account for
future use.
23. Any money received
from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund pursuant to P.L. No.
101-426 as amended by P.L. No. 101-510.
24. P.L. No. 102-586, Section 8, amended the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act Amendments of 1992 by adding a new
Section 658S to exclude the value of any child-care provided or arranged, or
any amount received as payment for such care or reimbursement for costs
incurred for such care from income for purposes of any other federal or
federally assisted program that bases eligibility, or the amount of benefits,
on need.
25. P.L. No. 101-625,
Section 22(i), Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act,
(42 U.S.C.S.
1437t(i)), provides that no
service provided to a public housing resident under this section (Family
Investment Centers) may be treated as income for purposes of any other program
or provision of state or federal law.
This exclusion applies to services such as child-care
employment training and counseling, literacy training, computer skills
training, assistance in the attainment of certificates of high school
equivalency, and other services. The exclusion does not apply to wages or
stipends.
P.L. No. 101-625, Section 522(i)(4), excludes most increases
in the earned income of a family residing in certain housing while
participating in HUD demonstration projects authorized by P.L. No. 101-625.
Demonstration projects are authorized by P.L. No. 101-625 for Chicago,
Illinois, and three other locations. The affected offices will be contacted
individually regarding these projects.
26. P.L. No. 103-286, Section 1(a), Section
1(a), provides in part that payments made to individuals because of their
status as victims of Nazi persecution shall be disregarded in determining
eligibility for and the amount of benefits or services to be provided under any
federal or federally assisted program which provides benefits or services
based, in whole or in part, on need.
27. Amendments to Section 1403 of the Crime
Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C.
10602) provides in part that, notwithstanding
any other law, if the compensation paid by an eligible crime victim
compensation program would cover costs that a federal program or a federally
financed state or local program would otherwise pay:
a. Such crime victim compensation program
shall not pay that compensation.
b.
The other program shall make its payments without regard to the existence of
the crime victim compensation program.
Based on this language, payments received under this Program
must be excluded from income for SNAP purposes.
28. P.L. No. 104-204, requires that
allowances paid under this law to children of Vietnam veterans who were born
with spina bifida be excluded from income.
B. American Indian or Alaska Native
Usually a law will specify payments to members of a tribe or
band, and the law will apply to the members enrolled in the tribe or band
wherever they live. The individuals should have documentation showing where the
payments originate.
1. P.L. No.
92-203, section 29, dated 1/2/76, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and
Section 15 of P.L. No. 100-241, 2/3/88, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
Amendments of 1987 - All compensation, including cash, stock, partnership
interest, land, interest in land, and other benefits, received under this Act
are excluded.
2. P.L. No. 93-134,
the Judgment Award Authorization Act, as amended by P.L. No. No. 97-458,
Section 1407, 11/12/83 and P.L. No. 98-64, 8/2/83, the Per Capita Distribution
Act. P.L. No. 97-458 required the exclusion of per capita Payments under the
Indian Judgment Fund Act (judgment awards) of two thousand dollars ($2,000) or
less from income. The exclusion applies to each payment made to each
individual. P.L. No. 98-64 extended the exclusion to cover per capita payments
from funds which are held in trust by the Secretary of Interior (trust fund
distributions).
P.L. No. 93-134, the Indian Tribal Judgment Fund Use or
Distribution Act, Section 8, 10/19/73, as amended by P.L. No. 103-66, Section
13736, 10/7/93, provides that interest of individual Indians in trust or
restricted lands up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per year received by
individual Indians that is derived from such interests shall not be considered
income in determining eligibility for assistance under the Social Security Act
or any other federal or federally assisted program. The two thousand dollar
($2,000) limit is based on calendar years from January through
December.
3. P.L. No.
93-531, section 22 - Relocation assistance payments to members of the Navajo
and Hopi Tribes are excluded from income and resources.
4. P.L. No. 94-114, section 6, 10/17/75 -
Income derived from certain sub-marginal land held in trust for certain Indian
tribes is excluded from income. The tribes that shall benefit are:
a. Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe
of Chippewa
b. Indians of
Wisconsin
c. Blackfeet
Tribe
d. Cherokee Nation of
Oklahoma
e. Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe
f. Crow Creek Sioux
Tribe
g. Lower Brule Sioux
Tribe
h. Devils Lake Sioux
Tribe
i. Fort Belknap Indian
Community
j. Assiniboine and Sioux
Tribes
k. Lac Courte Oreilles Band
of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
l. Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
m. Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
n. Navajo Tribe
o. Oglala Sioux Tribe
p. Rosebud Sioux Tribe
q. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
r. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
5. P.L. No. 94-189, Section 6,
12/31/75 - Funds distributed per capita to the Sac and Fox Indians or held in
trust are excluded from income. The funds are divided between members of the
Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma and the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in
Iowa. The judgments were awarded in Indian Claims Commission dockets numbered
219, 153, 135, 158, 231, 83, and 95.
6. P.L. No. 94-540 - Payments from the
disposition of funds to the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians are excluded
from income.
7. P.L. No. 95-433,
section 2 - Indian Claims Commission payments made pursuant to this Public Law
to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation and the Apache
Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation are excluded from income.
8. P.L. No. 96-420, section 9(c), 10/10/80,
Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 -Payments made to the Passamaquoddy
Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, and the Houlton Band of Maliseet are excluded from
income.
9. P.L. No. 97-403 -
Payments to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas, Arizona, are excluded from
income.
10. P.L. No. 97-408 -
Payments to the Blackfeet, Grosventre, and Assiniboine tribes, Montana, and the
Papago, Arizona, are excluded from income.
11. P.L. No. 98-123, Section 3, 10/13/83 -
Funds distributed to members of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians are
excluded from income. Funds were awarded in docket number 15-72 of the United
States Court of Claims.
12. P.L.
No. 98-124, Section 5 - Per capita and interest payments made to members of the
Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, Montana, and the
Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana, under this Act
are excluded from income. Funds were awarded in docket 10-81L.
13. P.L. No. 98-500, Section 8, Old Age
Assistance Claims Settlement Act, provides that funds made to heirs of deceased
Indians under this Act shall not be considered as income nor otherwise used to
reduce or deny SNAP benefits except for per capita shares more than two
thousand dollars ($2,000). The first two thousand dollars ($2,000) of each
payment is excluded.
14. P.L. No.
99-146, Section 6(b), 11/11/85 - Funds distributed per capita or held in trust
for members of the Chippewas of Lake Superior are excluded from income.
Judgments were awarded in Dockets Numbered 18-S, 18-U, 18-C, and 18-T.
a. Dockets 18-S and 18-U are divided among
the following reservations:
1)
Wisconsin
2) Bad River
Reservation
3) Lac du Flambeau
Reservation
4) Lac Courte Oreilles
Reservation
5) Sokaogon Chippewa
Community
6) Red Cliff
Reservation
7) St. Croix
Reservation
8) Michigan
9) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (L'Anse, Lac
Vieux Desert, and Ontonagon Bands)
10) Minnesota
11) Fond du Lac Reservation
12) Grand Portage Reservation
13) Nett Lake Reservation (including
Vermillion Lake and Deer Creek)
14)
White Earth Reservation
b. Under dockets 18-C and 18-T funds are
given to the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of the Lake Superior Bands of Chippewa
Indians of the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation of Wisconsin, the Bad River Band
of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation,
the Sokaogon Chippewa Community of the Mole Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, and
the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin.
15. P.L. No. 99-264, White Earth Reservation
Land Settlement Act of 1985, 3/24/86, Section 16 excludes moneys paid from
income. This exclusion involves members of the White Earth Band of Chippewa
Indians in Minnesota.
16. P.L. No.
99-346, Section 6(b) (2) - Payments to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of
Michigan are excluded from income.
17. P.L. No. 99-377, Section 4(b), 8/8/86, -
Funds distributed per capita to the Chippewas of the Mississippi or held in
trust under this Act are excluded from income. The judgments were awarded in
Docket Number 18-S. The funds are divided by reservation affiliation for the
Mille Lac Reservation, Minnesota; White Earth Reservation, Minnesota; and Leech
Lake Reservation, Minnesota.
18.
P.L. No. 101-41, 6/21/89, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Settlement Act of 1989,
Section 10 (b) provides that nothing in this Act shall affect the eligibility
of the Tribe or any of its members for any Federal program. Section 10(c)
provides that none of the funds, assets, or income from the trust fund
established in section 6(b) shall at any time be used as a basis for denying or
reducing funds to the tribe or its members under any Federal, State, or local
program. (The Puyallup Tribe is located in the State of Washington.)
19. P.L. No. 101-277, 4/30/90, funds
appropriated in satisfaction of judgments awarded to the Seminole Indians in
dockets 73, 151, and 73-A of the Indian Claims Commission are excluded from
income except for per capita payments in excess of two thousand dollars
($2,000). Payments were allocated to the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the
Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, and the
independent Seminole Indians of Florida.
20. P.L. No. 101-503, Section 8(b), Seneca
Nation Settlement Act of 1990, dated November 3, 1990, provides that none of
the payments, funds, or distributions authorized, established, or directed by
this Act, and none of the income derived therefrom shall affect the eligibility
of the Seneca Nation or its members for, or be used as a basis for denying or
reducing funds under, any federal program.
21. P.L. No. 103-436, 11/2/94, Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Settlement Act, Section
7(b) provides that payments made pursuant to the Act are totally excluded from
income.
