Iowa Code § 239.4 - Asset test for supplemental nutrition assistance program

1. For the purposes of determining eligibility for receipt of SNAP benefits, the department shall conduct an asset test on all members of the applicant’s household. The allowable financial resources to be included in or excluded from a determination of eligibility for SNAP shall be those specified in 7 U.S.C. §2014(g), to the extent consistent with the term “asset” as defined in this chapter. 2. Prior to determining eligibility for SNAP benefits, the department shall access, at a minimum, for every member of the applicant’s household, the following information from the following federal, state, and miscellaneous sources, or successor sources: a. Federal sources and information: (1) Earned and unearned income information maintained by the internal revenue service. (2) The following sources and information maintained by the United States social security administration: (a) Earned income information. (b) Death register information. (c) Prisoner or incarceration status information. (d) Supplemental security income information maintained in the state data exchange database. (e) Beneficiary records and earnings information maintained in the beneficiary and earnings data exchange database. (f) Earnings information maintained in the beneficiary earnings exchange record system database. (3) The following sources and information maintained by the United States department of health and human services: (a) Income and employment information maintained in the national directory of new hires database by the office of child support enforcement of the administration for children and families. (b) Other federal data sources maintained by the office of child support enforcement of the administration for children and families. b. State sources and information: (1) The department’s sources and information including but not limited to all of the following: (a) Income and employment information maintained by child support services. (b) Child care assistance information maintained by the department. (c) Enrollment status in other public assistance programs. (2) The department of workforce development sources and information including all of the following: (a) Employment information. (b) Employer weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports of income and unemployment insurance payments. c. Miscellaneous sources: (1) Any existing real-time database of persons currently receiving benefits in other states, such as the national accuracy clearinghouse. (2) Any lottery winner databases maintained by the Iowa lottery. (3) Any existing real-time eligibility system that includes employment and income information maintained by a consumer reporting agency, as defined by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681a, for the purpose of obtaining real-time employment and income information. 3. Prior to determining eligibility for SNAP benefits, the department shall access information for every member of the applicant’s household from the following public records: a. A nationwide public records data source of physical asset ownership. The data source may include but is not limited to real property, automobiles, watercraft, aircraft, and luxury vehicles, or any other vehicle owned by the applicant. b. National and state financial institutions in order to locate undisclosed depository accounts or verify account balances of disclosed accounts. 4. The department shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with any department, division, bureau, section, unit, or any other subunit of a department to obtain the information specified in this section. 5. The provisions of this section shall not apply if every member of the applicant’s household receives supplemental security income. 2023 Acts, ch 104, §4; 2023 Acts, ch 112, §58 Referred to in §239.1