II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 588 

To require State agencies to use Federal tax return information to verify 

income eligibility for Medicaid, the Temporary Assistance for Needy 

Families program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require State agencies to use Federal tax return information to verify income eligibility for Medicaid, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and the 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Income Verification 

5 Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 588 IS

1 SEC. 2. VERIFICATION OF TANF INCOME ELIGIBILITY. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Section 408(a) of the Social Se3 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(13) VERIFICATION OF INCOME USING FED6 ERAL TAX RETURN INFORMATION.—A State to 

7 which a grant is made under section 403 shall use 

8 return information disclosed to the State agency re9 sponsible for administering the State program fund10 ed under this part in accordance with section 

11 6103(l)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 

12 verify the determination of an individual’s or fam13 ily’s income for purposes of determining the individ14 ual’s or family’s eligibility for, and amount of, as15 sistance under the State program funded under this 

16 part.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

18 this section shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 3. VERIFICATION OF MEDICAID INCOME ELIGIBILITY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1902(e)(14) of the Social 

22 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(e)(14)) is amended by add23 ing at the end the following new subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(L) VERIFICATION OF INCOME USING FED25 ERAL TAX RETURN INFORMATION.—A State shall 

26 use return information disclosed to the State agency 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 588 IS

1 responsible for administering the State plan under 

2 this title in accordance with section 6103(l)(7) of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code to verify a determination of 

4 income eligibility for any individual— 

5 ‘‘(i) whose eligibility for medical assistance 

6 is determined based on the application of modi7 fied adjusted gross income under subparagraph 

8 (A); 

9 ‘‘(ii) who is described in subclause (II), 

10 (IV), or (V) of subparagraph (D)(i); or 

11 ‘‘(iii) to whom clause (ii), (iii), or (iv) of 

12 subparagraph (D) applies.’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 this section shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 4. VERIFICATION OF SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION AS17 SISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) ELIGIBILITY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 11(e) of the Food and 

19 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (25)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

21 at the end; 

22 (2) in paragraph (26)(C)(ii), by striking the pe23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 588 IS

1 ‘‘(27) that in determining the eligibility of an 

2 applicant household under paragraph (3), the State 

3 agency shall verify the income of the household 

4 using return information for that household dis5 closed to the State agency under section 6103(l)(7) 

6 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS