SNAP Ban Study Act

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study to evaluate the effects of the post-incarceration ban under section 115 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program by drug felons, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the SNAP Ban Study Act 2. Study of SNAP ban and waiver provisions affecting drug felons (a) In general The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study to evaluate the effects of the post-incarceration ban and waiver provisions regarding participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program by drug felons, as in effect under section 115 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ( 42 U.S.C. 286a (b) Elements of the study The study conducted under subsection (a) shall— (1) identify the full range of options States have implemented with respect to the supplemental nutrition assistance program ban, including— (A) implementing the full ban; (B) using their discretionary power provided in the law to opt out of the ban partially, including the various different modifications States have made or completely repealing the ban; and (C) when each of those States has made substantive revisions to their laws in this area over the past 15 years; (2) for each group of those convicted of felony use, felony distribution, and felony trafficking offenses, the rates, 5 and 10 years after release from the incarceration that triggered the supplemental nutrition assistance program ban, of— (A) subsequent arrest for one or more felonies; (B) subsequent conviction for one or more felonies; and (C) return to prison for such offenders; (3) measurements of the well-being of released drug felons who would be eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance program in the absence of the ban imposed by section 115 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ( 42 U.S.C. 286a (A) to various conditions required of drug felons to receive supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits short of a full ban, to a full waiver, and how otherwise eligible drug felons in each jurisdiction had, after 3, 5, and 10 years; (B) changes with respect to recidivism, as described in paragraph (1); (C) family formation, including marriage rates; (D) average hours worked per week for those who are non-disabled and between the ages of 18 through 64; (E) changes in individual and family income; (F) changes in educational attainment; and (G) other factors that the Comptroller General of the United States considers worthy of study; (4) how the various impacts of such effects play out separately for those convicted of felony use, possession, and trafficking offenses; (5) the additional costs expected to be borne by the Federal and State governments if such a ban was made unlawful or such section was repealed; (6) the amount of unpaid restitution, legal judgments and costs, and Federal and State taxes outstanding by the average post-incarceration drug felon; (7) the average total economic cost to each surviving child, parent, spouse and sibling of those killed by misuse or abuse of a controlled substance at 5, 10, and 15 years after that death; (8) the utilization rate of supplemental nutrition assistance program by surviving children, parents, spouses, and siblings of those killed by misuse or abuse of a controlled substance at baseline, 5, 10, and 15 years after that death, compared to the rest of the population, both in raw numbers and after adjusting for confounding factors; (9) the extent to which programs assisting victims of violent crime could be enhanced if amounts identified in (5), above, were instead directed to State violent crime assistance programs; (10) an assessment of the levels of evidence used in research for this report and in the most-cited existing research related to supplemental nutrition assistance program eligibility by released drug felons and closely related issues; (11) an assessment of the ability of social science and economic research to determine if any apparent material differences in various measures are persuasive, or are too prone to noise and confounding, as those terms are used in the fields of medical and other research, to be the basis for legislative action; and (12) any other matters the Comptroller General considers to be appropriate for evaluating the strengths and shortcomings of the existing supplemental nutrition assistance program lifetime ban and waiver contained in such section. (c) Report (1) Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry of the Senate,, the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, that contains the results of such study, including the findings and conclusions of the study. (2) Such report shall also be made available to the public on the website of the Government Accountability Office.

Summary: SNAP Ban Study ActThis bill directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study to evaluate the effects of provisions that ban individuals who are convicted of drug felonies from participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Specifically, GAO must evaluate the effects of (1) the post-incarceration ban on participation by individuals convicted of a drug felony, and (2) state waiver provisions allowing for participation by these individuals. (The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 bars convicted drug felons from participating in SNAP; however, a state may opt to serve such felons by waiving or modifying the requirement.)The GAO must submit a report to Congress on the study and make the report publicly available on the agency's website.