Connecticut General Statutes Title 17B. Social Services § 17b-105a. Supplemental nutrition assistance program. Authority of commissioner to seek waiver and implement federal options

(a) The Commissioner of Social Services shall seek a waiver from federal law to allow persons who live in an area in which (1) the unemployment rate is greater than ten per cent, or (2) there is an insufficient number of jobs to provide such persons with employment, to be exempt from the three-month participation limit of the supplemental nutrition assistance program implemented pursuant to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. 1

(b) The Commissioner of Social Services shall implement vehicle evaluation provisions in accordance with 7 CFR 273.8(f)(4).

(c) The Commissioner of Social Services, pursuant to 7 USC 2014(e)(6), shall implement the federal option to mandate the use of a standard utility allowance, to be used in place of actual utility costs, for purposes of calculating the excess shelter deduction of applicants for, or recipients of, supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits. Pursuant to 7 USC 2014(e)(6)(C)(iii)(III), the commissioner shall not prorate a standard utility allowance based upon the fact that an assisted household shares the utility with an individual who is not a member of the assisted household.

(d) Not later than December 31, 2024, the Commissioner of Social Services shall enter into a contract with an outside vendor to update the system utilized by the Department of Social Services to administer the supplemental nutrition assistance program for the purpose of enabling the department to stagger the distribution of program benefits so that benefits are distributed, in accordance with federal law, to cohorts of program beneficiaries designated by the commissioner at multiple intervals during each month. Not later than March 1, 2026, the commissioner shall commence staggering the distribution of such benefits to such cohorts of beneficiaries each month, in accordance with federal law. Not later than April 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services regarding the staggering of distribution benefits pursuant to this subsection.