Arizona Gov. Hobbs invests $7.5 million to speed up wait times for SNAP, unemployment insurance

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is investing $7.5 million to help reduce wait times for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and unemployment insurance.

The Democratic governor said Tuesday that the programs have been affected by staffing shortages caused by federal budget cuts, resulting in delays for families seeking assistance.

For example, ABC15 reported earlier this month that the Department of Economic Security was processing about 54,000 applications for new or renewed SNAP benefits and that 18,000 of those were more than 30 days old.

DES told the Phoenix TV station that the backlog was caused by staff cuts due to a decrease in federal funding.

“Programs like SNAP and unemployment insurance help families put food on the table and keep the lights on during times of economic uncertainty,” Hobbs said in a press release.

“I understand the frustration Arizonans feel with these delays. Families deserve stability, and I’m committed to ensuring they can access the support they need when they need it while protecting critical programs from further federal cuts.”

How will investment in SNAP and unemployment assistance be used?

The additional funds from Hobbs will be used mainly to help address the staffing shortages and to improve the accuracy of SNAP funding by:

• Adding 15 temporary staff members, who will resolve claims and assist callers.
• Expanding vendor operating capacity.
• Continuing overtime opportunities for eligible staff.
• Enhancing technology and third-party verification.

The governor’s office added that the enhanced technology will streamline and automate manual processes, identify eligibility issues for those seeking SNAP benefits, provide user-friendly tools to help SNAP participants submit required documents, expand the capacity for income validation, and automate tools used by eligibility workers.

Additionally, the technology will be upgraded with the goal of reducing Arizona’s SNAP error rate, a statistic measuring the number of under- or overpayments resulting from miscalculations caused by changes in a recipient’s income, according to the governor’s office.

For the 2024 fiscal year, Arizona’s SNAP error rate was 8.84%, below the national average of 11%, but above the 6% threshold that could lead to federal funding being cut starting in the 2028 fiscal year.

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