Make Recommendations to Eliminate Waste, Fraud, & Abuse to LFC 

Santa Fe, NM — This week, Republican legislators were successful in their attempt to incorporate an in-depth audit of New Mexico's administration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. This was accomplished by amending House Bill 1 in the 2nd special legislative session to include the funding and directives to the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse of the program. 

Furthermore, House and Senate Republican Leadership issued guidance and recommendations to strengthen LFC's audit in the form of a letter to Charles Sallee, the Director of LFC. The letter strongly advocates for:

Reduce SNAP payment errors: Investigate why New Mexico has a 14.5% error rate in benefit payments; recommend fast, efficient ways to hit the new federal 6% error limit from the recent budget bill.

Strengthen eligibility checks: Review Health Care Authority (HCA) rules for deciding who qualifies; suggest better safeguards for verifying income and other details to run the program properly.

Fight EBT card fraud: Fully analyze HCA's anti-fraud tools; check if they're effectively stopping illegal black-market sales of EBT cards. The final report must list extra steps/policies to sharply cut down on these illegal sales.

Block benefits to undocumented immigrants: Detail HCA's current steps to ensure undocumented people don't get benefits improperly, including how they recover any wrong payments. Recommend upgrades to procedures for stronger due diligence to prevent this.

Improve food nutrition standards: Examine what foods SNAP allows; recommend changes to prioritize wholesome, nutritious items that help recipients prepare healthy home-cooked meals.

Prepare for new work requirements: With the federal bill adding stricter work rules for some recipients (New Mexico currently has a waiver), assess if HCA is ready to enforce them properly.

*The adopted amendment language and letter are provided in the attachments. 

*LFC's preliminary findings will be available 1/20/26 and the Final Report will be available 7/1/26.