The department is asking lawmakers for about $5.46 million — half the amount of the fine — for a new computerized screening system to determine eligibility and benefits amounts for SNAP.

If the state commits that money to improve its accuracy, the federal government may waive the rest of the fine, lawmakers were told. Formerly known as food stamps, SNAP is the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service’s food aid program.

Hawaiʻi’s payment error rate was about 21% in the 2022 and 2023 federal fiscal years, nearly double the national average for both years, said Scott Morishige, administrator of the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division for the state Human Services department.

The errors were a combination of underpayments and overpayments of benefits, Morishige told Civil Beat. The Food and Nutrition Service imposed the $10.93 million fine last June, he said.

The department was flooded with applications for SNAP during the pandemic, and the federal government waived many of the normal rules that govern benefits.

Hawaiʻi took full advantage of those waivers, but its error rates escalated as the federal requirements were gradually reinstated in the years that followed, Morishige said.

Problems were aggravated by high turnover among employees responsible for determining eligibility, a state hiring freeze imposed in 2020 by then-Gov. David Ige, and larger-than-normal caseloads for the remaining workers.

The error rates were determined by audits of samples of Hawaiʻi’s SNAP caseloads.

Gov. Josh Green’s administration has submitted House Bill 1099 for the $5.46 million emergency appropriation so the state can pursue a “reinvestment option” to resolve the penalty.

A new Department of Human Services computer system called Benefits Eligibility Solution is being developed to replace its current system, which is nearly 40 years old. The $68 million project is scheduled to launch statewide in fall 2026, according to the department.

“Under the terms of the reinvestment option, if the reinvestment results in the payment error rate falling under and remaining below the national average, which is currently 11.68 percent, the State will not be required to pay the remaining fifty percent of the penalty,” DHS Director Ryan Yamane said in written testimony.

About 83,000 Hawaii households receive SNAP benefits totaling more than $60 million per month, according to research published last year by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization.

The administration’s request for emergency funding is backed by the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, which pointed out that an estimated 14,000 additional Hawaiʻi families are expected to join the SNAP rolls later this year following a change in state eligibility requirements.

The House Finance Committee gave preliminary approval to HB 1099 on Monday, and the Senate Ways and Means Committee was scheduled to take up a nearly identical request in Senate Bill 1418 on Thursday.

Story originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.