Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 91.djvu/1010

 91 STAT. 976

PUBLIC LAW 95-113—SEPT. 29, 1977 "(f) Any coupon issuer or any officer, employee, or agent thereof convicted of knowingly providing false information in the report required under section 7(d) of this Act shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. "ADMINISTRATIVE COST-SHARING AND QUALITY CONTROL

7 USC 2025.

Administration, standards. Reports.

Funds, withholding.

Federal share, adjustment. Effective date.

Annual quality control plan, submittal to Secretary. Effective date.

f

"SEC. 16. (a) The Secretary is authorized to pay to each State agency an amount equal to 50 per centum of all administrative costs involved in each State agency's operation of the food stamp program, which costs shall include, but not be limited to, the cost of (1) outreach, (2) the certification of applicant households, (3) the acceptance, storage, protection, control, and accounting of coupons after their delivery to receiving points within the State, (4) the issuance of coupons to all eligible households, and (5) fair hearings: Provided, That the Secretary is authorized to pay each State agency an amount not less than 75 per centum of the costs of State food stamp program investigations and prosecutions, and is further authorized at the Secretary's discretion to pay any State agency administering the food stamp program on all or part of an Indian reservation under section 11(d) of this Act such amounts for administrative costs as the Secretary determines to be necessary for effective operation of the food stamp program. "(b) The Secretary shall (1) establish standards for the efficient and effective administration of the food stamp program by the States, including, but not limited to, staffing standards such as caseload per certification worker limitations, and (2) instruct each State to submit, at regular intervals, reports which shall specify the specific administrative actions proposed to be taken and implemented in order to meet the efficiency and effectiveness standards established pursuant to clause (1) of this subsection. If the Secretary finds that a State has failed without good cause to meet any of the Secretary's standards, or has failed to carry out the approved State plan of operation under section 11(d) of this Act, the Secretary shall withhold from the State such funds authorized under subsections (a) and (c) of this section as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. "(c) Effective October 1, 1978, the Secretary is authorized to adjust a State agency's federally funded share of administrative costs pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, other than the costs already shared in excess of 50 per centum as described in the exception clause of subsection (a) of this section, by increasing such share to 60 per centum of all such administrative costs in the case of a State agency whose cumulative allotment error rates with respect to eligibility, overissuance, and underissuance as calculated in the quality control program undertaken pursuant to subsection (d)(1) of this section is less than five per centum. "(d) Effective October 1, 1978, and annually thereafter, each State not receiving an increased share of administrative costs pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be required to develop and submit to the Secretary for approval, as part of the plan of operation required to be submitted under section 11(d) of this Act, a quality control plan for the State which shall specify the actions such State proposes to take in order to reduce— " (1) the incidence of error rates in and the value of-— " (A) food stamp allotments for households which fail to meet basic program eligibility requirements;

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