Food Stamp Act Amendments of 1979

[AI summary unavailable — showing source text] Food Stamp Act Amendments of 1979 - Title I: Reduction in Food Stamp Error and Fraud - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to direct participating State agencies to elect and utilize, in calculating income for most households applying for food stamps, either of the following two methods: (1) taking into account the income reasonably anticipated to be received in the certification period and the income received during the 30 days preceding application, so as to ascertain the income actually available to the household for the certification period; or (2) using income received in a previous month as the basis in accordance with standards prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture (retrospective accounting). Prescribes general standards for State periodic household income reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to institute an error liability program under which each State agency shall pay to the Secretary the amount by which the dollar equivalent of the agency's payment error rate exceeds the dollar value equivalent of the national standard payment error rate, or an amount determined by a specified formula, whichever is higher. Directs the Secretary to establish a national payment…