Arizona requires food aid checks and tests certain cash aid recipients

The Arizona Department of Economic Security must check food aid eligibility and drug-test certain adults receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash aid. The rules cover Arizona households applying for or receiving SNAP food aid and otherwise eligible adult recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash aid. Food aid checks use state and federal records about income, gambling winnings, and other eligibility factors. Reliable information about changed circumstances requires a case review. Residency generally needs proof beyond the person's own statement, with unusual exceptions allowed by federal law. Drug testing requires reasonable cause to believe an otherwise eligible adult recipient illegally uses controlled drugs. A positive test for a drug not prescribed to that person by a licensed health care provider causes a one-year benefit cutoff. Federal money for administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, must enter its dedicated fund before spending. The law makes that money available for program administration. Monthly reports cover certain SNAP households whose eligibility follows federal category rules, their participation, and benefits. An estimate of payment errors for federal fiscal year 2025–2026 is due within 30 days after the final month's quality reviews are submitted to federal officials. Spending reports must include fraud investigations, prosecution referrals, improper payments, and recoveries. The SNAP fund, eligibility checks, and temporary reporting duties end after June 30, 2027. A report on efforts to improve the accuracy and speed of SNAP decisions is due on or before that date.

Arizona's mobile home relocation fund pays eligible moving costs, and the housing trust fund gives first priority to state money needed to match federal program funding. Moving aid covers eligible tenants affected by park redevelopment or changed use, qualifying rent increases, or a park dropping its age restriction. Housing fund priorities guide awards for housing and shelter programs. Approved moving costs are capped at $22,500 for a single-section home or $30,000 for a multisection home. Payment requires an approved contract, moving permits, and inspection and approval to occupy the installed home. Rent-related aid requires tenant ownership and a rent increase at lease expiration or renewal exceeding 10% plus the specified regional inflation measure over any consecutive 12 months. Increases prescribed in a written rental agreement are excluded. Aid for a park becoming an all-age community requires tenant ownership and a move to another age-restricted community in Arizona. Park-use aid excludes previously announced departures, purchases or move-ins after notice, and landlord-paid moves within the park. The housing trust fund's first-four-month priority order is state matching money for federal programs, emergency shelters, transitional housing, and other housing for people with serious mental illness who persistently resist treatment. Moving contracts are due within 60 days after park-use moves, at least 30 days before qualifying rent increases, or within 180 days after age-use change notice takes effect. Reviews take 15 days; silence counts as approval. Housing priorities apply during each fiscal year's first four months.

The Arizona Department of Economic Security provides grants for care before school, after school, and when school is out. Grants support eligible providers serving school-age children who need care outside school hours. Children must be at least five and no older than 18, be eligible for or enrolled in kindergarten, and come from households earning $150,000 or less per year. Eligible nonprofit organizations, public schools, and care providers must operate mainly outside school hours, have experience providing this care, serve only eligible children, and support learning or youth development. Grants use money set aside by lawmakers. The program must reduce participating families' care costs or offer care at no cost. No more than 5% of fund money may pay for administration; unspent money remains available. At least 30% of grant money is allocated for rural communities, but it may be used elsewhere if rural applications are insufficient. Rural grants may support school district and nonprofit partnerships improving public buildings to provide more out-of-school care. Annual reports are due on or before August 1, starting in 2026. Reports count children newly enrolled. Permission to use rural grants for public-building improvements ends after June 30, 2027.

The Arizona Department of Economic Security takes responsibility for early childhood listening and spoken language contracts from the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. Services cover eligible families with infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing. Beginning July 1, 2027, the agency must contract with Arizona listening and spoken language providers if lawmakers make funding available. A certified auditory verbal educator or therapist—a specialist in listening and spoken language—must provide or oversee services. Eligible families must receive referrals to both contracted providers and the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. The agencies must agree on a transfer plan to prevent service gaps. Remaining fiscal year 2026–2027 service money transfers after contractor invoices are paid. Up to 10% of money set aside for the service contracts may pay administrative costs. Existing contracts and contracts in progress transfer on or before November 1, 2026, keeping their current status.

The military family relief fund operates through December 31, 2031, and qualifying cash donations can earn a state income tax credit through that date. The fund serves eligible service members, veterans, and their families. The tax credit covers qualifying cash donations to its pre-9/11 and post-9/11 accounts. The fund receives private donations, grants, and gifts. Assistance depends on financial need linked to military service and is capped at $20,000 per family. Families must meet service-related death, injury, or serious illness rules and Arizona connection requirements. Applicants using the residency route must show at least 12 months of continuous physical presence. Any military discharge must be under honorable conditions. The credit cannot exceed the donation or state income tax owed. Its ceiling is $200 for single filers or heads of household and $400 for joint filers. Married separate filers each receive at most half the joint allowance. Qualifying donations are limited to a combined $1 million each calendar year, in the order received. Unspent money not already committed transfers to the veterans' donations fund on December 31, 2031. The fund and donation-credit laws are repealed after December 31, 2031.