Leggio v. Devine

• Decision Date: 13 February 2020
• Docket Number: No. 9,9
• Citation: 121 N.Y.S.3d 206,34 N.Y.3d 448,143 N.E.3d 1084
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: In the Matter of Tina LEGGIO, Appellant, v. Sharon DEVINE, as Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, et al., Respondents.

34 N.Y.3d 448

143 N.E.3d 1084

121 N.Y.S.3d 206

In the Matter of Tina LEGGIO, Appellant,

v.Sharon DEVINE, as Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, et al., Respondents.

No. 9

Court of Appeals of New York.

February 13, 2020

Jeffrey Seigel, Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc., Islandia (Beth C. Zweig of counsel), for appellant.

Letitia James, Attorney General, New York City (Andrew W. Amend, Philip V. Tisne and Barbara D. Underwood of counsel), for Sharon Devine, respondent.

Empire Justice Center, Albany (Saima A. Akhtar and Susan C. Antos of counsel), for Empire Justice Center, amicus curiae.

OPINION OF THE COURT

WILSON, J.

In this CPLR article 78 proceeding, a parent challenges the determination of a local social services agency, confirmed by a state agency, that child support payments she receives, made for the benefit of five of her children living at home, including two college students between the ages of 18 and 22, are included as "household" income when deciding whether and to what extent the household is eligible for benefits under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as "food stamps." She contends that because her two children in college are ineligible for SNAP, their pro rata share of the support funds should be excluded, lowering the household's income such that it would qualify to receive SNAP benefits. We confirm the agency's determination based on deference to its policy choice in administering a federal assistance program.

I.

Congress created SNAP to provide food for people in need. SNAP is administered by the states, in compliance with rules and regulations set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). SNAP benefits are disbursed to "household" units based on a formula that considers a household's income and size.

At the relevant time, petitioner Tina Leggio was a single parent raising five children under the age of 22.¹ The two eldest children were full-time college students who lived at home. Because they did not satisfy any of the conditions for a student enrolled in higher education at least half-time to be eligible for SNAP, as enumerated in 7 CFR 273.5(b), and were not otherwise eligible for a federal exemption under the law, they were ineligible for the program. The children's father paid $593.75 per week to support all five children. The household had been receiving SNAP benefits because Ms. Leggio's income, including the child support, had been below the applicable income limit.

In October 2014, upon Ms. Leggio's application to recertify under SNAP, the Suffolk County Department of Social Services (DSS) discontinued the household's benefits because its income exceeded the upper limit for a household of four (Ms. Leggio plus her three younger children, excluding the two in college). Because the two older children were ineligible for SNAP, DSS did not count them as household members. Nevertheless, DSS included the full amount of child support in its calculation of household income. Ms. Leggio challenged that determination, contending that because her two children in college were excluded from SNAP benefits, their pro rata share of the child support payment (two-fifths of $593.75, or $237.50 per week) should likewise be excluded from household income, rendering the household SNAP-eligible.²

After a hearing, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) determined that DSS correctly discontinued Ms. Leggio's benefits. OTDA held that child support funds are "income given to the parent and [are] under the parent's control" and therefore, the total amount of child support was household income, even though a portion of it was used "exclusively for [Ms. Leggio's two college student] sons' everyday expenses, such as school, clothing, and food" (Decision After Fair Hearing, No. 6878939Z [OTDA December 30, 2014]). OTDA's analysis depended on the fact that the students lived at home, as distinguished from "child support income for an ineligible student living outside of the SNAP household" which must be excluded from household income.

Ms. Leggio brought this CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul OTDA's determination. Supreme Court transferred the matter to the Appellate Division, which confirmed OTDA's determination on a different rationale and dismissed the proceeding ( 158 A.D.3d 803, 72 N.Y.S.3d 528 [2d Dept. 2018] ). Although it held that the child support monies were income of the children, not Ms. Leggio, the Appellate Division concluded that because the college students were disqualified from SNAP, and did not work a minimum of twenty hours per week or qualify for any other exemption that would make them SNAP-eligible, their unearned income still qualified as income of the household pursuant to 7 CFR 273.11(c)(1). That section counts the income of persons disqualified from SNAP for failure to comply with work requirements, among other program disqualifiers, against the remaining SNAP-eligible household members.

We granted Ms. Leggio leave to appeal, and now affirm the Appellate Division order on different grounds. The plain text of the statutes and regulations that bind OTDA provide that income of ineligible college students, including child support income, must be excluded from household income, contrary to the Appellate Division's reading of the governing law (see 7 CFR 273.5 [d]; 273.11[d] ). Consequently, if Ms. Leggio's two eldest children are the owners of their pro rata shares of the child support she receives, the household would be eligible for SNAP benefits.³ Conversely, if child support funds are considered income of the custodial parent who received them (here, Ms. Leggio) they are household income not subject to any exclusion, and Ms. Leggio's household's income would be too high to receive SNAP benefits. Although the consequences of allocating the income are clear, the threshold question, whether child support is income of the recipient-parent or of the beneficiary-child for purposes of determining eligibility for SNAP benefits, is unresolved by any federal or state statute or regulation or decision of this Court.

We conclude that OTDA's interpretation of the federal statutes it administers was not irrational and is entitled to deference and thus, for the purposes of SNAP, child support directly received by a parent is household income, even if it is used for the benefit of an ineligible college student living at home.

II.

A.

In the context of SNAP, "household" is a term of art meaning "an individual who lives alone or who, while living with others, customarily purchases food and prepares meals for home consumption separate and apart from the others; or a group of individuals who live together and customarily purchase food and prepare meals together for home consumption" ( 7 USC § 2012 [m][1] ). USDA has adopted rules applying the household concept to various living arrangements including, as relevant here, that people under the age of 22 and living with a parent, "must be considered as customarily purchasing food and preparing meals with the others, even if they do not do so, and thus must be included in the same household, unless otherwise specified" ( 7 CFR 273.1 [b][1][ii] ). Thus, under federal law, Ms. Leggio's two children in college are part of her household for SNAP purposes.

To be eligible for SNAP benefits, household members between the ages of 16 and 60 also must comply with work requirements set out in 7 CFR 273.7, promulgated pursuant to the statutory conditions of participation in the program (see 7 USC § 2015 [d][1] ). Household members between the ages of 18 and 50 who are students are exempt from the work requirements set forth in section 273.7 but are not eligible to participate in SNAP unless they comply with student-specific eligibility requirements found in 7 CFR 273.5(b) (see 7 USC § 2015 [e]; 7 CFR 273.7 [b][viii] ). Students can satisfy those requirements by working a minimum of 20 hours per week, participating in a state or federally financed work-study program, or participating in an on-the-job training program, among other ways. Some students are eligible for SNAP without participating in qualifying work, such as those who are physically or mentally unfit, receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits, or responsible for the care of certain dependents.

Federal regulations govern the way in which administering state agencies account for the income of people who fall within or without SNAP eligibility rules (see 7 CFR 273.11 ). When a household member is ineligible for SNAP benefits based on a failure to comply with the work requirements of section 273.7, that person's income nevertheless counts as income available to the household under section 273.11(c)(1). In other words, the household is penalized when one of its members fails to meet work requirements because that person is not counted as a member of the household, lowering the denominator in the income-to-people ratio, though that person's income is still counted in the numerator.

According to the student-specific rules of 7 CFR 273.5, "the income and resources of an ineligible student shall be handled as outlined in § 273.11(d)," which is different from the regulations' treatment of other SNAP-ineligible people, whose income is handled under section 273.11(c). In turn, section 273.11(d) excludes the income of certain nonhousehold members from the household. The effect is that a household is penalized for income attributable to someone who fails to comply with work requirements, immigration requirements, or other rules of SNAP (such as refusing to obtain or provide a social security number) but is not penalized for income attributable to a SNAP-ineligible student. The rulemaking history of section 273.5 confirms that it was USDA's intent to treat students differently from other SNAP-ineligible people, as evidenced by that agency's response to comments in its final...