Food Stamp Act Amendments of 1979

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.

Requires the Secretary to change the method of calculating each State agency's payment error rate if, after study, the Secretary determines that it is feasible to include in such calculation invalid decisions denying eligibility to households which are in fact eligible.

Requires any person disqualified from the food stamp program for fraudulent conduct, as a condition of readmittance, to agree either to a reduction in household allotment or to repayment in cash in order to reimburse the Federal Government for the value of the coupons obtained through the fraudulent conduct which resulted in such disqualification.

Authorizes the Secretary and State agencies to require, obtain, and use social security numbers assigned to household members applying for or participating in the food stamp program. Requires the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to disclose to the Secretary and such agencies specified information about employment earnings and benefit payments contained in Social Security Administration records, and also any tax return information previously disclosed to him from the master files of the Internal Revenue Service, which is necessary for determining or auditing a household's eligibility. Requires similar disclosures regarding unemployment compensation and any refused offers of employment from State unemployment compensation agencies.

Permits each State to retain 50 percent of the value of all funds or allotments recovered or collected by it pursuant to prosecutions and other State activities directed at allotments obtained as a result of fraud. Prohibits officials charged with making determinations of fraud from receiving or benefiting from such revenues.

Sets the certification period for households required to submit periodic income reports at not less than six nor more than 12 months.

States that the Consumer Price Index referred to in the computation of household income is the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers.

Title II: Food Stamp Funding - Increases from $6,158,900,000 to $6,808,900,000 the ceiling on appropriations authorized for the food stamp program for fiscal year 1979, and removes the ceilings for fiscal years 1980 and 1981.