Letter: SNAP fraud

To suggest that no amount of fraud occurs in the SNAP program is wrong. In the May 4th ADS article, State Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh is quoted as saying he thinks the "...massive decrease is caused by the fact that we had massive fraud in the system." Mr. Kavanaugh offers an opinion but states it as fact, for which he offers no evidence. Offering an opinion as fact does not reflect well of his years of experience in law enforcement. Furthermore, references to the error rate in the administration of the SNAP program leave out two important details. The error rate includes both the overpayment of benefits as well as the underpayment of benefits. And to distinguish further, the overpayment of benefits is partly due to intentional misrepresentation (fraud) as well as unintentional misrepresentation (mistakes) in the determination of eligibility and the amount of benefit. All available evidence indicates SNAP fraud does not exist at high levels.