The Vermont Agency of Human Services has given the Trump administration the sensitive personal information of tens of thousands of Vermonters receiving federal nutrition assistance benefits.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month notified states that they had until July 30 to provide federal agencies with the personal data of all residents enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Democratic attorneys general in 20 states filed a lawsuit last week to block the order, which, according to the suit, “flies in the face of privacy and security protections in federal and state law.”
I think the biggest downside for all of us is the undermining of trust that we as residents place in state systems that are designed to protect our privacy and serve our needs.Anore Horton, Hunger Free Vermont
In Vermont, however, Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s administration last week opted to voluntarily hand over the names, dates of birth, social security numbers and addresses of all members of any household that has received SNAP benefits over the past five years. The state is also planning to send data related to specific food purchases made by people with electronic benefits cards, once it compiles that information.
Vermont is not providing USDA with information related to individuals’ immigration status.
More than 64,000 Vermonters currently receive SNAP benefits, according to Miranda Gray, deputy commissioner of the Economic Services Division at the Department for Children and Families.
“While Vermont recognizes and shares the concern there might be over protecting personally identifying information, the SNAP funds are federally sourced, and we have an obligation to provide data as required by the USDA,” Gray said.
Vermont risked unspecified financial sanctions if it refused to comply with the order, according to Gray. She also said that legal counsel for the state Agency of Human Services determined that, under federal law, the USDA has the authority to access the information it was seeking.
The attorneys general in the states filing suit over the matter have come to a different conclusion.
“States are required to keep personal information about SNAP applicants and recipients strictly confidential,” their lawsuit says. “Both federal and state law prohibit them from disclosing personally identifying SNAP data unless strictly necessary for the administration of the program, or other limited circumstances exist.”
The USDA says the request for SNAP recipients’ personal information is part of a broader effort to stamp out “waste, fraud and abuse” in government-run programs. In a memo sent to states last month, the USDA said its request derives from a March 20 executive order signed by President Donald Trump. That order states that “removing unnecessary barriers” to government data, and promoting data sharing between state and federal governments, “are important steps toward eliminating bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency while enhancing the Government's ability to detect overpayments and fraud.”
Attorneys general fighting the order say the USDA’s rationale is spurious. They allege the move is “part of the federal government’s well-publicized campaign to amass enormous troves of personal and private data, including information on taxpayers and Medicaid recipients.”
(The Scott administration is) approaching this in a way that prevents me from being able to join a lawsuit.Attorney General Charity Clark
California Attorney General Bob Bonta said that campaign could have particularly severe implications for immigrants.
“Public reports indicate that federal officials are amassing huge databases of personal information on Americans and using that data for undisclosed purposes, including immigration enforcement,” Bonta said in a written statement last week.
Vermont did not join the multi-state lawsuit challenging the USDA order. Attorney General Charity Clark, a Democrat, said she “absolutely” would have worked with the Scott administration to fight the order, had it been interested.
“The implementation of the program is of course not done by my office, it’s done by the Scott administration,” she said. “And they are approaching this in a way that prevents me from being able to join a lawsuit.”
As a self-described “data privacy advocate,” Clark said she’s concerned by what she characterized as a “trend that we’ve seen taken by the Trump administration … to push the boundaries and norms around data privacy.”
Last month, Clark joined a separate lawsuit that challenges the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to share the personal information of Medicaid recipients with the Department of Homeland Security.
Food security advocates worry the Scott administration’s acquiescence to the USDA will undermine the integrity of a SNAP program that distributed about $200 million in benefits to Vermonters last year.
Anore Horton, executive director of Hunger Free Vermont, said her organization “strongly disagrees with the state’s decision to provide this private and sensitive data to the USDA.”
“Especially because there continues to be active lawsuits contesting the legality of this really unprecedented demand for our personal data by the Trump administration,” Horton said.
Horton said she also sympathizes with the “impossible situation” the Agency of Human Services faced.
“It’s comply, and risk breaking trust with Vermonters. Or refuse, and face pressure and possible retaliation from the Trump administration,” Horton said.
Miranda Gray, with the Department for Children and Families, said the USDA didn’t spell out the consequences states would face for noncompliance. She said sanctions could have ranged from reduction or elimination of benefits to the withholding of the federal government’s share of administrative costs for the program.
Horton said the release of SNAP recipients’ personal information has done a different kind of damage to the program.
“I think the biggest downside for all of us is the undermining of trust that we as residents place in state systems that are designed to protect our privacy and serve our needs,” she said. “When that trust is eroded, then these programs really cease to serve us well.”
