27-05-2025
NYC Council to vote on ‘Receipts Act' for cash and food benefits applications
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – New York City Council is voting on a bill aimed at improving the transparency of the City's benefits application process.
The proposal dubbed The Receipts Act, would seek to provide New Yorkers with a confirmation notice within 48 hours of applying for cash assistance or SNAP benefits as well as receipts for documents received within five days of submission.
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Additionally, residents would get details such as the date of the application, a list of the documents submitted, a copy of the application, and an explanation of whether the application is complete or if further steps are needed.
Councilmember Tiffany Cabán sponsored the bill, saying it would help combat what she described as 'unnecessary delays, confusion, and rejections.'
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'It would streamline and expand the mechanisms that currently exist for transparency in the application process. And crucially, this bill would fill important gaps in the application process, strengthening these mechanisms and guaranteeing greater confidence among applicants,' Cabán said during a committee hearing in April.
Deborah Berkman, the Director of the Shelter and Economic Stability Project at New York Legal Assistance Group, says the proposed bill would make it easier for clients to follow up on their applications.
'So many times NYLAG clients visit DSS offices and attempt to apply or recertify or otherwise change their public benefits and they come away empty handed,' Berkman said during a committee hearing.
'Clients are later told that documents are needed when they were already submitted or that clients' applications are denied for 'failure to submit documents' when in fact they did include those documents with their application or submitted them within the time frame required.'
If passed, the bill would take effect 180 days after it becomes law.
Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here.
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