Washington, D.C
DC staring at $4.4 million penalty for errors in paying out SNAP benefits – Washington Examiner
The federal government is fining Washington, D.C., $4.4 million due to what it considers a higher-than-acceptable error rate in its payments to recipients of food assistance programs.
It is the second year in a row that district officials have exceeded the error rate in processing benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The Department of Agriculture found that in 20% of cases, the district either overpaid or underpaid SNAP recipients.
The USDA only issues a penalty if the payment error rate exceeds 6% two years in a row.
Roughly 140,000 district families rely on SNAP benefits in order to make ends meet. Instances where an error occurs can have a severe impact on families as it can take months to correct them. Typically, the district’s Department of Human Services won’t even pick up on the errors as it falls on the families to bring it to the officials’ attention.
“Even when these errors are corrected, potentially months later, the impacted recipients and their families are not made whole,” Haley Hoff, an attorney with Legal D.C. advocating families who rely on SNAP, told the Washington Post. “District residents go hungry when [the D.C. Access System] prevents them from obtaining their full SNAP entitlement.”
Laura Zeilinger, director of the district’s Department of Human Services, and Wayne Turnage, deputy mayor of health and human services, attended a city council hearing to address concerns regarding the high payment error rates. The D.C. Access System — which is in control of administering SNAP benefits, the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families program, and about 300,000 Medicaid enrollees — is tremendously stressed, according to Turnage. It has reportedly cost taxpayers $600 million to develop and maintain the D.C. Access System.
Turnage said the staff managing the system have struggled to keep up with its high demands, and the have had to work overtime and weekend shifts. Since 2022, Washington, D.C., has the slowest processing rate for SNAP applications in the nation.
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USDA is allowing the district a few options in dealing with the fine. The agency would allow the city to reinvest half of the penalty in making improvements in the SNAP system.
Turnage said that the department is working to identify the core problems within the SNAP system.
WASHINGTON – Thousands are expected gather in Washington, D.C. for a “No Kings” march and rally.
Here’s everything you need to know:
What is the No Kings protest?
What we know:
Organized locally by area chapters of Indivisible and allied grassroots groups, the event aims to draw protesters to downtown Washington and surrounding counties to oppose policies of the Trump administration and to voice broader concerns about civil rights and democratic norms.
No Kings protest details
Timeline:
The march will kick off at 10 a.m., with participants gathering at Memorial Circle near Arlington Cemetery, with additional access from the Blue Line or nearby parking at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, according to the event organizers. There is no public parking in the immediate area, but participants can be dropped off at the circle.
From there, the procession will head across the Memorial Bridge into Washington, D.C., passing the Lincoln Memorial and continuing on to the Washington Monument.
At the conclusion of the march, participants can walk to a downtown rally, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Other ‘No Kings’ rallies in the DMV
Dig deeper:
In addition to the main rally in downtown D.C., several other demonstrations tied to “No Kings 3” are scheduled around the DMV this Saturday.
In Arlington, Virginia, activists are organizing a march across the Memorial Bridge beginning at 10 a.m., with protesters expected to continue into West Potomac Park before joining larger crowds in the District proper, for example.
There are hundreds of “No Kings” events scheduled to take place this Saturday throughout the DMV. You can click here to find a list of all of them.
How to watch No Kings march and rally in DC
What you can do:
FOX 5 DC will be covering No Kings in D.C. all day on FOX LOCAL and in the liveplayer at the top of this story.
FOX 5 DC is available to watch for free on Roku, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, Google Android TV and Vizio with the FOX LOCAL app. Here’s how to download FOX LOCAL on your mobile phone.
Washington, D.C
‘Strong smell’ shuts down flights at major DC-area airports for the second time this month
Check out what’s clicking on FoxBusiness.com.
A reported “strong smell” at a key air traffic control center disrupted flights Friday evening at major airports across the Washington, D.C., region for the second time in two weeks.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily halted flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO) and Richmond International Airport (RIC), the agency told FOX Business in an email.
The FAA said the disruptions were due to a “strong smell” at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) center, which manages airspace in the region.
GROUND STOP LIFTED AT MAJOR DC-AREA AIRPORTS AFTER CHEMICAL ODOR DISRUPTS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
An FAA air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
It was not immediately clear what caused the smell.
Ground stops at Dulles, Reagan National and BWI remained in effect until around 8 p.m. ET before being lifted, according to the FAA’s website.
NEWARK AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS LOST RADAR, RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITH PLANES FOR OVER A MINUTE, SPARKING CHAOS
The FAA said the disruption was due to a “strong smell” at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) center. (Flightradar24)
As of 8:30 p.m., Reagan National was experiencing ground delays, while BWI continued to see departure delays.
Earlier this month, a ground stop was similarly issued at several airports in the Washington, D.C., region after a chemical odor was detected at the TRACON center.
FATAL LAGUARDIA COLLISION RENEWS FOCUS ON RUNWAY INCURSION RISKS ACROSS US
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy speaks at a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The temporary ground stop March 13 similarly affected DCA, IAD, BWI and RIC, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time.
Duffy said the smell came from an overheated circuit board, which has since been replaced.
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