New Court Ruling is a Victory for People Who Receive SNAP, Other Benefits
New York Court Rules That State Agency Must Provide Administrative Hearings Within Timeframes and Restrains Collection of Overpaid Benefits
For Immediate Release: January 5, 2026
Contact:
- Patrick Fowler, Communications Strategist, NCLEJ | fowler@nclej.org
- Saima Akhtar, Senior Attorney, NCLEJ | akhtar@nclej.org
- Alex Dery Snider, Policy and Communications Director, Empire Justice Center| aderysnider@empirejustice.org
New York, NY – In a major victory for New Yorkers reliant on public benefits, Albany County Supreme Court Justice Sara W. McGinty ruled that the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has violated mandatory time periods for holding administrative fair hearings and unconstitutionally deprived public benefits recipients of due process.
Justice McGinty found that OTDA failed to provide timely fair hearings regarding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance (TA) benefits, and failed to provide adequate notice or the ability suspend Aid Continuing (AC) payments accrued beyond the legal fair hearing resolution period.
The Court ruled that OTDA must immediately hold fair hearings for identified class members within legally-mandated timeframes, must issue new notices and materials advising applicants and recipients of assistance of their AC rights and limit collection of AC payments beyond the legal fair hearing resolution periods.
Read the Court decision and order here.
In June 2024, the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) and Empire Justice Center filed a class-action lawsuit against the OTDA over the agency’s failure to provide fair hearings within legally mandated timeframes. People who are applying for or receiving SNAP or TA may request a fair hearing to have OTDA review the decision of a county department of social services to deny, reduce, terminate, or take other adverse action on their benefits. Regulations require that OTDA issue decision within 60 days of a hearing request concerning SNAP, and within 90 days of a hearing request concerning TA.
Many low-income individuals waiting for their hearing decisions struggle to meet their basic needs while they wait months or even years for hearing decisions that would fix problems with their SNAP or TA benefits. OTDA’s failure to hold fair hearings within mandatory timeframes has resulted in eligible individuals going for months or even years without receiving essential SNAP and TA benefits. Without these critical benefits to meet their basic needs, the Plaintiffs in this lawsuit were forced to choose between paying utilities or paying for food, or rely on family members to meet their basic expenses.
As of May 31, 2024, there were more than 53,000 unresolved hearings regarding SNAP or TA benefits that were awaiting overdue decisions, including 15,797 hearings pending for more than a year, 6,511 pending for more than two years, and 2,084 pending for three years or longer. Throughout 2023 and early 2024, only 14.2% of fair hearings found the initial decision that denied or reduced benefits to be correct, meaning most individuals being deprived of benefits because of fair hearing delays would otherwise be legally eligible to receive them. Additionally, many individuals have incurred large debts from overpayments of benefits that would not have resulted if OTDA held their fair hearings within legally required timelines. One plaintiff waited over 16 months for a hearing decision that left her owing more than $8,000 to the County. If her hearing had been held and decided on time, she would have owed less than one-quarter of this amount.
“While waiting for their long-delayed fair hearings to challenge wrongful denials of SNAP and TA benefits, many of our clients have been forced to skip meals so their children could eat,” said Saima Akhtar, Senior Attorney at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. “This Court order is a strong affirmation of their due process rights. Our clients desperately need OTDA to perform its job properly, and this victory is a major towards making that happen.”
“This decision is a critical win for our class who have waited months, and even years, longer than what is required by law to receive a fair hearing decision. We are pleased that the court agrees that for appellants who accumulated large overpayments due to the state’s delays, collection of the overpayment should be limited,” said Haley Kulakowski, Public Benefits Attorney, Empire Justice Center.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) advances racial and economic justice for low-income families, individuals, and communities across the country through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. Founded in 1965, NCLEJ protects access to critical benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, and childcare; empowers low-wage workers, advocates for people with disabilities; and fights unlawful debt collection.
Empire Justice Center is a statewide nonprofit law firm whose mission is to make the law work for all New Yorkers, particularly for those who need its protection most. We take a 360-degree, comprehensive approach to changing systems by engaging in three major and interconnected areas of service. We teach the law by providing training, support and technical assistance to legal services and other community-based organizations; we practice the law by providing direct, civil legal assistance to low-income people with a particular focus on those from marginalized communities; and we change the law by engaging in policy analysis, research and advocacy and undertaking impact litigation to get at the root of systemic issues.
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