Georgia: Good at not giving food stamps to the wrong people

So says this press release from the governor's office:

ATLANTA– Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that the state of Georgia will receive a High Performance Bonus of $4 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its management of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program.

“Georgia has made great strides in providing better administration of SNAP,” said Governor Perdue. “I want to commend Commissioner B.J. Walker and all the employees at the Department of Human Services for providing efficient service to some of Georgia’s neediest citizens. In difficult economic times, we will continue to strive to deliver core services to Georgians and serve as a model for the nation.”

The average national payment error rate for FY 2008 was 5.01 percent. Georgia’s average, 2.5 percent, was less than half of the national average. Georgia was also the most improved in the country. In FY 2007, Georgia’s payment error rate was 8.13 percent.

In addition, Georgia also outperformed the nation in the negative error rate which measures whether a state correctly determines eligibility. Georgia’s negative error rate was 4.13 percent, while the national average was 10.88 percent.