SNAP Payment Errors Costing Dozens of States Under New Law Signed by Trump
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
Several dozen states may be forced to shell out millions of dollars to provide food assistance to low-income residents if they do not reduce errors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments. In contrast, nine states will not have to pay a dime for SNAP benefits because their error rates are so low that they received an exemption from the cost-sharing requirement included in a major tax and spending law signed by President Donald Trump. Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture offers a first look at the winners—and potential losers—under the new law. The error rate refers to the percentage of SNAP benefits paid above or below what people should have received, primarily due to mistakes. While states with low error rates are guaranteed not to owe anything when the annual cost-sharing requirement takes effect in October 2027, others will have an additional year to try to reduce their errors and lessen the impact on their budgets. States with high error rates will have to make decisions that could affect their residents. To fund SNAP benefits, will they spend less on public schools, law enforcement, or mental health care? To save money, will they cut access to SNAP, making it harder to stay in the program? Or will they withdraw completely from the federal food assistance program that has existed for decades?
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
