41 states at risk of losing federal SNAP funds, new data shows: What to know

(NEXSTAR) – Dozens of states are going to have to start forking over more money to fund SNAP (or end up cutting food assistance) if they don’t get their error rates in check.

With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill last year, the Trump administration put states on notice: If they don’t get their error rates under control, they’ll lose partial federal funding for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps), starting with the 2028 fiscal year.

The target is an error rate under 6%, but few states are meeting that benchmark. In fact, in the latest batch of data released in June, there were more states with double the target rate than states that fell under it.

The error rate refers to the percentage of SNAP benefits paid either above or below what people should have received, primarily because of mistakes. It includes overpayments and underpayments, but overpayments are more common.

States with error rates higher than 6% will be required to start paying between 5% and 15% of benefit costs in October 2027. Those with higher error rates generally must pay more, but states with especially high mistake rates will........

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