BREAKING: Senate Farm Bill Declines to Delay SNAP Funding Shift For States

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Arkansas) released his version of the farm bill Tuesday. The Senate version largely follows the farm bill the House passed earlier this year, including the omission of a controversial provisions on pesticides.

Notably, the Senate version maintains a provision from the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that shifts costs to states for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Democrats and anti-hunger advocates have pushed in recent months for the cost-shift to be removed or delayed. Without the delay in place, the Senate farm bill faces an uphill battle garnering enough votes from Democrats, on top of a tight schedule to fit negotiations into the remaining Congressional calendar.

Under the OBBB, states are expected to cover a portion of SNAP benefits for the first time. This coincides with more administrative costs for states and various changes to eligibility that states must implement.

The total amount a state will be responsible for depends on its SNAP payment error rates, which are largely administrative mistakes resulting in under or overpayments. For most states, the cost-shift is set to start October 2027. But states with the highest error rates could get as much as two extra years before the shift kicks in.

Democrats have argued all states should get an additional two years, not just those with the highest rates.

Governors and other leaders have warned the policy could cost states millions of dollars and does not give them a lot of time to lower error rates or adjust their budgets.

Meanwhile, SNAP participation has dropped by at least 4 million people since the passage of the OBBB, according to the latest data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Some of this drop is attributed to states boosting paperwork requirements in an attempt to rapidly lower error rates.