Senate Democrats Continue Push For Delay on SNAP Changes for States

The Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) included a mandate for states to cover a portion of benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

While states already cover some administrative costs of the program, this would be the first time they are also responsible for paying for benefits. For most states, the cost-shift will start October 2027, but Democrats have pushed for more time, as states adjust to the new law and work to lower their error rates. Benefits and the timeline are both tied to error rates, or the amount of food assistance erroneously distributed by state offices.

But states with an error rate above 13.33 percent in fiscal year 2025 have an additional year before the cost-shift kicks in. Those with the same error rate in fiscal year 2026 get another year extension, meaning states with the highest error rates delay having to cover the additional program costs until October 2029.

During a Senate Agriculture Committee oversight hearing, the top Democrat on the panel, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), indicated farm bill talks were progressing in a bipartisan manner, but members are concerned about the inequities in the SNAP cost-shift.

Democrats on the Hill and anti-hunger advocates have pushed to include this cost-shift delay in several funding vehicles, including the House farm bill, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

Now, critics of the provision see an opportunity with the upcoming Senate farm bill.

Democratic senators who formerly served as governors have also raised objections to the policy. On Tuesday, six senators—John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Mark Warner (D-Virginia), Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire), Angus King (I-Maine), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire)—released a statement backing Democratic efforts to delay the cost-shift by two years.

They called the cost-shift a “ticking time bomb” and warned that some states could face an additional $100 million cost per year.

“As former governors who have had to balance budgets, we know exactly what this unfunded mandate means: states will be forced to raise taxes, cut education, health care, or transportation, or restrict access to SNAP itself,” the lawmakers said. “Some may be forced to drop the program entirely.”