Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the annual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment error rates (PER), which measure how accurately states determine who is eligible for SNAP and how much they should receive.
- The national payment error rate for fiscal year (FY) 2025 is 10.62%, far surpassing the congressional threshold of 6%. Florida’s rate under Gov. Ron DeSantis is 12.97%, indicating significant waste at the state level.
“These payment error rates are further proof that state accountability is severely lacking in SNAP,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins. “USDA has taken historic action to help interested states curb SNAP waste, and I hope other states, regardless of political leadership, prioritize needy families and the American taxpayer over politics.”
Background: H.R. 1 added new guardrails for states’ payment error rates, implementing real financial consequences for states that mismanage taxpayer dollars. States with error rates at or above the 6% threshold will be responsible for covering 5%, 10%, or 15% of their states’ benefits. The higher their PER, the higher the percentage—and in most cases, as soon as October 1, 2027. The FY 2025 PER is the first year that could be used to calculate those percentages.
- In addition to this matching fund requirement, states with PER at or above 6% threshold are required to submit a Corrective Action Plan to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration detailing how they will address the root cause of their errors. Some of these states may also be liable for a separate financial penalty as part of the SNAP quality control process.
Andrade’s Calls Out DeSantis
Last week, I interviewed State Rep. Alex Andrade, who believes Gov. DeSantis has been “pretty checked out of actually focusing on the administration of our state since he began running for president.” He pointed to the mismanagement of the SNAP program as an example.
- “SNAP is 100% federally funded. The only part that the state has to pay is the administration of the program at the state level. So Florida SNAP program, the benefits of the SNAP program are about $6 billion that we get from the Feds that go directly to Floridians,” he shared.
“We are the worst or second-worst state in the country in allowing fraud, waste and abuse in our SNAP program, but that only began in 2022, Rick. and I think that there is somewhat of a correlation between when Gov. DeSantis started thinking of himself as a national figure and stopped caring about doing the day-to-day job of being governor and what happened in that program,” Andrade said. “Under Rick Scott, our average error rate, the percentage of the amount that we would potentially overpay in Snap to a person that didn’t qualify for Snap, hovered around four or five percent annually. Under Rick Scott, it’s now hovering around fifteen percent.”
Florida may have to contribute $1 billion to the SNAP program next year. Thanks, Ron.
