A large portion of federal funding to each state for food assistance will be based on SNAP payment processing accuracy, meaning those states with high payment error rates (PERs) will receive less funding. Under HR-1, states with PERs above 6% will be subject to a loss in funding (the average state PER was 10.9% in FY2024). The root cause of these payment errors is that state’s predigital SNAP payment processes cannot provide the data capabilities needed to provide error-free payments.
This report provides both strategic and near-term guidance for administrative leaders for taming their payment data error problems.