The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reported that California owes $1.4 billion due to errors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for Fiscal Year 2025. This amounts to $3.8 million in errors every day.
National Trend
California is not alone in this issue, as other Southwestern states are also facing similar problems with SNAP errors. The national payment error rate for Fiscal Year 2025 was 10.62%, exceeding the federal threshold of 6%.
A payment error rate refers to instances of overpayment or underpayment to households, which can result from households providing incomplete information or state data processing errors. The USDA oversees SNAP for the federal government and has taken steps to help states curb SNAP waste.
States that manage to stay below the 6% threshold are safe from financial penalties. However, states that exceed this threshold, like California, are subject to repayment of the errors. California had 5 million-plus people on SNAP last year, and the state’s Department of Social Services is working to improve payment accuracy and program access.
Other states, such as Colorado and Nevada, are also facing similar issues with SNAP errors. Colorado’s error rate was 10.09%, resulting in $143 million in errors, while Nevada’s error rate was 6.22%, resulting in $63 million in errors.
The USDA has reported that approximately 41 states, including Washington, D.C., exceeded the 6% error threshold, resulting in a total of $10.17 billion in government waste for Fiscal Year 2025.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
