Why It Matters

A bill reported by the Senate Agriculture Committee (S. 5526) would delay by one year, from October 1, 2027, to October 1, 2028, when states must begin sharing the cost of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, with each state's share based on its payment error rate. A new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report examines the gap between the House-passed and Senate committee-reported farm bills on that question. CRS also noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had not issued regulations or guidance on how state cost-sharing of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be implemented.

The Big Picture

The Agricultural Act of 2026 (S. 5526), reported by the Senate Agriculture Committee on Sept. 24, would delay the general start of state SNAP benefit cost-sharing by one year, to Oct. 1, 2028. Under the proposal, states could base their first year of cost-sharing on the lower of their fiscal year 2026 or fiscal year 2027 payment error rates, and states with error rates of at least 13.33% in both fiscal years 2025 and 2026 would qualify for a further delay until fiscal year 2030. Beginning in fiscal year 2031, the Senate proposal would raise the maximum state share from 15% to 20% for states with payment error rates of 10% or higher.

The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567), which passed the House, contains no provision affecting federal-state SNAP benefit cost-sharing and retains current law on that issue.

Based on USDA's release of fiscal year 2025 payment error rates in June, CRS said most jurisdictions would be subject to some cost-sharing in fiscal year 2028 under current law, unless their fiscal year 2026 rates fall below 6%. CRS cautioned that this assessment assumed cost-sharing would be based on the point estimate of each jurisdiction's error rate, and that actual obligations could shift depending on later error-rate data.

The Bottom Line

With S. 5526 reported to the full Senate and H.R. 7567 having passed the House, the Senate measure would postpone the onset of state SNAP benefit cost-sharing and eventually raise the ceiling for high-error states, while the House bill would preserve the current-law schedule entirely.

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