TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Florida Capital Bureau) – Millions of Floridians may lose access to SNAP due to the state’s high error rate, according to political analyst Holly Bullard of the Florida Policy Institute.
She reported that if the $984 million penalty is applied, Florida’s SNAP program could close altogether accounting for the economic deficit Florida is situated at.
Specifically, she said that by FY 28-29 the state could be facing over a $6 billion deficit in revenue and lack funding to properly fund the state’s SNAP program.
The USDA released a report showing that in 2025 Florida reported a SNAP error rate of more than 12 percent. This is almost twice the acceptable error rate of 6 percent set by Congress.
After federal bill H.R.1 was passed last year, states are required to cover between 5 through 15 percent of monthly SNAP benefit costs beginning in FY 2028.
What percent the states now pay depends on that error rate.
Bullard said that the consequences of this high error rate could be catastrophic for the future of the program
“If we do not get our act together and ensure that we an fund this state penalty this cost share for SNAP in FY 29, it would be the equivalent of losing all the food that’s in the state of Florida times nine and I don’t if I can expand the cascading impact of that,” Bullard said.
She continued to talk about the vulnerable populations that would be most heavily impacted in this scenario.
“On our economy, on child welfare, on the welfare of our seniors, I don’t know if I can put it into words,” she said.
The legislature allocated $4 million in this year’s state budget for AI detection program designed to lower the error rate in the next fiscal year.
This amount is a part of the total $38 million allocated to Florida’s SNAP program in this year’s budget.
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