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The penalty would affect the state\u2019s 2027-28 budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s Department of Human Services, which manages Pennsylvania\u2019s food stamp program, hasn\u2019t yet responded to Straight Arrow\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of many changes made to the nation\u2019s SNAP benefits that scholars previously described to Straight Arrow<\/a> as an overhaul.\u00a0<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Agriculture calculates error rates based on benefits issued to ineligible households, overpayments to eligible households and underpayments to eligible households, according to the Food Research and Action Center<\/a>. FRAC added that the calculation doesn\u2019t include barriers to entry, timeliness of case processing and program abuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, relying on payment error rates as a comprehensive performance metric can obscure other critical aspects of program administration and lead to misleading conclusions about program effectiveness,\u201d the organization wrote.<\/p>\n The Keystone State isn\u2019t alone. Multiple states could see higher budgets because the bill created a sliding-scale penalty for rates that exceed 6%. The national average is at 10.62%, according to the USDA. <\/a>Only 10 states have rates below 6%. They are Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Vermont and the U.S. Virgin Islands.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese payment error rates are further proof that state accountability is severely lacking in SNAP,\u201d USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a June release<\/a> announcing the 2025 fiscal year\u2019s error rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rollins added on X<\/a> that the national average meant that, on average, $10.1 billion in benefits were paid to households in error.\u00a0<\/p>\n States won\u2019t see benefit share penalties until Oct. 1, 2027. The USDA added that the 2025 fiscal year is the first that could be used to calculate error rates. Beyond the high error rates, the USDA requires states to submit corrective action plans that detail how they\u2019ll address errors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not backing down in the fight to make SNAP more accountable to the American taxpayer,\u201d Rollins wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Benefit costs according to error rates<\/p>\n The bill implemented a penalty that applies based on how high a state\u2019s error rate is, the fiscal office said in the release. If rates are below 6%, states do not have to fund a percentage of benefit costs:<\/p>\n Rates between 6% and 8% would be a 5% penalty<\/p>\n Between 8% and 10%, the penalty is 10%<\/p>\n Rates above 10% require a 15% penalty.\u00a0<\/p>\n No such structure existed before the One Big Beautiful Bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ten-digit increases\u00a0<\/p>\n