TOPEKA — The error rate in a Kansas food assistance program has dropped since Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, but the state still faces the possibility of paying a $20.6 million penalty to the federal government, a state spokeswoman said.
Kansas had an error rate of more than 12% in its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 2023, a statistic that drew sharp criticism from Republican party leaders, which inaccurately described it as the rate of fraud in the program.
The error rate dropped to 9.13% in federal fiscal year 2025 and continued the downward trend in 2026 with an error rate of 7.8%, said Erin La Row, Kansas Department for Children and Families spokeswoman.
The federal law requires states to attain error rates below 6% or face paying a percentage of the state’s SNAP benefits, depending on the error rate level. Kansas would be in the lowest category with its current error rate, paying 5% of benefits, La Row said. Only 10 states had error rates below 6% in 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The error rate is attributable to data input mistakes or errors made in determining a family’s eligibility based on income, size of household and other factors, DCF secretary Laura Howard said in previous interviews with Kansas Reflector. Fraud or suspected fraud is accounted for in a different way, Howard said.
“Kansas has made real progress in lowering the (payment error rate) and continues taking targeted steps to improve accuracy and accountability, including enhanced verification processes, expanded staff training, and improvements to case review procedures,” La Row said.
Farm Bill stalled
The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee deadlocked last week, failing to pass a Farm Bill because Republicans and Democrats couldn’t agree on whether to delay implementation of the SNAP requirements outlined in the reconciliation bill. Democrats are pushing for a two-year delay, while Republicans want a one-year delay.
If the farm bill doesn’t pass or a delay isn’t included, La Row said the state will pay 5% of SNAP benefits, which is about $20.6 million if the error rate stays at 7.8%, plus 75% of SNAP administration costs, which would be about $16.4 million in October 2027.
“Our goal is to continue reducing the (payment error rate) and avoid additional costs to the state under the proposed federal cost-sharing requirements despite increased administrative costs to the agency,” La Row said.
La Row said it’s clear that states across the country, led by Democratic and Republican governors, would like to see the Congress delay the cost-sharing provisions. That would give states more flexibility to determine which fiscal year’s error rate will determine the cost-share percentage.
“Additional flexibility would allow time for states to continue making progress on lowering error rates while ensuring eligible people can receive SNAP benefits to combat hunger as household costs continue to rise,” La Row said.
Household costs are up 3.5% over the year ending in June, according to a July report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers increased 3.5% from June 2025 to June 2026. Food prices rose 3.0% over that time period, while gasoline prices increased 26.7% and electricity prices were up 4%.
Decreased enrollment
The number of SNAP recipients in Kansas declined 10% since the reconciliation bill was implemented, La Row said. The state saw SNAP cases decrease by 9,600 between September 2025 and April 2026, which includes more than 11,000 adults and more than 9,800 children, La Row said.
“While the agency has not yet been able to do a comprehensive analysis of specific causes of the drop in caseloads, it is likely, at least in part, a consequence of unnecessary hurdles created by recent federal and state legislation, including the increased paperwork required to be submitted by clients to continue or begin receiving SNAP benefits,” she said.
In addition, La Row said, the increased paperwork load has caused delays in approving benefits and increased administrative costs to the state.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.