Food Programs — News & Analysis

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Releases Updated Farm Bill Proposal, but Key SNAP Harms Remain (August 3, 2026)

August 3, 2026 — Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AR) released updated Farm Bill legislative text late Friday ahead of a committee markup set for August 6, and the Nutrition Title remains largely unchanged, according to Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP Director at the Food Research & Action Center. The revisions add funding to implement chip-enabled EBT cards and adjust the cost-share provision, delaying the start of SNAP benefit cost sharing from FY 2028 to FY 2029 for most states. But the proposal does not delay the administrative cost shift taking effect this October, does not change the reference dates for the payment error rates that determine each state's new financial responsibility, and raises the maximum state share of benefit costs beginning in FY 2031. It also preserves authorization for contractors to perform key SNAP eligibility support functions, advancing privatization despite state experience showing that outsourced eligibility operations can increase processing delays, payment errors, and wrongful denials. Above all, FRAC notes, it does little for the almost 5 million people who have already lost access to SNAP since H.R. 1 passed.

The one-year delay does not change the underlying formula. USDA acknowledged when H.R. 1 became law that the payment error rates used for the new cost-sharing system were essentially already established, meaning they will not reflect operational improvements states have made since enactment — so states get another year to budget for the cost, not another year for accuracy gains to register in the rates that set their obligations. Meanwhile the administrative cost shift proceeds on schedule: beginning FY 2027 (October 2026), every state must pay 75 percent of SNAP administrative costs as federal reimbursement drops from 50 percent to 25 percent, moving roughly $17 billion to states over five years. That lands while state agencies are managing the largest operational transition in decades — redesigning eligibility systems, retraining staff, rewriting notices, implementing expanded work requirements and time limits, strengthening quality control, and deploying chip-enabled EBT — and while USDA itself absorbs workforce disruption from its relocation push, with states reporting delays in technical assistance and policy guidance. The proposal also preserves unequal timelines, giving most states one year while states with exceptionally high error rates get an additional year to FY 2030, and states with error rates at or above 10 percent would pay 20 percent of benefit costs starting FY 2031, up from 15 percent under current law.

A recent survey of state SNAP agencies by APHSA found 42 percent (16 states) identified freezing or reducing hiring as a likely response to the new financing structure, 29 percent (11 states) identified narrowing eligibility policies as a potential consequence, and 11 percent (4 states) indicated they may consider withdrawing from or pausing participation in SNAP if the burden becomes unsustainable. FRAC urged advocates to press committee members to delay both the administrative cost shift and benefit cost sharing by two years without increasing states' future obligations, update the payment error rate reference years so states receive credit for post-H.R. 1 improvements, apply implementation relief equally across states, restore adequate federal administrative funding, and reverse the H.R. 1 cuts outright. In May, all Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee said they would not negotiate a Farm Bill that fails to address the harms H.R. 1 caused to food assistance.

Source documents: Agricultural Act of 2026, updated Farm Bill text · Federal Register notice on federal-state administrative cost sharing · APHSA state SNAP agency survey results · FRAC table of estimated state administrative and benefit cost shares