Alabama lawmakers are asking state officials for their plan to lower the payment error rate within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or to come up with the $200-plus million that the errors will cost the state starting in 2028 under the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Several later told Alabama Daily News they weren’t satisfied with the response they received during last week’s budget hearings.
“Regardless of how the error rate is calculated, the reality is clear: Alabama is performing poorly, and the trend is moving in the wrong direction,” Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, told Alabama Daily News. “When the commissioner knows the mistakes will cost the state an additional $200 million—and has no plan to absorb the shortfall—that is not foresight, it’s failure. Money does not grow on trees in the State of Alabama.”
The looming cost-sharing requirement is part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump last year. The law allows the federal government to shift up to 15% of SNAP benefit costs to states, depending on how accurately they administer the program commonly referred to as food stamps.
It comes as the state’s General Fund, which supports non-education agencies, is expected to see a 4.2% decline in revenue for FY27, which begins on Oct. 1, 2026.
In fiscal year 2024, Alabama’s payment error rate was 8.32%, placing it in the 10% cost-share bracket. Based on that rate and Alabama’s $1.77 billion in SNAP benefits paid out last year, the state would be responsible for about $177 million in additional costs in fiscal year 2028.
Under a separate change in the law, the federal government’s share of SNAP administrative costs will drop from 50% to 25% beginning in fiscal year 2027, meaning Alabama must cover an additional $39 million in administrative spending annually. That cost is coming regardless of what happens with the error rate.
The Alabama Department of Human Resources administers SNAP and Commissioner Nancy Buckner said the newest error rate is about 9%. About 740,000 Alabamians receive the food assistance.
Buckner said the state applied for a waiver to change some of the factors in the error rate calculation. A previous waiver application was denied. Buckner said she’d like to see some effort to change the rules at the federal level.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to count on the feds for help,” Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, said during budget hearings at the State House Thursday. “We’ve got to find a way (to lower the rate).”
In 2024, Alabama’s rate was lower than eight other southern states and nearly half of those in Florida and Georgia.
A rate below 6% does not require a state match.
“How are we going to get (below 6%) or are we going to?” Albritton said.
Buckner said there may be some wiggle room to get an exemption. Some states with the highest error rates have been allowed under the law to delay their cost sharing penalties.
Albritton later told Capitol Journal he didn’t agree with how error rates were calculated or used, “but that’s the guide we’ve been given.”
“We don’t have a choice in the matter, we have to meet the mark and that’s going to be difficult,” Albritton said. “We’ve got to start now.”
Buckner also told lawmakers that legislation currently in the State House would “shoot that error rate way up.”
She was referring to Sen. Arthur Orr’s Senate Bill 61, which would require several state agencies to more frequently check the eligibility of clients receiving benefits. Buckner has also said the bill would require more money and staff for her department.
That bill is awaiting a Senate vote, but Orr, R-Decatur, told ADN he’s open to amendments.
“That bill is an attempt to bring more accountability and make sure that only the eligible people are receiving Medicaid and the food stamps that they’re entitled to,” Orr said.
Buckner also said more staff could help reduce the rates, but many are out of the state’s control. The errors can originate from mistakes or delays on the part of DHR, Buckner said, or from inaction by those receiving benefits. If a client’s income level or the number of people living in their home changes and they don’t report it promptly to DHR, that’s an error, Buckner said. She said the winter weather in north Alabama recently caused some office closures. Payment processing delays will result in errors, she said.
Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, said the state can’t afford to wait and see what happens in the error rate.
“It’s her budget but at the end of the day, that money will have to come from somewhere and we need to have a plan,” Stutts said.
Stutts previously owned a medical clinic in the Shoals before retiring last year.
“I could not have run my practice on a 9% error rate on what came in and went out,” he said.