Washington and Alaska Face SNAP Penalties Over High Payment Error Rates

Washington reported a 6.98% SNAP payment error rate for fiscal year 2025, below the national average of 10.6% but still triggering federal penalties under the One Big Beautiful Bill. States with error rates between 6% and 8% must cover 5% of SNAP benefits, costing Washington more than $90 million; rates of 8%–10% would raise the cost to nearly $200 million, and rates above 10% to almost $300 million. The state aims to bring its error rate below 6% and has allocated staff to improve accuracy.

Alaska posted a 23% error rate for the same period, the highest in the nation for a fourth straight year. Most errors were overpayments. While the high rate provides a temporary carve‑out from the new cost‑sharing requirement until as late as 2030, Alaska still faces an annual increase of about $11 million in its share of SNAP administrative costs and could see up to $40 million in additional expenses if the penalty were applied. The state attributes the errors to complex eligibility rules, manual processes and workforce challenges, and is pursuing IT modernization slated for completion in 2028.

Across the United States, erroneous SNAP payments exceeded $10 billion, prompting Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to call the data "further proof that state accountability is severely lacking in SNAP."