According to an October  report by Ballotpedia, forty states have partially or fully appropriated funds for their increased share of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administrative costs under federal law. 

As the piece explains, “Beginning on Oct. 1, states are responsible for funding 75% of the administrative costs of running the program in their state, while the federal government covers the remaining 25%. Previously, states split administrative costs evenly with the federal government.”

The piece quotes the Pew Charitable Trusts as describing the administrative cost shift and the introduction of the benefits cost share as the "biggest structural change to SNAP since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the program into law more than 60 years ago."

Though Congress has been debating a delay, states are preparing for the expenses of the new cost share. And it’s a lot of money. According to Ballotpedia “states face additional annual administrative cost estimates that range from $670 million (California) to $3 million (Wyoming).”

Most of the states have appropriated additional funding for SNAP administration to cover the new costs. The report found that as of September 30:

“Forty states had either fully or partially appropriated money in the state budget to compensate for the increased cost share for FY2027.”

• “Two states – New York and North Carolina – passed increased costs entirely to counties.”

• “Two states – Arkansas and New Hampshire – declined to increase funding or rejected a specific request to fund the shift.”

• “Two states – Connecticut and Massachusetts – increased funding for SNAP administration, but the action was not explicitly tied to the state’s increased share of administrative costs.”

The report quotes Rhode Island Budget Director Brian Daniels as saying “he supports giving states a larger financial stake in the program but that implementation deadlines were difficult. Daniels said he sees the logic in giving states ‘more skin in the game.’

“He added, ‘It's the timeline that's a challenge because being able to make all those changes in short order is incredibly hard.’"

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