FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, December 4, 2025
CONTACT: Christina Johnson
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released Oh, SNAP! Federal Policy Changes Threaten the Stability of Florida’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program report to examine how the upcoming changes in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) requirements, via the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBB Act), will impact Florida’s budget and its ability to provide much needed food assistance to needy Floridians.
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro said, “The federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 altered SNAP policies in ways that could dramatically affect state budgets and operations. Perhaps most significantly, one provision establishes a tiered matching fund requirement for states with SNAP payment error rates higher than six percent. Florida has one of the highest SNAP payment error rates in the country at 15.13 percent, and this new policy will penalize our state, requiring a matching fund rate as high as 10 percent, which, based on FY2023, would have resulted in more than a $1 billion massive hit to Florida’s already hardworking taxpayers! Florida must manage this much more effectively to protect our taxpayers and ensure only those who qualify receive the lawful benefits that they are legally entitled to receive. Understanding and preparing for the coming changes is essential to safeguarding food security and fiscal stability in the State of Florida.”
In Florida, SNAP is administered by the Office of Economic Self-Sufficiency (ESS), housed within the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The guidelines for SNAP are flexible, allowing states to tailor the program in a way that best serves its residents. The new OBBB Act requirements will cause a dramatic increase in state spending on SNAP, especially if Florida does not reduce its SNAP payment error rate. Florida is now responsible for 75 percent of its administrative cost, and it will be obligated to pay up to 15 percent of SNAP food benefits if the state does not reduce its SNAP payment error rate.
Florida TaxWatch Executive Vice President and General Counsel Jeff Kottkamp said, “Over the past 10 years, Florida’s participation rate has mostly hovered between 1.5 million and 2.0 million households, ranking 18th in SNAP reliance nationwide, with a participation rate of 12.7 percent of the total population. This equates to roughly one-in-eight Floridians. The good news is that Florida now can hire private contractors and non-profits to improve the administration of SNAP. Private contractors often have expertise, superior technology, greater staffing flexibility, and better risk management, all of which could enhance the quality of SNAP. Without bringing in outside assistance, it is unlikely that the state of Florida can reduce the SNAP error rate to sufficient levels as to avoid significant financial penalties. Therefore, outsourcing this work will be money well spent.”
For the first time in SNAP’s history, states with high payment error rates will have to pay for a portion of SNAP food benefits, in addition to administrative costs. Exactly how much a state must pay is tied to its payment error rate. States like Florida, with payment error rates above 10 percent, can be expected to pay up to 15 percent of SNAP food benefits. Table 4 considers how this policy would have affected Florida if it were already in place in FY2023, the most recent year with benefit issuance data. The table also calculates the lower costs if Florida’s SNAP payment error rate were low enough to qualify for other tiers. The national SNAP payment error rate was 10.93 percent.
In FY2023, Florida issued $6,362,366,910 worth of benefits, with the average benefit per person providing $191.06 per month and had a SNAP payment error rate of 12.6 percent. Based on this, Florida would pay $954 million worth of benefits in this scenario, and more than $1 billion when administrative costs are factored. Although state budget estimators project a $3.8 billion surplus for FY2027, deficits of -$1.5 billion and -$6.6 billion are projected for FY 2028 and FY 2029, respectively.
States will also be responsible for a larger share of administrative costs, growing from 50 percent to 75 percent. In addition, the year-to-year variability of payment error rates and enrollment numbers will create significant uncertainty, making it difficult for the state to plan and budget effectively. All told, the impact to Florida’s annual budget will likely exceed $1 billion.
Florida TaxWatch urges the state to take immediate action to procure a contractor to assist in reforming SNAP in Florida to reduce payment error rates and implement the new federal SNAP work requirements to avoid penalties.
For more detailed information on the SNAP report, please click here.
About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute, and the trusted “eyes and ears” of Florida taxpayers for more than 45 years, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on taxpayers and businesses. FTW is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled FTW to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the taxpayers it has served since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.
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