Missouri and Kansas have only a few more months to lower their payment error rates or face millions in new costs for food assistance benefits.

Fiscal year 2025 error rates released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicate that both states are on track to owe 10% of their benefit costs for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beginning in October 2027. 

That would amount to more than $156 million in Missouri and more than $40 million in Kansas, based on benefits paid in each state in fiscal year 2025. And it would come on top of additional administrative costs, which states will begin paying this October — $29.3 million in Missouri and  $12.1 million in Kansas.

The added costs are a result of legislation President Donald Trump signed last year that trimmed $187 billion over 10 years from SNAP, the safety-net program once known as food stamps that helps 42 million Americans afford food.

As Missouri and Kansas navigate challenging budgets with declining revenue, it is unclear how they would absorb the added SNAP benefit costs next year.

“This would have been somewhat easy to handle if we still had some budget surplus and some money in the bank,” said Brian Colby, vice president of public policy with the Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit that tracks Missouri’s spending. “But we don’t, so we are kind of right up to the edge in the budgetary process where we really don’t have a lot of give or a shock absorber.”

Traditionally, SNAP has been almost entirely paid for by federal taxpayers. The federal government has paid all of the benefit costs and half the administrative costs, leaving just half of the administrative cost up to states.

But under changes to federal law enacted last summer, states have to pay three-quarters of the administrative costs beginning this year and, for most states, a portion of the benefits distributed in their state beginning next year. 

Each state’s benefit share in fiscal year 2028 will be based on their error rates in fiscal years 2025 or 2026. States with rates below 6% in either of those years won’t have to pay any of their benefit costs, but states with higher error rates have to pay 5%, 10% or 15%, depending on their error rate. States with the worst rates in 2025 and 2026 are getting a two-year reprieve from paying any benefit costs.

Beginning in fiscal year 2029, a state’s benefit cost will be determined by its error rate from two years earlier.

Some policy experts worry that the cost shift to states could force some to drop out of the program, leaving a troubling void for people struggling with food insecurity. In 2024, one of every seven households lacked access to affordable food. And hunger outreach groups said high food and gas prices are making the problem worse.

According to the new federal data, Missouri’s fiscal year 2025 error rate was 8.67%, down slightly from the previous year’s 9.42%. Kansas reported a 2025 error rate of 9.44%, only barely below the previous year’s 9.98%. 

The national payment error rate for fiscal year 2025 was 10.62%, according to the USDA. Only eight states had an error rate below 6%. The agency announcement about the error rate said the national rate represents a collective $10.1 billion in overpayments or underpayments.

Agencies that administer the SNAP program in Missouri and Kansas said it is too soon to know whether they will end up owing part of the benefit cost next year, and both said they are working to bring error rates below 6%.

Baylee Watts, a spokesperson with the Missouri Department of Social Services, which administers SNAP, has said the state is taking “a multi-faceted approach” to bring down error rates, including staff training, increasing the use of verification sources to ensure eligibility accuracy and collaborating with other states to evaluate and learn from their strategies.

“While DSS cannot predict future results or speculate on a specific rate for 2026,” Watts said in a written response to questions, “the department remains focused on administering the SNAP program accurately and in compliance with federal requirements.”

Erin La Row, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said her department “is taking targeted steps to improve accuracy and accountability, including enhanced verification processes, expanded staff training and improvements to case review procedures.”

“Our goal is to reduce the (error rate) as much as possible to avoid costs to the state under the new federal requirements,” La Row’s written response said. “We are making good progress, but it’s still too early to know if we’ll reach the 6% threshold by the end of the 2026 federal fiscal year. We’re encouraged by the progress we’ve made and that Kansas is below the national average, and we will continue working to sustain that progress while making sure SNAP benefits remain accessible to eligible Kansans.”

Still, unless Congress intervenes to change requirements passed last summer, it seems likely both states will have to pay something for benefits beginning in the 2028 fiscal year budget. If the states’ error rates wind up within the 6%-to-8% range, their responsibility would be only 5%. That is still more than $78 million in Missouri and just over $20 million in Kansas. 

Policy experts said states need to start planning now. The USDA won’t release the 2026 error rates, which will determine how much states owe, until this time next year. That is well after the state budgets are adopted and signed into law.

“It would be very concerning if we see the budget request (for next year) and it has nothing in it addressing this at all,” said Christine Woody, food security policy manager with Empower Missouri, an advocacy group that focuses on issues related to poverty and inequality.

People already losing SNAP

Organizations that study food insecurity are urging Congress to adjust the timetable to give states more time to reduce error rates before implementing cost shifts. The Senate is debating the 2026 Farm Bill, which funds the SNAP program and could be written to reverse or delay the looming cost shifts. So far, that is not part of the legislation.

As states work to reduce error rates, enrollment in the program has already declined by more than 4 million people nationwide, a rate greater than anticipated. Missouri enrollment was down 7.31% in May to 614,331, from 662,806 last July. And Kansas enrollment dipped 12.53% in May to 164,458, from 188,016 last July.

The reason for the decline likely comes down to a couple of factors: States’ efforts to reduce error rates may be leading to fewer enrollments. And expanded work requirements, another change passed into law last summer, are beginning to take effect, leading people to lose SNAP benefits even if they are meeting work requirements.

For the first time, able-bodied adults who are 55 to 64 years old have to prove they’re working, volunteering or in school. The requirement is also new for parents with children 14 to 18 years old and for veterans, people experiencing homelessness and youth aging out of foster care. In addition, the new law bans refugees and asylees from receiving food assistance.

Although children should still qualify for SNAP even if their parents lose coverage, many are still losing benefits. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in 13 states that release the data, 808,000 fewer children are receiving SNAP compared to last July.

The Missouri Department of Social Services reports that 253,677 children were enrolled in SNAP in March, a 6.5% drop from last year. Kansas’ average monthly enrollment for children in 2026 fell to 79,807, down 7.3% from last year.

Since 2024, both states have offered summer food assistance through a program known as Sun Bucks, which provides an additional $120 per child for groceries when kids are out of school for the summer. But in many states, the program hasn’t reached everyone who is eligible, said David Rubel, an education policy consultant in New York who has studied participation. 

In Missouri, more than 330,000 children have been enrolled so far this summer. Kansas did not provide a current enrollment number.  

In both Missouri and Kansas, the deadline to apply for the summer program is Aug. 31.