Blog

By Symonne Singleton (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) and Alicia Huguelet (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) HR1 provisions that are adding new administrative requirements to SNAP are taking effect, putting additional pressure on states to demonstrate strong outcomes, particularly around payment error rates, work requirements, timeliness, and caseworker efficiency. To help states navigate the vendor landscape, the Safety Net Response Network conducted a survey of SNAP vendor solutions from February through April 2026. The goal was straightforward: to…

By Sarah Esty (Aspen Institute Financial Security Program) Phase 1: Preauthorization with simple rules, targeted reviews One state has been able to achieve a PER close to 6% through use of a preauthorization review (before cases are finalized) for all new applications, reinstatements, or cases adding a person. They have historically picked cases to review using simple selection criteria: all households with 3+ members and $1,500 or more in gross income. Lead caseworkers review the earned and unearned income (budgeting…

By Sarah Esty (Aspen Institute Financial Security Program) and Eric Giannella (Georgetown University Better Government Lab) To assist states working to rapidly reduce SNAP payment error rates to avoid new cost-share requirements, the Safety Net Response Network has been convening monthly meetings of state data practitioners for peer learning around successful error reduction strategies. Through these meetings, as well as research led by data experts at Georgetown and Yale, promising practices are emerging. While we will refine and validate these…

The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (also known as OBBBA or H.R. 1) in July 2025 mandated significant changes to key social safety net programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. To meet these requirements and minimize coverage loss, states must update the technical infrastructure that powers their program delivery. Given the aggressive implementation timeline included in the bill, states are being flooded with pitches for technical solutions promising to “fix” the problem.

States can act to reduce their SNAP PERs but must move quickly for their efforts to impact their share of program costs in 2027.