By CATRINA BARKER
Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — Illinois taxpayers could be on the hook for hundreds of millions in food subsidies if the state’s error rate isn’t cleaned up.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program error rate measures how often states issue incorrect benefit amounts, either overpaying or underpaying recipients, based on a federal review of eligibility and payment accuracy.
If the rate rises above 10%, the state will be required to reimburse the federal government for 15%, or $705 million annually, of SNAP costs under a new federal law, according to estimates shared by the governor’s office and reported by the Illinois Times.
In fiscal 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Illinois’ error rate was 11.56%.
“I want to remind you that large states have a higher error rate than smaller states. States with a larger SNAP distribution tend to have higher error rates because, unfortunately, the way you reduce the error rate is often by reducing the number of SNAP recipients overall, not just by addressing the errors,” said Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker Tuesday. “We’re obviously more concerned about making sure families have the nutrition and food they need than some other states are.”
State Sen. Chris Balkema, R-Channahon, said he believes Illinois should dig into the details to find out why the error rate is so high.
“If there are levers and mechanisms showing that we’re giving SNAP benefits to people who don’t need them or don’t deserve them, then we need to fix that,” said Balkema. “I believe the federal government is taking steps to reduce waste, fraud and abuse and we absolutely need to take that same level of action here in Illinois.”
If Illinois lowered its error rate to between 8% and 10%, similar to states like Michigan, Ohio, and Texas, it would be required to cover 10% of SNAP benefit costs, amounting to approximately $470 million annually.
Balkema said Illinois should look to other states that are getting it right.
“We’ve got a lot of staff across the state who administer these programs and genuinely want to do a good job,” said Balkema. “So we need to give them the tools to succeed. Anytime we have an ‘error rate alarm’ signaling that we’re above the threshold, we should absolutely put the right tools and processes in place to dig in, find out what’s causing the problem, and fix it.”
Pritzker shifted blame to congressional Republicans, accusing them of using error rate enforcement as a tool to dismantle safety net programs.
“The Republican Congress setting this kind of a measure is not about waste, fraud and abuse. It is not,” Pritzker said. “What they want to do is shut down programs that help working families and poor families in this country. Why? Because they want to take the money and give it to the wealthiest people in the United States. I think that’s wrong.”
According to USDA data referenced by the Illinois Times, Illinois’ SNAP error rate was higher than that of 38 states, but lower than the rates reported by 11 states, including New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.
