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Families and nonprofit organizations are bracing for the potential impacts of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in fall 2027.
SNAP is fully funded by the federal government right now. But starting in October 2027, states might have to spend millions to keep benefits for low-income families.
“It’s the largest single cut to the SNAP program in the program’s history,” said Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer at Harvesters.
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill will start holding states accountable. When states give out too much or too little in SNAP payments, the percentage of error, known as the Payment Error Rate (PER), will determine how much states end up paying in penalty.
The federal government will pardon up to 6%.
According to recent data by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Missouri and Kansas have been unable to get their error rates below that margin since the One Big Beautiful Bill went into effect.
Come next year, Missouri will be on the hook for $151 million, and Kansas is looking at $40 million.
“The Payment Error Rate is commonly misconceived as waste, fraud and abuse. And it simply isn’t," Keever said. "It’s technical errors that happen in the application process. The vast majority of errors that are calculated in the error rate are actually errors made by the state agency. They are not errors that are made by those who are filling out the application.”
Olivia Martinez filled out the application last year for her now 2-year-old daughter.
Since Martinez receives SNAP benefits, she saves on 100% of her daughter’s tuition at Growing Futures Early Education Center. She is eligible for free childcare through Head Start.
“With the help that we get for her to be here, it saves us a lot of money,” Martinez said. “I don’t make that much for my daughter to stay in this school if that is all up to me."
Saving money on tuition means more freedom for other things. Money has been tight for Martinez and her family since WIC benefits went away for their household during the last government shutdown.
“Everything is expensive nowadays, and you gotta pay extra than you used to before,” Martinez said.
Her monthly $1,300 through SNAP is a lifeline. And while her childcare subsidy will not be impacted, upcoming changes to the SNAP program could impact millions of others who use benefits for other things, like groceries.
For every meal a food bank like Harvesters provides, SNAP provides nine, according to Keever. So food banks across the U.S. are simply not able to fill the gap left behind by federal assistance.
This all comes as the need for adequate nutrition has been on the rise. According to Harvesters, food insecurity in the region went from one in eight facing hunger to one in seven.
Keever also mentioned the potential trickle-down effects of SNAP cuts.
“For example, it auto-enrolls so many people into the school meals program. And without being a SNAP recipient, it could kick them off the school’s meal program and leave that child without that vital breakfast and lunch,” Keever said.
Due to funding cuts and stricter rules, SNAP funding has already been eliminated for 21,000 Kansans and 34,000 Missourians in the last year, including 10,000 kids in Kansas and 17,000 kids in Missouri.
As conversations about the future of SNAP benefits swirl on Capitol Hill, Martinez’s message to lawmakers is this:
“They always say, ‘Oh, they just take advantage of our benefits or our money that is for us,’ or whatever. Don’t get those kind of ideas," Martinez said. "We just live here in peace; we just want to have our kids have a better future. Hopefully the government, or whoever is giving this budget, [will] be fair with everyone and make the application less difficult.”
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