SAN ANTONIO – Food banks across Texas are raising the alarm over a federal policy change that could force the state to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for food assistance benefits or risk leaving millions of Texans without access to food.
Beginning in 2027, states with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment error rates above 6% will be required to share in the cost of benefits under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” signed into law in 2025. Texas recorded a 9% error rate in fiscal year 2025, meaning the state could face up to $709 million a year in additional costs, and potentially more than $1 billion if that rate climbs above 10%.
San Antonio Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper said the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“When you think about the San Antonio Food Bank, for every one meal we put out, SNAP provides nine,” Cooper said. “Should we see an increase in the number of families, we just won’t have the food supply to meet that need.”
The San Antonio Food Bank currently serves around 140,000 people every week — a number that has continued to climb year over year. That growth comes on the heels of a recent study showing food insecurity in the San Antonio region has risen to nearly 22%, meaning roughly one in five people don’t have enough to eat.
Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, the state association of food banks, said the error rate triggering these new costs is widely misunderstood.
“The most important thing to know about the payment error rate is that it is not fraud,” Cole said. “It is a measure of accuracy.”
Cole explained that the error rate reflects paperwork and processing mistakes, not intentional wrongdoing, and that roughly two-thirds of errors come from state agency mistakes, not recipients. She added that Texas consistently maintained an error rate below 6% before the COVID-19 pandemic strained state workforce capacity.
If Texas cannot or will not fund its share of SNAP costs, Cole warned the consequences would be severe.
“If they walk away from the program, what that’s going to mean is 3 million Texans without access to reliable food,” Cole said. “Our food bank network won’t be able to make up for that gap.”
Food bank leaders across the state are now calling on Congress to delay the cost-sharing requirement by two years, giving Texas time to bring its error rate back below the 6% threshold. The Senate version of the Farm Bill, currently working through Congress, includes a provision for a one-year delay, but advocates say two years is what’s needed.
Cooper echoed that urgency.
“The fear that SNAP might be impacted — it’s catastrophic,” Cooper said. “I just don’t have the inventory at the San Antonio Food Bank to meet that need.”
The Texas Legislature is set to begin its next session in January 2027 — the same session that would need to appropriate funds if the cost-sharing requirement moves forward without a congressional delay.
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