Senate Farm Bill Keeps SNAP Cost Shift to States as 4 Million Lose Benefits

Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman released a 2026 farm bill on June 23 that keeps the One Big Beautiful Bill's SNAP cost shift to states, rejecting calls to delay it as more than 4 million people leave the program.

Senate Farm Bill Keeps SNAP Cost Shift to States as 4 Million Lose Benefits Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman released a 2026 farm bill on June 23 that keeps the One Big Beautiful Bill's SNAP cost shift to states, rejecting calls to delay it as more than 4 million people leave the program. Aaron Rafferty June 24, 2026 Key Takeaways: Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman released a 2026 farm bill on June 23 that keeps a provision shifting SNAP costs to states for the first time. SNAP participation has dropped by at least 4 million people since the One Big Beautiful Bill passed, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A state's share of SNAP costs would be tied to its payment error rate, with most states starting in October 2027 and the bill needing 60 votes to pass. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman, a Republican from Arkansas, released his version of the 2026 farm bill on Tuesday, June 23, and it keeps the most contested food policy change of the past year. The bill maintains a provision from the One Big Beautiful Bill that, for the first time, shifts part of the cost of SNAP benefits onto states, Civil Eats reported . Democrats, governors, and anti-hunger advocates had pushed for months to delay or drop the cost shift. The Senate draft rejects that, setting up a fight in a chamber where Republicans need at least 60 votes to pass the bill. How much each state pays would depend on its SNAP payment error rate, the share of administrative overpayments and underpayments. For most states the shift starts in October 2027, though states with the highest error rates could get up to two extra years. Democrats want every state to have that time. That error-rate measure is the same one at the center of the USDA's broader SNAP fraud cl