We've known for some time that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, was out of control. The system is rife with fraud and has been for years, although more recently the fraud seems to have achieved industrial levels. Now, though, a story arises that involves not necessarily fraud but "errors," those being overpayments or underpayments (guess which one's more common) by the SNAP program to recipients. The USDA sets a limit of 6 percent error, beyond which the state in question is in danger of having to repay the excess.
California is, right now, facing some substantial repayment penalties due to what we can only describe as incompetence.
California saw $1.4 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program errors for Fiscal Year 2025.
That accounts for $3.8 million every single day.
That's part of a trend of Southwestern states having to repay the federal government for SNAP benefits.
A payment error rate refers to instances of overpayment or underpayment to households. It is not inherently indicative of fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP for the federal government. Rather, according to the department, it often stems from households providing incomplete information or state data processing errors.
Because of the high volume of error, California is subjecting itself to having to repay the federal government.
California's not the only state that has this problem.
In Colorado, where SNAP helps more than 600,000 beneficiaries under the supervision of the Colorado Department of Human Services, misallocated funds climbed to more than $143 million for the year. That averages out to $393,000 per day, landing the state an error rate of 10.09%.
And:
Nevada managed a lower, yet still problematic error rate of 6.22%. Erroneous payments topped $63 million annually, costing taxpayers about $173,000 every single day.
These are startling numbers. Add this to the rampant fraud, and we're looking at billions of taxpayer dollars, wasted.
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Only nine states met the USDA's 6 percent error requirement: Nebraska, Wisconsin, Utah, Vermont, Iowa, Kentucky, Wyoming, Idaho and South Dakota. If you've noticed that most of these are Republican-controlled states, well, you're not wrong - but this is a problem that happens in red and blue states alike. The national payment error rate for the SNAP program is at a little over 10 percent, amounting to over $10 billion in fiscal year 2025. That's "billion." A "B" followed by an "illion."
The system is irreparably broken. It's time to try something new. How about getting rid of the SNAP program altogether?
Yes, I'm serious. I've been advocating for this for years. Replace that embarrassment-free EBT card with neighborhood food banks. Recipients line up once a week for a ration of lean ground turkey, some chicken, some flour, dry beans, and rice, along with some fresh vegetables, depending on what's available. Milk and cheese if there are small children in the household. That's all. No sugary drinks, no snacks, no candy, none of that. If the recipient lives in a rural area where it doesn't make sense to have a food bank, then they get a voucher, on a letter-sized piece of paper marked clearly "GOVERNMENT FOOD VOUCHER", which they can take to their local grocer and which may only be redeemed for the items described - and only after an ID check to make sure the recipient is the person authorized.
The current system is hopeless. Fraud and incompetence are rampant. It's time to try something else.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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