Earlier this week the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee released the Farm Bill 2.0. Noticeably absent from this bill: relief for low-income families across the nation who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to help put food on the table. Specifically, the Senate Committee failed to use the bill as a vehicle to delay or reverse the harmful H.R. 1 SNAP cost shifts. While this omission was not a surprise, it is nonetheless another devastating blow to food security in Arkansas and the rest of the country.

H.R. 1 made the largest cuts to SNAP in the program’s history. Many families in Arkansas are already experiencing the impact of these cuts. For example, the expanded SNAP work requirements implemented in November 2025 have resulted, to a degree, in roughly 23,000 fewer SNAP enrollees in Arkansas between October 2025 and May 2026. And the average monthly benefit has decreased by more than 5% in that same timeframe, largely due to this reduction in enrollees, and, to a lesser degree, changes to the accessibility for the Standard Utility Allowance deduction.

But even more families may lose access to this critical food assistance program if a delay or reversal of the H.R. 1 SNAP cost shifts is not ultimately added to the final version of the Farm Bill. Without such changes, the first of two cost shifts required by H.R. 1 will hit in October of this year.

This first cost shift will increase Arkansas’s responsibility for SNAP administrative costs from 50% to 75%. For our state, such an administrative cost shift means that the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) will lose $18 million in federal funding to operate SNAP effective October 2026. That amount will increase to approximately $25 million annually thereafter, deeply cutting funding for staffing, training, quality control activities, and technology. DHS has stated that it is exploring efficiencies within its operations to cover this loss in federal funding. While that is a natural first step, it is doubtful that implementing operational efficiencies alone will make up for an $18 million shortfall.

What’s more, a fully funded SNAP administrative budget is crucial to minimizing the impact of the second H.R. 1 SNAP cost shift. This second cost shift affects SNAP benefits themselves. Historically, the federal government has paid for 100% of the SNAP benefits that help feed children, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and other members of low-income households. But beginning in October 2027, H.R. 1 will require states with a SNAP payment error rate of 6% or above to pay for a percentage of their respective SNAP benefits. You can learn more about the ins and outs of SNAP payment error rates here.

It just so happens that Arkansas’s most recent SNAP payment error rate was also released earlier this week. While the state decreased its error rate from 9.56% in FFY24 to 8.81% in FFY25, Arkansas will still likely have a 10% state match for SNAP benefits beginning in 2027. This means that Arkansas must plan to pick up a tab of about $55 million. If it does not, the state may be forced to reduce benefits, further restrict eligibility requirements, or opt out of SNAP altogether.

All together our state is looking at a loss of close to $100 million dollars in federal SNAP funding over the next two years due to H.R. 1. Arkansas is already ranked the most food insecure state in the nation, but if the state does not absorb these costs, hunger will soar even more for families already struggling with the rising costs of groceries, not to mention gas, child care, and housing.

Arkansas lawmakers need to plan to absorb these cost shifts so that we do not lose SNAP in our state. At the same time, we cannot give up on another course of action that could stop a spike in hunger in Arkansas and beyond. All states need more time to thoughtfully lower payment error rates without harming eligible households as well as additional time to identify funds to absorb the administrative cost shift. This is why the Farm Bill must, at a minimum, delay the SNAP cost shifts while also providing much needed relief to farmers across the nation. Contact your U.S. Senators today to urge them to include an H.R. 1 SNAP cost shift delay in the final version of the Farm Bill.