July 12, 2026

California has $1.4 billion in SNAP errors

Headline USA -  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.

States that manage to stay below a federally mandated threshold of 6% for mistakes are safe. But consecutive years above the threshold force states into USDA-approved corrective action plans and financial liabilities. Under federal rules, liabilities can either be repaid in full, or states can reinvest half of the penalty into improving state operations to prevent future errors.

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