Food access is at risk in the Farm Bill debate, and as advocates, we need your voice right now to help protect it!

SNAP helps put food on the table for nearly 2 million people in Pennsylvania, including children, older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, working families, and people earning low wages.

H.R.1, enacted last year, made the largest cuts to SNAP in the program’s history and created a new requirement for states to begin paying a share of SNAP benefits based on payment error rates, shifting costs away from the federal government and onto the states. Pennsylvania could suddenly be forced to cover a major share of SNAP benefit costs for the first time. The House-passed Farm Bill fails to address this looming cost shift, putting food assistance for millions at risk.

Pennsylvania is currently in a precarious position. Earlier this year, PA Department of Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh said Pennsylvania was tracking under the critical SNAP payment error-rate threshold that would trigger major new state cost-sharing penalties, though she cautioned that changing federal guidance and other factors could still affect the Commonwealth’s final rate.

An additional $675 million in annual costs would put massive pressure on our state budget, threatening other critical priorities like health care, education, child care, housing, and more essential services.

Importantly, SNAP “error rates” are not indicators of fraud. They often reflect paperwork issues, reporting complexities, or administrative mistakes within an extremely complicated eligibility system. But now, this will be used to penalize states, taking food away from people who need it because of small administrative errors.

Congress has already given a few states a two-year delay to improve their SNAP error rates. We are asking for Pennsylvania – and every other state – to have that same time! Without it, states may be pushed to reduce errors by making it harder for eligible families to get food assistance in an effort to quickly reduce potential errors.

As the Senate turns its attention to the Farm Bill, it’s essential that any bill to support farmers also protects vulnerable families who are struggling to afford groceries.

We are asking Senators Fetterman and McCormick to work with Senate leadership to ensure that any farm or budget legislation includes an extension of the two-year delay in SNAP cost shifting to all states. This would give Pennsylvania, and others, a fair opportunity to reduce errors while protecting access to food assistance and allowing time for responsible state budget planning.

Take action today by sending a letter to Senators Fetterman and McCormick urging them to protect Pennsylvania families and our state budget.