State budget staff outline cuts tied to moving SNAP to statutory funding, request $20M to make summer EBT permanent

Legislative Fiscal Division staff and Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) officials told the Section B subcommittee on Feb. 20, 2025, that moving federal SNAP benefits to a statutory appropriation would sharply reduce the division's House Bill 2 budget and asked lawmakers to approve a set of decision packages that include a $20 million biennial request to make the summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program permanent.

The change matters because the Human and Community Services Division’s fiscal 2025 base totaled about $292.9 million; the executive request in House Bill 2 would show roughly $129.1 million in fiscal 2026 and $128.9 million in fiscal 2027, a biennial reduction of about $327.8 million — roughly a 56% decrease — concentrated in federal benefits and claims, Legislative Fiscal Division analyst Josh Pollet told the committee.

“That would go up by $345 million if you did not accept this decision package,” Pollet said, explaining how the governor’s submission treats SNAP authority differently than prior practice. Pollet framed that figure as a comparison to the governor’s submitted budget and noted it should not be read as an increase relative to historically enacted budgets.

DPHHS Division Administrator Chappelle Smith described the programs covered by the division and laid out the department’s request. The division supports SNAP, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and other food and emergency-assistance programs. Smith said the department is asking lawmakers to: (1) bring summer EBT administration and benefits into HB 2 with a $20.0 million biennial request (about $584,000 general fund and $19.0 million federal funds); (2) add personal‑services positions to manage med‑needy cases and EBT programs (the division’s requested positions increase the budgeted PBs from 492.5 to 504.5); (3) fund overtime for field offices; and (4) move SNAP benefit authority to a statutory appropriation, removing roughly $172 million per year from the HB 2 totals as presented in the executive request.

“Summer EBT will continue on into 2025,” Smith said, describing the program that provided roughly $120 per eligible child during summer 2024. Smith also said October 2024 issuances totaled over $9 million in benefits to about 46,000 households, representing roughly 76,000 children.

Pollet and DPHHS staff showed committee members the spending mix: about 8.8% of the division’s biennial request is general fund, a small state special revenue component (roughly $4.2 million across the biennium), and the remainder federal funds. In fiscal 2024 actuals, SNAP accounted for about $171.1 million of benefits and was the largest single program expenditure; TANF benefits were about $19.6 million in fiscal 2024.

Smith told lawmakers DPHHS completed the Medicaid redetermination process after the public health emergency and processed more than 400,000 renewals and applications. She said a recent legislative audit found no findings, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payment error rate measurement showed an eligibility error rate below 1%.

On workforce and services, Smith and program staff described a recent procurement to consolidate employment-and-training services under a single statewide contractor (Maximus). Since Maximus began in July, the department reported 56 job placements and several credential completions tied to TANF/SNAP employment-and-training activities; department staff said they will follow up with the committee on denominators and program caseloads for that contracting work.

Committee members pressed DPHHS on several operational items: the source of funds used to stand up summer EBT in 2024 (the department said COVID-era and USDA award funds were used and will provide a fact sheet), vacancy rates in the Office of Public Assistance (the department offered to provide current figures), and overtime rationale (department CFO Kim Aiken said overtime has been a recurring request tied to case backlogs, turnover and the Medicaid unwind workload; the package asks to annualize current overtime realization and to fund projected incremental needs).

Pollet and department staff told the committee the SNAP statutory‑appropriation proposal is contingent on enabling legislation; DPHHS and LFD said if lawmakers do not adopt the bill language, the executive requested House Bill 2 budgets would be adjusted to restore the omitted HB 2 federal authority.

DPHHS also described two operational changes to the public assistance helpline implemented in late 2024: a statewide call‑answer model (no ZIP‑code routing) and a queued callback option to reduce hold times. Smith said those features began only weeks before the hearing and that wait times have recently been around two hours; staff said they will monitor the effect and may return with follow‑up after they have more data.

Committee members asked for several follow‑ups, including: (1) the department’s vacancy rate and overtime baseline versus requested increment; (2) the number and frequency of SNAP supplemental appropriations historically; (3) whether the summer EBT benefit duplicates existing summer feeding sites (DPHHS said there is no rule preventing overlap and referred operational questions to the Office of Public Instruction); and (4) metrics on TANF exits (employment, sanction, churn) and the supportive services used to address barriers such as domestic violence — the department said it would provide federal reporting and program assessment materials.

Because the SNAP authority shift would mainly change how the benefit is displayed in the state budget (from HB 2 line items to statutory appropriation), Pollet cautioned the committee that the executive’s choice primarily affects the HB 2 totals and related decision‑package presentation; it does not itself change federal benefit rules or eligibility.

The subcommittee did not take final action on any of the decision packages at the hearing. Members and staff cataloged outstanding questions for follow‑up from DPHHS and LFD and asked the department to return with data on processing times (45‑day/90‑day federal processing bands), vacancy and overtime utilization, program denominators for employment placements, and documentation on the sources used to fund the initial summer EBT issuance.

What’s next: DPHHS and LFD staff will produce the requested follow‑up materials for the subcommittee. Multiple DPHHS proposals are contingent on either pending legislation or future rule/contract actions; no bills were passed or voted on during the hearing.