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HR1’s SNAP changes raise state error‑rate exposure and could shift costs to Washington
Summary
DSHS and HCA officials told the Ways and Means Committee HR 1 immediately tightened SNAP work rules, ended some deductions and increased the state’s administrative match, creating potential immediate benefit reductions for households and multi‑million‑dollar fiscal exposure tied to the federal payment error rate.
State officials told the Ways and Means Committee on October 16 that HR 1 made immediate, substantive changes to the state’s food assistance programs that could reduce benefits for some households and create new fiscal exposure for Washington.
Carla Reyes, assistant secretary for the Economic Services Administration at DSHS, said HR 1 changed SNAP exemptions and programmatic rules effective on signing and that those changes require retroactive system updates. “These changes create changes we need to make retroactively, and we have to change our systems,” Reyes said, adding that doing so while operating existing releases puts pressure on the payment error rate.
Key changes described by DSHS and committee staff:
- Work and participation: HR 1 expands SNAP work requirements in ways that will apply statewide after existing county waivers expire; DSHS estimated more than 100,000 recipients could be newly required to participate. The age‑based exemption changed (earlier exemptions up to age 55 are now extended through age 64 in certain contexts) while the dependent‑child exemption was reduced (now up to age 15). DSHS noted some currently exempt groups (veterans, those experiencing homelessness, recent foster‑care alumni under 24) may now be subject to work rules depending on implementation.
- Utility deduction and Heat‑and‑Eat: HR 1 removes the ability in many cases to claim a standard utility deduction obtained via the state’s small "heat‑and‑eat" payment (a roughly $20.01 example). DSHS said administering new micro‑verification of exact utility amounts is error‑prone and that the change will reduce benefits for affected households by an estimated $82 per month on average.
- Payment‑error contingent cost share: HR 1 makes the federal share of benefit payments contingent on the state’s SNAP payment error rate. DSHS reported a FY2024 error rate of 6.03%. Under HR 1, error rates above certain thresholds could require Washington to contribute a portion of benefits (ramping up through brackets that could reach as high as 15% of benefit costs), and DSHS estimated a four‑year fiscal impact of roughly $750,000,000 from multiple SNAP/FAP provisions.
- Administrative match: HR 1 increases the federal‑state administrative match for SNAP from 50% to 75% for certain administration costs starting October 2026, a change DSHS projected will increase state administrative spending by about $65,000,000 annually.
DSHS and staff repeatedly raised the operational difficulty of making retroactive system changes while protecting the official federal payment‑error calculation, which is produced on a lag by the Food and Nutrition Service. Carla Reyes told senators the agency is exploring staffing, supervisory reviews, and additional system automation to reduce error, but emphasized the time lag in official federal calculations limits how quickly the state can react.
What’s next: DSHS will continue technical work to lower error rates, coordinate ACES and partner agency data sources to verify work participation where possible, and inform the legislature about budgetary implications. The committee did not vote on any policy at the session.
