Maryland officials say HR 1 will add work rules and new costs to SNAP; 680,000 recipients could be affected

Maryland Department of Human Services officials told a joint Health and Government Operations briefing that federal HR 1 has already taken effect and will change who qualifies for SNAP and how the program is paid for.

“Snap serves over 680,000 Marylanders, and we issue approximately $1,600,000,000 in federal funding to Marylanders each year,” Webster Yee, chief of staff at the Maryland Department of Human Services, said during the presentation. DHS said that amounts to roughly $180 per person per month.

The department and its assistant secretary for programs, Larry Handerhan, laid out three categories of impact: new eligibility obstacles and restrictions, lower benefit values for some households, and higher administrative costs. Handerhan said about 80,000 additional people could be subject to work requirements as “ABODs” (able‑bodied adults without dependents) and that refugees and many asylees will lose eligibility unless they are lawful permanent residents.

“Starting November 1, most refugees and people granted asylum will no longer be eligible for SNAP unless they also have a green card,” Handerhan said, noting that recent U.S. Department of Agriculture guidance introduced a five‑year residency bar that Maryland and other states have challenged in multistate litigation.

The department warned of a statewide fiscal impact as administrative cost‑sharing moves toward a larger state share. DHS estimates the state will need an additional roughly $43 million in state fiscal 2027 to run SNAP as it has been run, rising to about $57.5 million annually thereafter for administration alone; those figures exclude extra costs to implement HR 1 changes. Handerhan also highlighted a new federal exposure tied to payment error rates: Maryland’s FY24 payment error rate was cited at 13.64 percent and, if thresholds are exceeded, a state could be responsible for up to 15 percent of benefit allocations — Handerhan said that could translate to a potential liability on the order of $240 million beginning in 2027 under some scenarios.

DHS described practical steps it has already taken to reduce harm and speed implementation: launching a one‑application system this summer, expanding the SNAP Employment & Training partner network from 30 to 48 organizations, building an ABOD screening tool to limit unnecessary work‑requirement referrals, and improving staffing and training to reduce payment errors.

The agency also said it has contracted for new EBT security technology (chip‑and‑tap) to reduce stolen benefits and pointed to California’s early results suggesting large fraud reductions after similar changes.

During Q&A, legislators pressed DHS about the late issuance of federal guidance, the five‑year residency interpretation for immigrants, and the causes of Maryland’s earlier spikes in error rates. DHS said it would validate and provide detailed counts when available and noted the state has joined litigation challenging aspects of federal guidance. The agency also asked lawmakers to help rebroadcast outreach materials as it rolls out notices in English and Spanish.

Next steps include further data validation, follow‑up to the committees with precise counts for affected immigrant groups, and additional coordination with partners to minimize coverage loss and administrative churn.