New Trump administration rules designed to cut waste in the nation’s food stamp program means Texas taxpayers will have to pay the federal government $700 million more each year to participate, state officials told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Texas Health and Human Services officials disclosed the cost in a presentation to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which met to discuss how Texas curbs fraud in welfare programs.
Federal officials announced the new rules last year during the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The rules force each state to improve the number of times officials overpay or underpay recipients in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or SNAP, program. States, including Texas, have until 2027 to improve their SNAP error rate or face financial penalties.
