Gov. Josh Shapiro says Pennsylvania is well on its way to making sure its SNAP error rate won’t end up with the state paying more for SNAP starting in 2027-28.

House Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, wants to make sure that is the case. Heffley is drafting legislation that will direct the state Department of Human Services to issue a report which analyzes the commonwealth’s payment error rate for the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) every year starting Jan. 1, 2026, if the legislation is passed and signed into law.

The state’s SNAP payment error rate became an issue earlier this year when Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR 1). The law says states that have SNAP payment error rates of more than 10% will be charged part of the cost of SNAP benefits.

According to a state Independent Fiscal Office analysis over the summer, the federal government would charge Pennsylvania about $645 million a year starting in 2027-28 if its error rate remains the same. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), SNAP payment error rates measure how accurately the state determines household eligibility and benefit amounts. The payment error rates include both overpayments and underpayments to households.

“This study is important to help the state of Pennsylvania effectively decrease our payment error rate, which must become a priority for the commonwealth,” Heffley wrote in his co-sponsorship memorandum. “Please join me in sponsoring this legislation to ensure that DHS focuses its efforts on reducing the payment error rate while preserving our tax dollars and improving program integrity.”

Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Bellafonte, sent a letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro earlier this year about the state’s error rate after the state’s Department of Human Services responded to questions from the Altoona Mirror and said SNAP payment errors aren’t a sign of fraud but instead are minor paperwork errors. Thompson said in his letter to Shapiro that in 2022, the state Department of Human Services increased the income threshold to 200 percent of Federal Poverty Income Guidelines, creating a new benefit for more than 420,000 Pennsylvanians and then, two years later, paid more than $450 million in SNAP benefits incorrectly, a combination of both overpayments and underpayments.

“If your administration cannot make improvements in program administration that have been possible in the past, I suggest that you re-examine budget priorities and further invest in SNAP. Congress can no longer turn a blind eye to states diverting taxpayer funding from vulnerable families, and you have an opportunity to be a part of this solution,” Thompson said.

In the days after Thompson’s letter was received state officials filed paperwork for a plan to use an emergency contract to hire Amazon Web Services to begin immediately working with state agencies on the issue while a long-term contract was completed. That contract was to help state agencies, “analyze, adapt and implement compliance strategies — particularly focused on income verification and eligibility accuracy.” Shapiro administration officials cancelled the emergency procurement but are still considering whether to use one or more traditional contracts to hire vendors to help prepare, said Dan Egan, an Office of Administration spokesman, to the Times Mirror in Altoona.

Shapiro, in announcing the state’s 2025-26 budget agreement, said the budget includes undisclosed measures to deal with the SNAP error rate.

“And at the same time, we secured reforms to help lower our SNAP Error Rate even further and protect the two million Pennsylvanians who are receiving food assistance,” the governor said.