Congress must postpone unprecedented SNAP cost shift to states

Ohio deserves more time to implement SNAP changes from HR 1 and prepare for major new spending obligations.

In November 2025, the longest federal government shutdown in history drew the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into the national headlines when 42 million Americans were forced to go without food assistance. Families went hungry, grocery stores lost revenue, and communities scrambled to pull together emergency food resources to respond to spiking need. Now that the shutdown has ended and media outlets have moved on, the SNAP program in Ohio—and across the country—still faces a looming crisis. Why? Because H.R. 1 (also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), is forcing an unprecedented and untenable cost shift onto states, starting this year.

H.R. 1 is forcing an unprecedented and untenable cost shift onto states, starting this year.

Congress must postpone the looming cost-shift onto states like Ohio

Community Solutions has already written a great deal about HR 1’s impacts on SNAP and Medicaid (see here, here, and here). The federal implementation of the SNAP provisions of HR 1 are impacting states, and Congress must postpone the looming cost-shift onto states like Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) and Ohio’s 88 counties need and deserve more time to properly implement HR 1’s changes to SNAP with sufficient guidance and resources, so that eligible families do not lose access to food assistance and Ohio taxpayers are not held liable for mistakes that inevitably come with rushed implementation. 

Key points

• Congress passed HR 1 on July 4, 2025, which included the biggest cuts to SNAP in program history, representing $187 billion—20 percent of total program spending—over the next 10 years.
• In HR 1, Congress created a cost-shift structure that unfairly penalizes states like Ohio who have worked hard for years to keep SNAP payment error rates low (between 6-9 percent), by requiring them to start paying a portion of SNAP benefits starting in FFY28 (October 2027). By contrast, states like Alaska with very high error rates, above 13.3 percent will not be required to contribute to SNAP benefits until FFY30 (October 2029).
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) delayed issuing implementation guidance on HR 1’s changes to SNAP eligibility until October 31, 2025 without giving states any grace period to update computer systems and retrain staff, breaking historical precedent and increasing the chance of payment errors. Furthermore, the federal government shutdown threw SNAP into chaos on November 1, 2025—the very same day USDA expected states to implement HR 1’s major eligibility changes.
• HR 1 also requires state and county governments to start paying much more for the administrative cost of SNAP, starting even sooner (October 1, 2026). This is a reduction of $67+ million per year in federal reimbursement for state and county agencies who administer SNAP in Ohio. Now is the absolute worst time to reduce funding for county JFS operations, as counties will need to make significant investments in staffing and re-training, as well as process and technology improvements, to reduce SNAP payment error rates below 6 percent.
• The simplest thing for Congress to do is delay the benefits cost shift to FFY30 for ALL states

The simplest thing for Congress to do is delay the benefits cost shift to FFY30 for ALL states.

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Congress can fix this

The January 30, 2026 deadline to reach a spending deal for the remainder of FFY26 presents the best opportunity for Congress to fix the unintended consequences of HR 1 before they wreck Ohio’s state budget. The simplest thing for Congress to do is delay the benefits cost shift to FFY30 for ALL states—not just the poorest performing states.

Help us advocate before the January 30 appropriations package

The Center for Community Solutions encourages Ohio’s Congressional delegation to serve as leading voices to fix this unnecessary state budget crisis in Ohio. We invite local and state elected officials to join us in calling for such a provision to be included in the January 30, 2026 appropriations package. 

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