SNAP recipients are able to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards for food at the pictured market. A new report from Oregon officials indicates that they are working to establish a team of analysts who will help lower the state's rate of administrative error for food aid benefits. (Lance Cheung/USDA).
Oregon’s Department of Human Services is reining in how often the state miscalculates the amount of food stamps enrollees should receive, aiming to comply with new federal restrictions and avert what could be the worst financial strain on the state’s largest agency.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek shared details surrounding the effort in a Monday analysis of the federal GOP megalaw from the Department of Administrative Services that also accompanied initial reviews of its impact on different agencies and programs. The more than 740,000 Oregonians using the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, “will see some changes to their benefits,” according to the report. It implores the state to take action in the 2026 legislative session to mitigate the cuts.
“Reductions at this level mean the current levels of support to community providers serving existing SNAP clients will be insufficient to meet needs once SNAP benefits are reduced or eliminated for a portion of the current caseload,” the analysis reads. “The exemption of certain individuals from SNAP benefits will likely place additional pressure on the food bank system as well as other systems of social support throughout Oregon.”
The findings detail how Oregon faces an overall $15 billion shortfall in federal funding due to reductions in not only SNAP benefits, but also Medicaid funding, education services and transportation projects. The state’s analysis proposes “immediate executive level oversight” to reduce how often SNAP offices across the state either over or underpay benefits to enrolled Oregonians, noting that the human services department is in the midst of assembling a team to do so.
Oregon’s 2024 SNAP administrative error rate of 14.06% ranks as the eighth highest in the nation, but it must come down to below 6% to avoid increased costs paid to the federal government, according to the analysis. Without that, Oregon would have to pay 75% of administrative costs for running SNAP in the state — about $500 million every two years.
“Oregon will need to assess its options for meeting the new 75% administrative cost-share requirements during 2026. The absence of legislatively authorized funding during 2026 may result in program reductions,” the state’s report reads. “Program reductions will mean more Oregonians will experience hunger or reduced access to foods.”
The federal government historically covered half of those administrative costs. But the Trump administration and congressional Republicans claim that a shift to state funding is necessary because the program is rife with overuse and fraud. Anti-hunger advocates have pushed back, saying administrative error should not be conflated with fraud or abuse of the system.
They point to a carveout extending time for cost-sharing requirements until 2029 in states like Oregon and Alaska with particularly high error rates. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican whose state leads the nation with a 2024 error rate of 24.66%, proposed the exemption.
Cuts changing eligibility for youth, immigrants
The new changes enacted by Congress and the Trump administration increase work requirements, remove eligibility for SNAP for some immigrant communities and slash benefits for energy assistance. Advocates warn the cuts will lead to additional strain on the state’s food banks.
“H.R. 1 will strip hundreds of millions in food assistance from Oregonians forcing more families into lines at food assistance sites just to get by,” said Oregon Food Bank President Andrea Williams in a statement. “Oregon Food Bank is doing everything we can to meet the need, but food banking can’t replace the scale of federal programs like SNAP.”
The human services department estimates that 310,000 Oregonians will need to meet the new 80-hour-a-month work requirements implemented by the federal government. The new requirements apply to adults ages 18 to 65 without children under the age of 14. The requirements also now include former foster youth and veterans.
The new federal law also removes historical protections for refugees and asylum seekers who typically had access to SNAP benefits in comparison to immigrants without permanent legal status, who have never been eligible for the program. The department estimates that 2,957 lawfully present Oregonians without citizenship will lose their benefits under this rule, though Cuban and Haitian entrants admitted to the United States under specialized refugee programs are not barred from access.
Additionally, extra SNAP benefits that were typically allotted to households receiving assistance for utility payments will cease for about 17,000 Oregon households, according to the human services department. The new law requires such households to have a resident with a disability or that is 60 or older, leading to an estimated loss of $58 in benefits per household under the new regulations.
In a statement announcing the analysis, Kotek said Republicans and the Trump administration were betraying American children and families. She vowed to work with lawmakers and community partners to “get through this needless, callous hardship.”
“I will continue to hold the line and push back as Oregon values are under threat,” she said. “I hope Oregonians will stand with me as we fight this together.”
Sara Campos, a spokesperson for the state’s human services department, said the department shared Kotek’s concerns.
“The federal budget shifts unsustainable costs to the state and will take food off the table of Oregonians,” Campos wrote in a statement. “These cuts directly undermine the health and stability of our communities.”
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Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the extent to which the federal government covered administrative SNAP costs.
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