Gov. Patrick Morrisey is asking lawmakers to increase funding for the federal food assistance program SNAP by $13.5 million in fiscal year 2027 to make up for changes brought about by federal legislation, state budget officials said this week.
Currently, the federal government pays 100% of SNAP benefits, and the state and the federal government evenly split the administrative costs of the program.
Beginning Oct. 1, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law July 4, 2025, states will take on 75% of the program’s administrative cost, while the federal government will cover 25% of those costs.
The $13.5 million increase would cover the state portion of the administrative costs for the first nine months of 2027, budget director Mike McKown told the Senate Finance Committee Thursday. It will cost $18 million to cover the state portion of the administrative costs for the entire year, he said.
Lawmakers would have to approve the request.
Generally, Morrisey has directed state agencies not to try to replace lost federal funding. McKown said of the $21 billion appropriated in the proposed budget bill, half are federal funds.
“West Virginia relies very heavily on federal funds. There is no way we could supplement or replace all those federal dollars if that ever happens,” he said. “There’s questions about how certain programs are going to be affected in future. It’s way too early to determine some of those, but we do have some answers on some of that.”
Each federal program will be looked at separately and some exceptions will be made, McKown said.
Angel Hightower, a communications specialist for the state Department of Human Services, told West Virginia Watch that the administrative costs for SNAP include personnel, technology, operations, informing the public about SNAP and detecting fraud, and direct program support.
About 275,000 West Virginia residents — or one in six — rely on SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps.
McKown said the state could also be on the hook to pay for some of the cost of SNAP benefits beginning in 2028 unless it decreases its SNAP payment error rate, a measure of accuracy of each state’s eligibility and benefit determination.
The federal government currently pays the entire cost of SNAP benefits, which equal $565 million in West Virginia, McKown said.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, beginning in 2028, states that have a SNAP error rate of more than 6% will be required to take on between 5 and 5% of the cost of SNAP benefits in their states, depending on how high their error rate is.
For West Virginia, that would amount to approximately $28 million on the low end, and about $84 million at the highest, based on McKown’s estimate of the cost of SNAP benefits paid to West Virginians.
In 2024, the latest numbers that are available, West Virginia had a SNAP error rate of 9.43%. In 2023, the error rate was 10.98%.
In 2024, only eight states had error rates below 6%.
Hightower said the agency has developed a “multifaceted approach” to address the payment error rate.
The plan includes enhanced local monitoring, increased quality control and targeted training. The plan also includes changing most SNAP cases with a 12-month reporting period to a 6-month period, which provides greater flexibility and coordination for the Department of Human Services, while reducing required paperwork for most SNAP households, Hightower said.
Since the plan was implemented, the state’s payment error rate has decreased from 9.43% to 6.37% for fiscal year 2025, Hightower said.
“This strategic rollout is designed to establish a continuous improvement loop, using weekly accountability reports and monthly timeliness data to track progress and enforce corrective actions across all local offices,” Hightower said.
Caitlin Cook, director of advocacy and public policy for Mountaineer Food Bank, told West Virginia Watch she’s “delighted” the governor included the $13.5 million SNAP increase in his proposed budget.
Without the additional funding, Cook said she’s concerned the agency may not be able to lower its payment error rate.
“By fully funding that additional administrative cost share that the state will be on the hook starting Oct. 1, that puts us in a better position to lower the error rate, and hopefully be below 6% so the state share of those whose benefits is zero,” she said.
This article originally appeared on West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.
