Arizona’s Department of Economic Security says its top priority is lowering the food assistance payment error rate. That’s in an effort to avoid financial penalties brought on by federal legislation.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — or H.R. 1 — threatens states with hundreds of millions in financial penalties should their error rate surpass 6%.
The payment error rate measures the accuracy of eligibility determinations and payouts for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is administered to around 450,000 Arizonans as of May.
master/object/2026/6/29/plusbutton/attach.xmlThe most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows the state’s error rate was close to 11% in 2025, marking an increase from the year before.
DES has until the end of September to lower that rate below 6% and secure complete federal funding for SNAP. Late next year, the federal government will base states’ penalties on the lower of two error rates — either from fiscal year 2025 or 2026. The penalties range between $100 million and $300 million.
The official payment error rate for this year will not be released until next June.
DES has not provided an estimate, but says it’s made “significant progress” in reducing the rate this year with improved technologies, more staff and training opportunities. It also requires applicants to submit more documentation to prove they are eligible for assistance.
Last week, the department sent out a memo clarifying its timeline and the effects of H.R. 1. “FFY” refer to federal fiscal year and “PER” means payment error rate:
“We recognize that the official SNAP PER increase to 10.8% from the FFY 2024 PER of 8.84% may prompt questions alongside previous communications about our quality improvement efforts and the rapid decrease in our caseload. Below are several critical items to consider in understanding the PER:
- The official PER is a lagging performance indicator. The official FFY 2025 PER published by USDA reflects policies and eligibility work that occurred before H.R. 1 and before our 2025 efforts could influence the PER.
- This FFY 2025 error rate reflects a sample of SNAP households receiving benefits between October 2024 and September 2025, and because SNAP cases can remain certified for 12 months or longer, many of the errors identified in this sample stemmed from DES practices that were in place long before H.R. 1’s burdensome requirements.
- Because H.R. 1 was passed well into the federal fiscal year, our team had less than three months remaining in FFY 2025 to apply the new policies and processes.
- PER is a measure of overpayments and underpayments that states make while administering SNAP, not an indicator of fraudulent activity. This is a measure of accuracy in determining a household’s eligibility and the amount of benefits they can use for groceries.
- Arizona’s FFY2025 PER is near the national average of 10.62%. Ongoing quality improvement efforts are expected to result in an FFY 2026 PER well below the national average.”
Republicans, including Rep. Juan Ciscomani, have defended the new payment error rate requirement as a way to combat waste, fraud and abuse in the SNAP system.
In February, Arizona Republican legislator Nick Kupper sponsored a bill that would require reducing the rate as low as 3%.
DES defines the rate as a performance indicator and the USDA does not use it to monitor fraud.
Advocates at a recent roundtable discussion in Tucson challenged the Republican party’s reasoning, saying the 6% rate expectation overwhelms processing at DES and unjustly cuts off applicants who need food assistance.
Stan Dorn, a health policy advocate with UnidosUS, says it’s “a human-inflicted disaster.”
“If Arizona wants to avoid cuts of up to $300 million a year on top of all the other cuts, it’s going to have to keep those error rates as low as possible which means that overstressed human being in the social services office — in case of a doubt, you’ve got to deny that person,” Dorn says.
More than 450,000 people statewide have lost their food assistance since the regulations were enacted last summer and Arizona began its swift compliance effort.
Almost $11 million in the state’s executive budget will boost SNAP processing and will help modernize the department’s technology.
