Bacon Votes Yes on House Agriculture Reconciliation Bill

Washington – Today, Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) voted yes on the House Agriculture Committee’s (HAC) Reconciliation markup, which includes measures to restore integrity to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). These reforms will ensure SNAP works the way Congress intended it to, by reinforcing work, rooting out waste, and setting accountability incentives to control costs and end executive and state overreach.

“We need to find the waste and eliminate it so we can strengthen the program for the vulnerable,” said Rep. Bacon.

Since 2019 SNAP rolls have increased by 17% and the cost of the program has ballooned by 83%. States administer the program and collectively make almost $13 billion in erroneous payments to participants in the SNAP program. The national error rate of 11.68 percent has nearly doubled since 2019. In addition, enforcement efforts have been limited by some states who do not enforce work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. Currently, 40% of these work-ready individuals live under a waiver that exempts them from work requirements. 

“Clearly this isn’t sustainable for American Taxpayers,” said Rep. Bacon. “We are delivering on our promise to reign in waste and fraud.”

Each state will be required to shoulder a share of the costs, based on their erroneous rates, beginning in 2028.

“Our team successfully negotiated with committee leadership to lower the burden of the state’s share,” added Rep. Bacon. “Nebraska was looking into shelling out an additional $83 million and we got that lowered to about $30 million. Plus, if Nebraska and other states lower their error rates, they will lower their percentage of share cost.”

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