Alaska’s lone House lawmaker says he supports Republicans’ plan to pay for their megabill by shifting some food aid costs to states — a move that hits Alaska and other states with high payment error rates disproportionately hard.
“I support states being in compliance with SNAP rules, and I think it’s healthy for states to be incentivized to ensure they are in compliance,” Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska) said when asked about the proposal Wednesday.
Begich is a freshman lawmaker who flipped Alaska’s only congressional seat red after defeating former Rep. Mary Peltola last fall.
Under the House Agriculture Committee’s plan, states will be forced to pay hundreds of billions of dollars for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting in fiscal year 2028. States with lower payment error rates will have to pay 5 percent of the cost of benefits. But states like Alaska that have payment error rates above 10 percent will have to pay 25 percent of the cost of benefits. All states will have to pay 75 percent of SNAP’s administrative costs.
Alaska, which already grapples with pockets of incredibly high food insecurity, and other state governments would have to decide whether to absorb the costs or cut benefits for low-income Americans.
GOP leaders have privately conveyed to members that the Senate is unlikely to approve the SNAP plan. It could also be held up in litigation.
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