Illinois faces a potential bill of up to $700 million a year after recording one of the highest error rates in the US for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme payments, raising fresh concerns over the future of food support for millions of residents.
Figures released by the US Department of Agriculture show that 14.67 per cent of Illinois SNAP payments were incorrect during the 2025 financial year. Most involved overpayments, although the rate also includes households receiving less than they were entitled to.
The USDA classifies these as payment errors rather than fraud, saying they are generally caused by mistakes made by recipients or government workers when information is entered or updated.
Under changes signed into law by President Donald Trump last year, states with error rates of at least 10 per cent will eventually have to contribute 15 per cent of SNAP benefit costs. States below six per cent will avoid contributing towards the benefits themselves.
For Illinois, the new cost-sharing rules are expected to apply from October 2028 if the state cannot reduce its error rate. The state could then be required to find hundreds of millions of dollars from its own budget. ([congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/index.php/amendment/119th-congress/senate-amendment/2360/text?utm_source=openai))
Illinois SNAP error rate puts taxpayers under pressure
Stephen Vaden, deputy secretary at the USDA, said Illinois’s error rate represented almost $660 million in incorrect payments during the 2025 financial year, equivalent to about $1.8 million a day.
“That’s before taking any fraud into account,” he said. “Just straight error on the state’s part cost the American taxpayer $660 million because of Illinois alone.”
Vaden said the eventual cost to Illinois could rise to about $700 million. The money would not be taken directly from food payments owed to recipients, but deducted from federal funding used to administer the programme, leaving the state to replace it with taxpayer money.
Illinois state senator Sue Rezin has warned that the financial impact could force difficult decisions in Springfield.
“That’s very real money that taxpayers will either come out of the budget but more than likely will have to come from somewhere else,” she said.
SNAP currently supports about 1.5 million people in Illinois, according to state figures cited in recent reporting. A $55 million allocation in the state’s latest budget is intended to fund 450 new Department of Human Services employees, including staff working on SNAP and Medicaid eligibility systems. ([nprillinois.org](https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2026-06-25/illinois-food-assistance-error-rate-continues-to-grow-as-federal-penalties-loom))
The USDA has also asked states to share recipient information so it can check records for inaccuracies. The department says its review of data from 29 states found people recorded as dead receiving benefits, recipients apparently claiming assistance in more than one state and payments linked to Social Security numbers that had never been issued to a living person.
Illinois has not shared its SNAP data with the USDA and is among states challenging the department in a federal lawsuit in northern California. Vaden said the department had offered to examine the state’s records without charge.
“Instead of taking that free data review, Illinois has spent taxpayer dollars in order to file a lawsuit against USDA to prevent us from looking at their data,” he said.
Illinois officials say the payment error figures should not be treated as evidence of widespread fraud or deliberate waste. Governor JB Pritzker has said the 2025 rate largely reflects months before the new law was signed and does not capture the state’s recent efforts to improve accuracy.
The Illinois Department of Human Services said it had launched a multi-year programme involving policy changes, improved staff training, additional caseworkers, technology upgrades and stronger quality-control measures. It said early internal indicators suggested that errors were falling. ([nprillinois.org](https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2026-06-25/illinois-food-assistance-error-rate-continues-to-grow-as-federal-penalties-loom))
Grocers fear impact of SNAP changes
The dispute has consequences beyond state finances. Dimitrios Drossos, owner of Fresh Living Market on Chicago’s north-west side, said SNAP accounted for as much as 30 per cent of his monthly sales.
“SNAP is a really integral part of our business,” he said. “Up to 30 per cent some months comes from SNAP, so it’s a big piece.”
Janna Rich, store director at Living Fresh Market in Forest Park, said SNAP made up about 20 per cent of the payments received by the shop.
“If that were to go away, we need to repivot and figure out what we’re going to do to be able to serve the customer in that way,” she said.
Both retailers said a significant reduction in SNAP spending could leave businesses facing redundancies or, in the worst cases, closure.
Drossos said some regular customers had recently found that their cards no longer covered the amount they had budgeted for at the till.
“They know how to calculate their budgets, they know how much they’re able to spend, and when magically or suddenly out of nowhere they can’t spend it anymore, it’s not them, there’s an issue somewhere,” he said.
Danielle Perry, vice-president of policy, advocacy and community engagement at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, said the charity helped people complete SNAP applications and recertifications.
She warned that making recipients provide more paperwork or attend more frequent in-person appointments could increase the risk of mistakes rather than reduce it.
“With an 18-page government form to fill out, it’s easy for SNAP recipients to make a mistake,” Perry said.
She said SNAP was a crucial part of the food-support system, providing nine meals for every meal supplied through emergency food services.
Perry also accused the federal government of using the new payment rules to make the programme harder to maintain, saying the ultimate goal was “to eliminate this programme”. She predicted some states could eventually withdraw from SNAP, leaving millions without assistance.
The Illinois Department of Human Services rejected that characterisation. In its statement, the department said the new law represented an unprecedented shift of responsibility from Washington to the states and argued that Illinois would not face the extra financial obligations if the federal government had not changed SNAP’s funding structure.
It said the state was working to lower its error rate while protecting eligible households and taxpayers, but added that it could not speculate about future SNAP financing or costs.
For now, SNAP benefits remain in place in Illinois. But unless the state can bring its payment error rate below the federal thresholds, officials, retailers and food charities are preparing for a costly fight over how the programme will be funded.
