Over 680,000 Oklahomans could have their food assistance benefits cut off next week if the federal government shutdown doesn’t end, state leaders said Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has notified state leaders that federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will be suspended beginning Nov. 1 if Congress has not reached an agreement to fund the program also known as food stamps.
“I think there is a real concern on what that looks like from a hunger security perspective, from a malnutrition perspective, from a vulnerable adult or child perspective, in the month of November because you’re talking about significant impacts to over 600,000 Oklahomans,” said Jeffrey Cartmell, Oklahoma Department of Human Services director. His agency administers Oklahoma’s program.
Cartmell said beneficiaries who currently have SNAP funds for October can continue to use those through the end of the month, but the agency doesn’t know if any carryover funds can be used in November nor if funds will be retroactively available once the shutdown ends.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 because Congress failed to find a bipartisan path forward on a stopgap spending bill by the start of the federal fiscal year. A Republican proposal seeks to temporarily keep the government open through Nov. 21. Democrats back a separate plan to permanently restore health subsidies for those who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Cartmell said communication from Oklahoma Human Services about the cuts was set to be sent to SNAP beneficiaries on Tuesday.
Jessica Dietrich, director of government relations and public policy for Hunger Free Oklahoma, said there is a lot of anxiety about SNAP funding, especially because no one knows the answers to beneficiaries’ questions.
“I wouldn’t say (people are) well informed, but that’s more because no one really knows what’s going on,” she said. “But I would say SNAP participants are very aware that there could be effects.”
Hunger Free Oklahoma is an organization working to ensure all Oklahomans have access to affordable, nutritious food. The group has a contract with Oklahoma Department of Human Services for SNAP education and outreach, Dietrich said.
Dietrich said the group is recommending SNAP participants to stay “plugged in” and aware of the situation, take advantage of opportunities to stock up on food and supplies, and to take information as it comes rather than panic.
Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, chair of the House Human Services budget committee, hosted an interim study Tuesday on changes to SNAP and potential solutions for the state.
“Personally I’m very disappointed in our Congress, and I hope that soon rather than later they can find an agreement to reopen our federal government,” he said.
Federal changes to SNAP
Further changes to SNAP are coming as a result of Congress passing House Resolution 1, or the Big Beautiful Bill, in July. Two major changes are shifting more responsibility to the states to pay for administrative costs and requiring states pay a greater share of SNAP based on their error rate, Cartmell said.
Beginning Oct. 1, 2026, states will have to pay a greater share of SNAP’s administrative costs, shifting from a 25/75 split to a 50/50 split.
“The total estimated cost to run the program in that fiscal year is $136 million, the current state share is at $68.3 million,” Cartmell said. “The prop state share once it changes, prorating it for the nine out of 12 months, brings it further up to $102.4 million.”
The second change would require Oklahoma and other states to pay for a portion of the awarded SNAP benefits based on the state’s error rate.
Error rates are not necessarily fraud or “nefarious” actors, but can refer to SNAP beneficiaries failing to update their income or household composition in a timely manner, Cartmell said.
“I don’t think that our clients aren’t updating because they don’t want to update,” he said. “I think if you’re a single parent or you’ve got a lot of stress in your life, the last thing probably running through your mind is, ‘I’m going to go on this government website and update my information.’”
The higher a state’s SNAP error rate, the more they’ll have to contribute to the program based on a sliding scale. Cartmell said Oklahoma’s error rate is at 10.87%, so to continue operating SNAP as is Oklahoma will have to match 15% of the funds which equates to an additional $248 million.
Oklahoma’s error rate would have to be below 6% to pay no additional matching funds.
Cartmell said Oklahoma’s error rate has “steadily” increased due to several factors, one being understaffed by 1,000 employees.
This change isn’t set to go into effect until October 2027, he said.
Rep. Danny Williams, R-Seminole, said Oklahoma needs to find a way to reduce its error rate.
“We’ve got to resolve this,” he said. “We can’t afford not to be below 6%.”
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