Tennessee’s next governor will almost definitely have to find $162 million in the state’s already-tight budget next year to pay for food assistance benefits previously covered by the federal government that were passed on to states in President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.
Historically, states have administered the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, while funding for both the food assistance benefits and program administration has come from the federal government.
Last year, Trump wide-ranging budget bill shifted administration costs of the program to states in a change set to take effect Oct. 1.
It will also make some states — almost certainly including Tennessee — responsible for paying a share of the benefits beginning next year.
Tennessee’s benefit burden is projected to be $162 million. If lawmakers aren’t able to find that funding during the upcoming legislative session, SNAP benefits will have to be cut or reduced.
Already this year, the state had to allocate $58 million more to pay for administrative costs previously covered by the federal government. Tennessee taxpayers are paying $126 more per SNAP recipient in administrative costs.
“It’s a lot of money," said Anna Grace Dastugue, director of nutrition policy at Tennessee Justice Center. "States have essentially been set up to fail because they’ve been asked to implement all these changes and do it perfectly correctly or if they don’t they will owe $100 million to $200 million dollars.”
The Big Beautiful Bill penalizes states with SNAP administration error rates of 6% or higher to incentivize improvement. Beginning in 2027, states like Tennessee with error rates between 5% and 10% will be required to pay 10% of their SNAP program benefits.
Tennessee’s current SNAP administration error rate is 9.44%. Officials have brought it down slightly from last year, when the rate was 9.47%. And it’s below the national average of 10.62%.
Department of Human Services spokesperson Danielle Cotton said the agency has worked with the legislature over the last three years to lower the payment error rate by investing in new technology and updating policies.
"The Department will continue to work with the administration, General Assembly, and other stakeholders to serve families who need additional support while making a diligent effort to reduce our error rates and maintain program integrity," Cotton said.
But unless the error rate comes down significantly more, Tennessee taxpayers will have to pay about $162 million in SNAP benefits previously paid by the federal government, in addition to $77.7 million in administrative costs.
“You can imagine that the state agency is trying to implement all these changes at the same time that they’re also terribly concerned about doing it incorrectly and having to pay for their mistakes,” Dastugue said.
Negotiating a delay
Tennessee has not met the 6% error rate threshold since 2018.
Six other states have more time to reduce their error rate before facing penalties because their error rates are so high.
As Congress negotiates the Farm Bill this year, states that have not been able to lower their error rates are asking for an extension before they’re required to pay penalties. It’s unclear whether that extension will be in the final version of the Farm Bill.
Every Republican in Tennessee’s congressional delegation — including gubernatorial nominee Marsha Blackburn — voted for the bill. U.S. Rep. Matt Van Epps, who took office in December, has said publicly that he would have supported it.
Blackburn’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether she would support the bill again or how as governor she would cover the coming federal funding shortfall.
Costs higher, fewer recipients enrolled
Amid the looming cost increase, Tennessee taxpayers are already paying more for the SNAP program to run, while fewer Tennesseans are receiving benefits.
“The progran drastically limited the number of qualified or lawfully present immigrants that can participate in the program — so no longer refugees, victims of trafficking, all those sorts of immigration statuses are not able to participate anymore,” Dastugue said.
Caretakers of children aged 14 to 18, veterans, homeless people and children aging out of foster care are all now barred from SNAP benefits if they don't meet work requirements.
Altogether, about 90,000 fewer Tennesseans are receiving SNAP benefits now than were last July, a drop of about 12%. Tennessee’s SNAP participation drop is on par with the rest of the country.
Last July, nearly 700,000 Tennesseans relied on the federal SNAP program each month to keep food on the table. Now, just 610,774 are enrolled.
Tennessee is ranked 33rd in the country for its average SNAP benefit payment amount. On average, a family recieves $234 per month from the food assistance program. Tennessee SNAP participants received $1.74 billion in benefits in 2025.
“When you have little to no means, that makes a massive difference in your food budget and what you can put on the table for your family each month," Dastugue said.
Cotton did not identify a single cause of the enrollment drop.
“At this time, we cannot speak to the exact cause of the decline in SNAP enrollment as there are a number of factors that can cause SNAP participation to vary,” Cotton said.
Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TN will pay $220M more for SNAP program next year; 90K lost benefits
