BATON ROUGE — Changes in federal law will require Louisiana to spend $42.3 million more on the SNAP program in the coming fiscal year, while food-stamp recipients cope with expanded work requirements and rising grocery costs.
Under President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed last summer, Louisiana will absorb a larger share of SNAP's administrative and benefit costs as federal contributions decrease.
That shift will cost the state $42.3 million more in the fiscal year starting July 1. Louisiana's additional spending could grow to $151 million the following year if it cannot lower its error rate to a new federal standard, according to the Louisiana Division of Administration.
The new federal law also eliminated exemptions from work requirements for people ages 55 to 64 who do not have dependents under age 14, as well as for veterans and people experiencing homelessness. That could lead to a loss of eligibility for some who cannot work or participate in volunteer or job training activities for 80 hours a month.
More than 756,000 people in Louisiana — about 16% of the state's population — rely on SNAP benefits. Roughly 53% of them are children or elderly.
Food banks had already seen an increase in demand last year due to inflation in grocery and housing costs and a federal government shutdown that delayed benefits, and officials fear further strain ahead.
"We did see an increase in demand in 2025 when SNAP benefits were reduced, as many households turned to food banks to help fill the gap," said Jordyn Mancuso, a vice president at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
"So far in 2026, demand across our 11-parish service area has remained relatively steady, though many families continue to rely on both SNAP and charitable food assistance as food costs remain high," she said.
If the policy changes cause some people to lose SNAP benefits, "we would likely see more people turning to the charitable food network for support," she added. "While food banks work hard to meet community needs, the charitable food system was never designed to replace federal nutrition programs like SNAP, which provide significantly more purchasing power for families."
The Baton Rouge bank distributed 14.4 million pounds of food in central Louisiana in 2025, down from 16.6 million in 2024 after the Trump administration canceled $94 million in federal food shipments in the spring of 2025 and corporate donations declined as food costs rose.
The additional costs to the state will be part of budget discussions in the legislative session beginning Monday.
The new federal law will increase Louisiana's share of SNAP administrative costs this October from 50% to 75%. The federal government previously paid 50% but will pay only 25% under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The change takes effect three months into the state's next fiscal year. So even though Louisiana will have to cover an additional $56 million annually, the Legislature will need to budget for only three-fourths of that total now.
The new law also requires Louisiana to cover 5% of SNAP benefit costs in any future year its payment error rate stays above 6%. If the state does not lower its current 7.61% error rate — which includes both overpayments and underpayments — it will have to allocate an additional $95 million to SNAP.
Camille Conaway, executive director for economic independence at the state's Office of Economic Stability, said at a recent meeting that "we are taking bold and aggressive action with our teams to get below 6%."
SNAP recipients across Louisiana got a glimpse of what it was like to temporarily lose benefits during the federal government shutdown last fall. After weeks of uncertainty, Louisiana used state funds to cover 25% of benefits for households with disabled and elderly members. The federal government reopened Nov. 13 and paid the delayed benefits to all recipients.
The shutdown came as many SNAP recipients were already struggling with rising living costs.
Darrell Malveaux, a 48-year-old single father of three who has been receiving SNAP for three years, has felt the higher price of groceries.
The maximum monthly SNAP allotment for a household of four is $994 — about $8.23 per person per day.
"It's hard when you get towards the end of the month," Malveaux said. "For about three weeks, I'll be good, and then it's tough at the end. The last time I went shopping, I noticed that the prices are getting higher, especially on produce. I do green smoothies, so when I'm buying the product, I'm noticing the price increase. It plays a big role."
With his health preventing him from working, Malveaux said that without SNAP benefits, "we wouldn't be able to manage."
Former Louisiana State University student Samantha Records has supported herself since she was 17. During college, she worked full-time as a bartender, paying all her own bills while working toward her degree.
"At 22 years old, I am responsible for my own rent, tuition and grocery bills," she said. "It has been a challenge. However, I can confidently say that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the sole factor that has prevented my complete breakdown."
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, recipients ages 55 to 65 can request waivers from work requirements only if they live in areas where the unemployment rate is 10% or higher.
SNAP recipients who are homeless, veterans, have a dependent between ages 14 and 17, or are 24 or younger and have aged out of foster care are no longer exempt from work requirements.
The Louisiana Department of Health reports that as of Oct. 1, there are 53,164 able-bodied adults without dependents on SNAP. They must continue to demonstrate that they are working, volunteering, in job training, or actively seeking work for at least 80 hours a month.
Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, a nonpartisan think tank focused on low-income policy, expressed concern that some eligible recipients could lose benefits because they did not complete the correct paperwork or never received it — or because a disability has not yet been approved by the appropriate agency.
State Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said he views budgeting for the increased administrative costs as an opportunity to improve the program's efficiency.
The state moved SNAP from the Department of Children and Family Services to the Louisiana Department of Health last October to reduce administrative costs in serving an overlapping population. The state also saved $24.6 million in Medicaid costs by removing people who no longer live in Louisiana from its rolls. McFarland said those savings could help offset the increase in SNAP costs.
He also suggested using Office of Motor Vehicles data to lower SNAP's administrative expenses. On Aug. 1, the vehicle office signed a $54 million contract to replace its 50-year-old computer system. Many SNAP and Medicaid recipients live in temporary housing, McFarland noted, and when they update their driver's licenses, Louisiana could simultaneously update their addresses in the SNAP database.
The SNAP Fraud Unit recouped $3.4 million from recipients in 2025. The Office of Economic Stability reports that 62% of cases were unintentional household errors and 14% were administrative errors. Fewer than a quarter of cases involved intentional violations.
"Our systems and teams are set up to make sure that we are running a clean and fair program," Conaway said.
