Klobuchar reacts to Boozman farm bill text 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, issued a statement late Friday reacting to the Farm Bill 2.0 text that Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., released that day. 

Klobuchar said in a message to The Hagstrom Report, “Sen. Boozman and I are continuing to discuss the bill that members received tonight. I look forward to working on the details of a bipartisan farm bill that can pass on the Senate floor as it will need both Republican and Democratic support. Senate Ag Democrats have been clear that a farm bill must meet the needs of both farmers and families across America.”

Klobuchar has insisted that the bill must delay a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that calls for states to pay a portion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits depending on the state’s payment error rate beginning in fiscal year 2028.

The bill released Friday would delay that provision for states with a payment error rate of 6% or higher until fiscal year 2029. But it also raises the percentage that states with a payment error rates of 10% or higher must pay beginning in 2031 from 15% to 20%. That change would address the increased cost to the federal government of delaying the state cost share. 

Section 4101 of the section-by-section summary, regarding the state cost share delay, says:

• Requires states to contribute a percentage of the cost of SNAP benefits beginning in fiscal year 2029 if their payment error rate is 6% or greater.
• Requires states with a payment error rate equal to or greater than 10% to pay 20% of the cost of SNAP benefits starting in fiscal year 2031.

The Agriculture Department released the payment error rates for fiscal year 2025, but states are trying to reduce their error rates. Some critics say the states are pushing so hard to reduce the error rates that they are requiring so much paperwork from SNAP applicants that eligible people are losing their benefits.