From left: Arkansas Department of Human Services Secretary Janet Mann, Chief of Staff Lorie McDonald, Deputy Secretary for Operations and Budget Misty Eubanks and Division of County Operations Director Mary Franklin await questions from the Joint Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee at the Arkansas Capitol complex on Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
The Arkansas Department of Human Services needs to reduce its rate of erroneous nutrition benefit payments in order to minimize the cost of the program in the coming years, DHS officials and state lawmakers agreed Monday.
The federal One Big, Beautiful Bill Act extended a series of tax cuts by reducing several benefit programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). States will have to share some of the cost of the program for the first time in the program’s 86-year history, and each state’s share will depend on how often it overpays or underpays SNAP benefits…