Brandon Hardin, Alabama SNAP director, speaking at the April DHR meeting in the Gordon Persons Building on April 23, 2026, in Montgomery, Alabama. If DHR does not lower its error rate by October, the state will have to pay up to 15% of SNAP benefits under changes implemented by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
Federal changes to the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) will cost Alabama between $174 and $261 million, state officials said Thursday.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduced a penalty for states that have a high error rate in the SNAP program. Currently, Alabama’s error rate is around 10%, SNAP Director Brandon Hardin said at a quarterly meeting of the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR), which administers the program in the state…