From State Senator Don DeWitte:
Senator DeWitte Questions Pritzker Officials for Illinois’ High SNAP Error Rate
During last week’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) meeting, I had an opportunity to grill representatives from the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) about major failures in the administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
At our November 18th hearing in Chicago, I questioned them about persistent errors within the food assistance program. Recent reports show Illinois now has one of the highest SNAP error rates in the nation.
The error rate within Illinois’ SNAP program has doubled over the last eight years, going from 5.7% in 2017 to 11.5% in 2024. Governor Pritzker owns this mess because seven of the eight years of the error explosion happened on his watch. If the state’s 11.5% error rate isn’t nearly cut in half to below 6%, Illinois taxpayers could be on the hook for about $800 million to cover the errors.
Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability in this state-administered program that provides critical support to families. It is unacceptable that there is continued mismanagement that is jeopardizing both recipients and taxpayer dollars.
