“Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” Thomas Jefferson

Washington state remains steadfast in its refusal to turn over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility records to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, blocking federal efforts to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the nation’s food stamp program. Despite mounting evidence of systemic issues, the Evergreen State joins a coalition of Democratic-led jurisdictions resisting transparency at a time when watchdogs and federal auditors say accountability is desperately needed.

The scale of the problem is staggering. Nationally, SNAP operates with an 11 percent payment error rate, a figure that translates into roughly $10 billion in improper payments flowing from federal coffers to the states. For Washington State, the financial exposure is acute: analysts estimate potential SNAP fraud within the state could reach $100 million annually. That represents a massive misallocation of taxpayer dollars originally earmarked to help vulnerable families secure food, not to enrich fraudsters or cover bureaucratic incompetence.

A recent USDA report laid bare the severity of the crisis. Federal investigators identified approximately $3 billion in potential fraud and waste embedded throughout the program nationwide. Among the most alarming findings were 186,000 deceased individuals still listed on benefit rolls, 442,000 applicants who submitted fraudulent Social Security numbers, and hundreds of thousands of recipients who received duplicate benefits by filing applications across multiple jurisdictions. These statistics suggest that administrative failure, outdated record-keeping, and deliberate exploitation are systematically undermining a program meant to serve as a critical safety net.

Yet the true magnitude of the abuse remains shrouded. Federal officials have repeatedly emphasized that they cannot complete a comprehensive national assessment because numerous states have simply declined to cooperate with the Agriculture Department’s data requests. “But we do not know the full extent of the problems because many states, including some of those with the most food stamps beneficiaries like California, refused to comply with Agriculture Department's data request,” officials noted, highlighting how noncompliance shields potential wrongdoing from public and federal scrutiny.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has emerged as the most vocal state leader defying the federal inquiry, specifically refusing to hand over California’s SNAP eligibility data. Washington State, however, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with California in this resistance. The list of Democrat-led or Democrat-leaning holdouts is extensive, encompassing Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Together, these jurisdictions represent millions of SNAP recipients and a commanding share of the program’s multibillion-dollar budget.

For Washington residents, the state’s intransigence raises urgent questions about fiscal stewardship. With an estimated $100 million in potential annual fraud, every month of delay risks perpetuating a system where ineligible—or fictitious—recipients siphon resources away from the genuinely needy. Critics contend that cooperating with the USDA’s request is not a partisan concession but a fundamental responsibility of state government. Recall it was Washington where fraudulent unemployment insurance claims were paid out by the state in 2021, possibly as great as $1.1 billion, according to reports published by the state auditor’s office.

Consider Missouri as an example. It had an error rate of 8.7% last year. Unless it improves next year, the state will have pick up 10% of SNAP benefit costs starting in October 2027. Missouri residents received about $1.5 billion of SNAP benefits in 2024, the latest year for which federal data is available. If that same amount of benefits is paid in the future, Missouri could have to cover $150 million of the costs; that’s a sum greater than the total budgeted for several state prisons. 
 

In the 2025 fiscal year, only nine states fell under the 6% error rate: Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Error rates are so high in Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon and D.C. that they’ll be given at least one more year to try and reduce them.

More than 37 million people nationwide received SNAP benefits in March, according to preliminary USDA figures.

“There are billions of dollars that are at stake that states will have to find the money to be able to pay if they want to continue to operate a SNAP program,” said Chloe Green, assistant director for policy at the American Public Human Services Association.

Until Washington and its fellow non-compliant states release the requested records, the full depth of SNAP fraud and error will remain obscured. The USDA has illuminated the warning signs of abuse; now the states must assist in completing the diagnosis. Only through transparency and cooperation can policymakers restore public confidence and ensure the program fulfills its mission for those who truly need it.

Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer