Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warned that states could face an existential crisis when the federal government reduces its share of certain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administrative costs from 50% to 25% beginning in fiscal year 2027. The change is scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, 2026, and is expected to create nearly $460 million in new annual costs across 57 counties, including about $300,000 in Lewis County. Leaders from Lewis, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties planned a Sept. 11 press conference to address the shift. Warren said Congress should reverse the cuts and argued that families and states should not have to choose between food and rent or between SNAP and schools. Separately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a 10.62% national SNAP payment error rate in fiscal 2025, above the federal threshold of 6%, involving $10.1 billion in improper payments. Under President Donald Trump’s law, states with higher error rates could be required to cover up to 15% of SNAP benefit costs starting in October 2027. SNAP enrollment declined from 42.8 million in January 2025 to 38.6 million in January 2026 as stricter work requirements took effect. Eligibility changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act also put millions of children at risk of losing access to free school meals. About 4.5 million people, including 1.5 million children, had lost SNAP benefits, while as many as 18.3 million students could ultimately lose free meal access. Katie Bergh of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities described the impact as a ripple effect, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in July that he would not support a Farm Bill that failed to protect SNAP funding.