The USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is an essential component of the social safety net. Last year’s H.R. 1 legislation made significant changes to the program, including new state cost-sharing requirements tied to payment error rates. Data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on June 24, 2026, indicate that Illinois’ SNAP payment error rate (PER) remains elevated, exposing the State to the possibility of significant future fiscal pressure. …
Federal funding supports about a third of Illinois’ total All Funds operating budget, funding a variety of programs including health and human services. Changes in federal policy create significant fiscal and operational pressure for the State. The enactment of H.R. 1 represents a shift in the federal-state fiscal relationship, increasing Illinois’ responsibility for administering and financing core health and human services programs that the State previously could depend on the federal…
The State of Illinois enters the FY2027 budget process at a pivotal moment. After several years of improved fiscal stability, marked by the reduction of the State’s bill backlog, incremental reserve building, and progress toward mitigating chronic structural deficits, the long-standing baseline fiscal pressures are tightening the State’s finances. While recent federal tax law changes initially raised concerns about substantial revenue losses, the State has taken steps to partially mitigate…
The recent federal government shutdown caused nationwide disruptions in public services and assistance across many domains, including food and nutrition supports for low-income individuals and households (see Federal Shutdown Threatens Food Assistance for Illinois Families). For the nation’s 41+ million participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the shutdown highlighted their vulnerability to unexpected decreases in monthly benefits. Indeed, SNAP participants…
Each fall, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) issues its Illinois Economic and Fiscal Policy report, which serves as the State of Illinois’ (Illinois or the ‘State’) primary long-term fiscal planning document and an early indicator of whether Illinois is structurally balanced heading into the next budget year. The 2025 edition of the report, released on October 9, 2025, about a month earlier than required by statute, signals an increasingly strained fiscal environment due to…
Over 41 million individuals rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) to assist in buying food each month—including nearly 1.9 million individuals in Illinois. The current federal government shutdown threatens the funding of these benefits in the near term, and soon-to-be-implemented programmatic changes in federal policies present additional fiscal challenges to states across the country, not to mention budget pressures on SNAP participants. These…
