Dems seek to delay -- read: kill -- fraud reforms

This month, the Farm Bill failed to move out of a Senate committee thanks to two GOP absences that allowed Democrats to hold up the legislation. At issue are changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — food stamps — intended to tighten eligibility requirements and give states more incentive to police fraud and abuse.

The changes are overdue. The Department of Agriculture's own figures reveal that about 10 percent of spending on the program is wasted on "improper payments," most of which were overpayments. The program cost taxpayers $101.7 billion in fiscal 2025.

Part of the problem is that Washington foots 100% of the bill for benefits, while the states pay only the administrative costs. That leaves little incentive for them to aggressively address problems. Seven states had error rates above 14% in 2025. Nevada was at 6.22%.

Under the reforms in the bill, states that fail to bring their improper payment rate below 6% will be forced to cover a small portion of the program costs. The point isn't to keep Americans who are truly in need of assistance from receiving benefits — spending will continue on an upward trajectory. Rather, it is to hold states accountable if they continue to be poor stewards of federal money.

The legislation is already having the desired effect. Officials in many states, including Nevada, have worked since the act's passage in 2025 to bring down error rates and implement more sophisticated methods of catching those who are gaming the system. The penalties on states go into effect for fiscal 2027.

Yet Democrats now demand a two-year delay on implementation of the new policy. They rejected a GOP compromise offer to put a hold on the financial penalties until fiscal 2028, a Wall Street Journal editorial noted this week. And if anybody thinks that Senate Democrats won't try to parlay any delay into a permanent entombment of the reforms, we've got some oceanfront property in Gabbs to sell you.

The Journal reports that the Foundation for Government Accountability projects that each year of delay would cost between $5.7 billion and $7.2 billion.

In addition, the bill already provides states with significant error rates — Alaska was the worst, at 23% — extra time to comply. Ensuring that federal money is spent wisely and produces the desired results should be a bipartisan endeavor. If Senate Democrats feel otherwise, Republicans should continue to carry the banner.

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