SNAP Administrator Retention Act of 2025

This bill aims to help state SNAP offices keep and hire staff. It requires that state employees who run SNAP be paid at least the same as comparable federal workers, including locality pay, and that their pay be updated each year to match federal increases, within one year of the law taking effect.

If a state sends a wage plan to USDA and gets it approved, the federal government would cover 100% of the state’s SNAP staffing costs. This includes hiring, training, and keeping staff, as well as paying the required wages. To receive this money, states must use it to add to, not replace, their own current spending, and it must support current or new full‑time jobs above the number the state had in fiscal year 2024. States must submit their wage plans within one year.

• Who is affected: State SNAP agencies and their employees.
• What changes: Pay must meet federal levels and be adjusted yearly; the federal government pays 100% of SNAP staffing costs if a state’s wage plan is approved; funds must add to, not replace, state spending; staffing levels must be above FY 2024 levels.
• When: Within one year of enactment for both the new pay standards and the required state wage plans.