Governor Katie Hobbs announced Tuesday that her office will invest $7.5 million to reduce wait times and improve payment accuracy for Arizona’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and unemployment insurance (UI) amid staffing shortages at the Department of Economic Security (DES).
The funding, drawn from the Governor’s Office, is aimed at immediately increasing capacity and modernizing processes. According to the release, the package will add 15 temporary staff to resolve claims and assist callers, expand vendor operating capacity by 100 full‑time equivalents, continue overtime opportunities for eligibility staff, and upskill customer service representatives. The money also will pay for technology and third‑party verification improvements designed to automate manual tasks, expand income‑validation capacity, and give SNAP participants easier ways to submit required documentation.
“Programs like SNAP and unemployment insurance help families put food on the table and keep the lights on during times of economic uncertainty,” Hobbs said in the announcement. “I understand the frustration Arizonans feel with these delays. Families deserve stability, and I’m committed to ensuring they can access the support they need when they need it while protecting critical programs from further federal cuts.”
The release notes that improving payment accuracy is a priority because Arizona’s SNAP error rate — the share of underpayments or overpayments tied to miscalculation or income fluctuations — was 8.84% in fiscal 2024, below the national average of 11% but above a new federal threshold. The recently passed federal budget tightened penalties for states with an error rate higher than 6%, the statement said, a change that could expose Arizona to significant fines.
DES has faced staffing pressures, the governor’s office said, which have contributed to delays for families seeking benefits. The administration said the new funding will be used both to relieve immediate backlogs and to implement longer‑term process and technology fixes intended to reduce future errors and waiting times.
A spokesperson from The Arizona Department of Economic Security told Scripps News Group in early December that they were processing an estimated 54,000 new and renewal applications. DES said the backlog was due to staffing issues. They also said they saw a 36% drop in employees from July of 2024 to July of 2025, totally nearly 1400 people.
