(WHTM) — A leading Pennsylvania congressman said Governor Josh Shapiro has it wrong on cuts to SNAP benefits.

The governor on Wednesday said 6,825 people in Rep. Glenn Thompson’s (R-PA) district would lose nutritional benefits because of the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which the House approved Thursday.

“I don’t see it as a cut,” said Thompson, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee. “I see it as Pennsylvania being irresponsible with how they’re managing the SNAP program.”

For days, Shapiro has warned the state could lose hundreds of million of dollars in federal funding for the program because of the bill.

Starting in fiscal year 2027-28, the bill would require states with error rates over 6% to pay a portion, on a sliding scale of up to 15%, of the total cost of benefits to residents.

The USDA uses error rates as a metric to measure the combined percentage of overpayments and underpayments made to households by a state’s program.

Thompson said high error rates hurt SNAP recipients the most because it leads to fewer funds in their accounts. At the same time, states face financial penalties for having high error rates.

He added he views the model as a cost share that incentivizes states to lower error rates. Pennsylvania has a 10.76% error rate, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report. That’s below the national average but still not good enough for Thompson.

“Pennsylvania’s error rates under his administration have been outrageous,” Thompson said. “The fact is, there would be no additional cost if they can get their error rate under 6%.”

In a news conference, Shapiro said the state can’t afford to cover the deficit in funding.

“Pennsylvania can’t backfill those cuts,” the governor said. “There’s a real question as to whether or not we will be able to operate SNAP any longer.”

Thompson disagreed, calling the governor’s numbers “absolutely wrong.”

“I don’t think their benefits are gonna be in jeopardy,” the lawmaker said. “I can’t imagine that you’ve got a governor running for reelection, we’ve got state house members who run every two years and senators who run every four years — no one’s gonna want to cut SNAP benefits.”