Shock study uncovers dodgy food stamp payouts and why taxpayers in Alaska and Maryland are getting bilked - but how bad is YOUR state?

More than $34 million of taxpayers' money is lost every day due to mistakes in food stamp payments, a shock study reveals.

Some states are worse than others at administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, which helps poor families buy groceries, snacks, and drinks.

In Alaska, fully 57 percent of food stamp payments were dodgy, says research from the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC).

Maryland, Oregon, Delaware, and Hawaii also have shockingly high error rates.

Many mistaken payouts are down to fraud, abuse, and waste, but they don't always point to lawbreaking, says report author Matthew Dickerson.

More than half of food stamp payments in Alaska are identified as fraudulent, abuse, waste or an error, research shows  

The Department of Agriculture, which administers food stamps, did not answer DailyMail.com's request for comment.

The research comes as Washington lawmakers debate the text of an updated farm bill, with Republicans gunning to cut some $27 billion worth of nutrition program funding over 10 years.

Missouri Republican Rep Mark Alford says the system has expanded over the decades to 'become a lifestyle' for recipients rather than a 'life vest.'

SNAP is 'plagued by overpayments and errors,' Alford wrote in The Kansas City Star on Monday.

A staggering tenth of payments are over the odds, Alford said.

They add up to $34 million of losses daily and a staggering $13.15 billion per year, he says.

The SNAP scheme helps low-income families buy groceries, snacks, and non-alcoholic drinks.

Some 42 million Americans currently receive monthly benefits at an average of $212 per person or $401 per household.

Dickerson's 35-page study lifts the lid on huge numbers of over-payments, and payments that should never have been made.

They 'vary alarmingly across states, indicating stark disparities in program administration,' says Dickerson.

Preschool teacher Jaqueline Benitez, one of 42 million US food stamp recipients, shops for groceries at a supermarket in Bellflower, California.

A sign alerting customers about SNAP food stamps is displayed in a Brooklyn grocery store.

In Alaska, Maryland, Oregon, Delaware, and Hawaii, more than a fifth of payouts are shady, he says.

Meanwhile, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Wisconsin are better administrators, with much lower rates of dodgy payouts.

Report author Matthew Dickerson.

Still, millions of dollars are lost from payments that aren't even being recorded, says the report.

Erroneous SNAP payouts below $48 are not registered by USDA.

Republicans and Democrats have all complained about the rising rates of SNAP overpayments, which jumped by three percent from 2019 to 2022.

Stacy Dean, the top-ranking nutrition official at USDA, has said the agency would work harder to cut back on payment errors.

Dickerson, a former House Budget Committee advisor, says food stamp enrollment surged from 17.3 million beneficiaries in 2001 to 42.1 million last year.

Meanwhile, SNAP costs have exploded from $31 billion to $135 billion, his report says, using inflation-adjusted numbers.

That's close to the entire annual turnover of Morocco.

As the scheme grows, recipients stay on stamps for longer, says Dickerson.

In the mid-1990s, less than a fifth of beneficiaries collected food stamps for 20 months or longer.

Nowadays, nearly half of them keep getting benefits for that period.

Worse still, says Dickerson, recipients include ever-more people who should be at work.

Food stamp recipient Steve Summers fixes his evening meal in his apartment in Oakland, California.

Coca-Cola, Sprite and other soft drinks are the most commonly-bought items via the $135 billion-a-year Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Nearly two thirds of SNAP recipients who could work did not, says the report

Between 2017-2019, the latest year for which relevant data were available, nearly two thirds of SNAP recipients who could work did not, he says.

SNAP's work requirements are 'limited, weak, and are currently waived completely or in part in 34 states,' he adds.

'The story of the food stamp program is one of expanding enrollment, higher spending, benefit payments growing faster than inflation,' Dickerson says in his report.

The food stamp program that was launched in 1978 faces strengthening political headwinds.

The US House Agriculture Committee this month released its long-awaited farm bill draft that includes provisions to SNAP benefits by $27 billion over 10 years, a committee aide said.

The savings result from restricting USDA's authority to update the cost of a sample grocery budget that underlies the benefit calculation.

Benefits would continue to rise with inflation, a committee aide said. Anti-hunger groups have said they oppose any cuts.

The bill is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

Congress faces steep odds to pass the bill this session, as the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-majority Senate remain far apart.