Wisconsin official urges lawmakers to act on $70M to bolster FoodShare

Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Kirsten Johnson on Jan. 21 urged the state Legislature to take up a nearly $70 million measure to shore up the state’s food assistance program, following months of discussions.

The state faces the possibility of tens of millions in extra costs from changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, made by the sweeping tax and spending law, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” that President Donald Trump signed last summer.

The law imposed new work requirements on some people who receive benefits through the food assistance program, which is called FoodShare in Wisconsin. It also shifted more of the administrative costs of the program onto states and will force states to foot potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in benefit costs if they make too many overpayment or underpayment errors.

“Due to federal red tape and changes made over the summer, Wisconsin needs to act now to protect this vital program,” Johnson said in comments to reporters. “We needed these resources yesterday and delaying this investment hurts Wisconsin.”

As part of the nearly $70 million measure, Gov. Tony Evers’ administration has proposed spending $16.2 million in state funds over the 2025-27 biennium to hire dozens more quality control staff to ensure error rates remain low and the state does not incur penalties. Additional administrative costs beginning in October are expected to cost the state $32.3 million in its next fiscal year. Plus, state officials anticipate having to spend about $20.7 million over the biennium to cover increased enrollment in a job training program for FoodShare recipients, according to the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The Evers administration made its initial request for the nearly $70 million in August, Johnson said, and discussions are ongoing between the Democratic governor’s office and the Republican-controlled Legislature.

In a December interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he was “optimistic” about negotiations to reach a deal.

“I feel like it’s a decent package. I feel like the Assembly Republicans are there,” he said at the time. “We just have to kind of keep working with all of our colleagues to see if we can get everybody across the finish line.”

A spokesman for Vos did not immediately return a request Jan. 21 for comment. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately respond to a separate request.

Republican legislative leaders have floated the idea of attaching the funding to a bill that would bar FoodShare recipients from using benefits to purchase sugary foods like soda and candy.

Johnson did not comment on whether she supported the idea. She called for urgency in addressing the funding shortfall, saying her biggest concern was the possibility of the state’s error rate getting too high and costing taxpayers.

The state faces tens, or even hundreds, of millions of dollars in additional costs if county and state workers commit too many errors in calculating FoodShare payments.

State officials expect the state’s error rate to be above 6% for federal fiscal year 2025 because of a change in how errors are counted, according to an October memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

If the state does not bring its error rate below 6% this year, taxpayers would be on the hook for anywhere from $68 million to $205 million in federal fiscal year 2028, according to the memo.

Under Trump’s tax and spending law, the higher a state’s error rate, the more it owes in benefit costs. Previously, the federal government covered the full cost of benefits for the food assistance program, while splitting administrative costs evenly with the states. Trump’s tax and spending law cut the percentage of administrative costs covered by the federal government from 50% to 25%, beginning in October.

Under Evers’ proposal, the state would add 56 employees and would increase funding for counties to hire an additional 76 workers to review FoodShare cases for accuracy and avoid errors, the memo says.

Last year, nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites per month relied on Foodshare benefits to pay for groceries, according to state data.

Addition of work requirements make FoodShare verification more difficult

New work and eligibility requirements for some FoodShare recipients also have complicated the process for reviewing cases and ensuring accuracy.

Work requirements that previously only applied to adults up to 54 years old without children now extend to all adults up to 64 years old without a child under age 14 in the home. The law also removed exemptions for veterans and homeless people.

State and county workers who determine eligibility for FoodShare have struggled to phase in the new work and eligibility requirements imposed by last summer’s law, amid a tight timeline to comply, confusing federal guidance and the interruption caused by last fall’s federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.

Last fall, Wisconsin and other states sued the Trump administration over eligibility guidelines for the food assistance program related to non-citizens and argued the timeline for implementing the changes was unrealistic and inadequate.

“We have begun working with our counties to implement the work requirements and continue to update them as we get new information,” said Wisconsin Medicaid Director Bill Hanna. “It’s an ongoing process.”

In Dane County, older adults will be expected to comply with work requirements to remain eligible for FoodShare as soon as February, said Tanya Andersen, a spokesperson for Dane County Human Services.

Meanwhile, Brown County officials say they are awaiting more guidance.

“Trying to do this as fast as has been requested has been a challenge,” said Erik Pritzl, executive director of Brown County Health and Human Services.

Brown County leads the Bay Lake Consortium, which processes FoodShare applications for residents of Brown, Door, Shawano, Oconto and Marinette counties.

“It’s complicated work and our specialists go through a lot of intense training to do this. They have to be accurate about benefits, assess who’s eligible, and make sure people are getting the right amount of benefits,” Pritzl said. “Changes have to be implemented carefully and we want to get it right.”

Reporter Jessie Opoien, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, contributed to this story.

Reporter Sarah Volpenhein can be reached at svolpenhei@usatodayco.com or at 414-607-2159.

Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com.