The Brown County Library East Branch location in Green Bay, April 6, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — The government shutdown is now the second-longest history, just days away from becoming the longest in U.S. history.
Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Kirsten Johnson hosted a community discussion at the Brown County Library East Branch in Green Bay on Monday.
The Governor is standing in solidarity with democrats who want to extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. He says these tax credits have helped make healthcare coverage more affordable for millions of Americans.
Additionally, Gov. Evers announced that Wisconsin’s FoodShare program will run out of funding in less than 10 days. He called on the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection to continue to fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP).
“The Department of Agriculture has the money to keep going,” said Gov. Evers. “They have it right now; in fact we just took them to court today to say ‘quit telling us you can’t do this’ because we know they can.”
Gov. Evers sent a letter urging the Trump Administration to exercise powers already authorized under federal law that enable the department to transfer funds to sustain SNAP benefits to ensure no Wisconsin kids, families, or seniors go hungry as the shutdown continues.
Gov. Evers says the best thing the average citizen can do to help end the shutdown is to call your federal representatives.
“They’ll say immediately ‘Well we can’t go to work because of x or y,’ or ‘Somebody over here said this and that,'” said Evers. “They have to solve this, and they alone can solve this.”
The government has been shut down for 27 days and counting; making it the second longest government shutdown in history. The longest was 35 days in 2018-19; during President Trump’s first term in office.
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