Groceries, grocery cart Jan. 18, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — A bill recently signed into law sets funding, waivers and reporting rules to help Wisconsin avoid SNAP penalties.
Gov. Tony Evers signed Assembly Bill (AB) 180, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 116, Monday to support the state’s SNAP, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, which provides food assistance to over 700,000 Wisconsinites, including 270,000 kids.
The bill is designed to reduce FoodShare payment errors and aimed at saving Wisconsin taxpayers from potentially having to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalty fees to the Trump Administration due to new changes under the ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’
Under new federal changes in the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’, states will be forced to pay for a higher share of SNAP benefit costs if FoodShare payment error rates exceed certain thresholds.
In Wisconsin, this could cost taxpayers an additional over $200 million every year in penalty fees to the Trump Administration, on top of the more than $284 million Wisconsin taxpayers are already estimated to pay in future budgets.
After months of bipartisan negotiations, as amended, AB 180 would appropriate over $72 million to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) for key resources, including funding for the FoodShare Employment and Training program, additional administrative costs that have been shifted onto the state, quality control initiatives to help keep FoodShare error rates low and avoid federal penalties, and more.
“Ensuring the FoodShare program has the resources we need to meet new federal requirements is critical to maintaining access to essential nutrition benefits for Wisconsin families and saving Wisconsin taxpayer dollars. We are grateful to the Legislature for passing AB 180 with bipartisan support and to Gov. Evers for signing it into law,” said DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson. “DHS remains committed to administering the FoodShare program with accuracy, accountability, and in full alignment with federal requirements, while providing critical food assistance to Wisconsinites.”
The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ cut SNAP food assistance by about 20%, forcing states to pay more for SNAP programs like Wisconsin’s FoodShare.
The funding appropriated through AB 180 would include $32.3 million to cover the increase in the state’s share of administrative costs as a result of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ which shifted 75% of administrative costs to states, as opposed to the current 50%, $16.1 million for additional DHS and county staff positions to achieve and maintain a FoodShare error rate below 6% and avoid federal penalties, and $20.7 million to support an increase in participation in the FoodShare Employment and Training program due to expanded work requirements.
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