MADISON – Wisconsin’s FoodShare program is set to shut down at the end of the week, after a top Republican legislative leader and the U.S. Department of Agriculture both indicated that neither is likely to step in with emergency funding to fill the gap of the federal government shutdown.
Senate President Mary Felzkowski said in an interview on WISN-TV on Sunday that state lawmakers likely won’t seek to backfill the federally funded food stamp program with state funding through the government shutdown, which is in its 27th day.
At the same time, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials issued a memo saying contingency funds won’t be available to backfill the program, which is part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
More: Milwaukee food pantries brace for demand surge if FoodShare benefits disappear from shutdown
“SNAP contingency funds are only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits,” the memo says. “The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.””Instead, the contingency fund is a source of funds for contingencies, such as the Disaster SNAP program, which provides food purchasing benefits for individuals in disaster areas, including natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.”Nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for food assistance will be affected once the program shuts down after Nov. 1.
The state provides about $115 million per month in FoodShare benefits, all of which is funded by the federal government, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
State lawmakers could choose to use state funds to cover FoodShare benefits for November, which would require lawmakers to vote to create a new funding appropriation or to expand an existing appropriation to deliver the state funds, according to the fiscal bureau.
Felzkowski, a Republican from Tomahawk, said Sunday that lawmakers are unlikely to do that.
“You know, $114 million is a lot of money. My heart goes out to people, but this is a federal issue. And I don’t see the state having the resources to do that,” Felzkowski said on WISN-TV’s Sunday politics show “Upfront.”
“I just wish that the Democrats would sign this continuing resolution and vote for it, and let’s move on,” Felzkowski said in the Oct. 26 interview. “You don’t hold people hostage over these kinds of issues.”
“I don’t see us stepping in,” she said.
Molly Beck and Hope Karnopp can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com and hkarnopp@gannett.com.
Hope Karnopp of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin unlikely to use state funds for FoodShare, GOP leader says
