SNAP Reform Underway in Wisconsin

A.B. 180

On March 23, 2026, Governor Evers signed A.B. 180 into law. The bill has two main functions. The first is it bans the purchase of candy and soft drinks with FoodShare benefits. These benefits, called SNAP, were created by the federal department of agriculture but are administered by the states. This ban is made possible by a federal waiver program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, called SNAP Food Restriction Waivers.

SNAP food restriction waivers were created under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, which allows for state SNAP agencies to implement new reforms, as long as these reforms are “testing” for potential improvements in the program’s effectiveness and efficiency.

When states get approved for a waiver through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), they are then permitted to place additional restrictions, beyond the few that are outlined by the federal government, on the kinds of junk food that can be bought with SNAP benefits.

So far, 22 states have taken advantage of these waivers, and Wisconsin is about to become the 23rd.

The second thing A.B. 180 does is give additional funding to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), with the purpose of reducing Wisconsin’s SNAP error rate. It gives $69 million for 70 new positions in DHS to aid with quality control in SNAP, $3 million for the development of a FoodShare platform for product eligibility, and $250,000 for the next two fiscal years to help with the administration of the new platform.

Governor Evers argues that the additional staffers and funding for DHS are necessary to avoid paying the fee implemented by the Trump administration, which penalizes states for having SNAP error rates greater than 6%. Wisconsin has a very low error rate compared to other states, sitting at 4.41% in 2024.

A SNAP error rate is when a state over- or underissues SNAP benefits. Typically, a state overissues, resulting in them receiving more money from the federal government than they were initially supposed to.

The reason that these two separate functions were included in the same bill is due to negotiation between Governor Evers and Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Clint Moses and Sen. Chris Kapenga. In order to get Democrats on board with the bill, A.B. 180 had to tie together SNAP restrictions with additional DHS funding.

Despite signing the bill into law, Governor Evers was critical of putting a ban on using taxpayer dollars to pay for soft drinks and candy for FoodShare beneficiaries. In an interview with a reporter from CBS58 Milwaukee, just prior to signing the bill, Governor Evers said, “People should have the ability to make those choices when they’re getting their food,” but the other provisions were “really important.”

“It’s one of those things called compromise,” he added.

Interestingly, in his official press release for the signing of A.B. 180, Governor Evers focuses entirely on the additional funding for DHS and the adverse effects of the error rate fee implemented by the Trump administration. Mention of the ban of the purchase of junk foods with SNAP dollars was completely omitted from the press release, despite it being one of the main functions of the bill.

A.B. 1027

In addition to A.B. 180, the Assembly also passed A.B. 1027, which would require the state of Wisconsin to share SNAP data demanded by the federal government. More specifically, the Evers administration would have 6 months to compile and hand over “all data” that was requested by the USDA on SNAP recipients in Wisconsin.

Last May, Secretary Brooke Rollins of the U.S. Department of Agriculture requested all states to provide their records on SNAP applicants and enrollees in order to ensure that SNAP benefits were not fraudulently being used. Some of that information includes names, addresses, social security numbers, immigration status, and transaction records.

Following this request, 21 states, including Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia joined a lawsuit suing the federal government to avoid sharing the SNAP data.

Rollins argued that the Trump administration has the right to require states to hand over enrollment information, as SNAP is a federally funded program. The Trump administration is hoping that the additional enrollment information from the states can help the federal government identify points of waste, fraud, and abuse in our nation’s nutritional assistance program.

A.B. 1027 is now heading to the Wisconsin State Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate.

It is incredibly unlikely that this bill makes it past the governor's desk given that Governor Evers’ attorney general, Josh Kaul, is suing the federal government over their request for SNAP information.

Alternatively, Wisconsin could implement a state-driven audit of SNAP enrollment and benefit use. This could allow lawmakers to investigate potential SNAP fraud in the state while working around the Evers administration's distaste for handing over information to the federal government. However, it is unclear if this would be able to make it past the governor's desk either.

Conclusion

Both A.B. 180 and A.B. 1027 show willingness among Wisconsin lawmakers to address issues within our state’s SNAP program.

Moving forward, it will be important to track A.B. 180's effect on the SNAP program and the health of its recipients, as well as monitor whether A.B. 1027 is able to make it any further through the Wisconsin State Legislature.