(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers told reporters on Wednesday that his deal with the Legislature to agree to $72 million in funding for the state’s FoodShare if the food stamp program did not allow the purchase of candy or soft drinks was all about compromise.
Evers and Democratic legislators did not want the purchase restriction in place, arguing that many in food deserts had to rely on the occasional purchase of candy or soft drinks to get by.
“I’d rather have someone go to bed with food in their stomach than go to bed hungry,” Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said.
Evers had argued that the $72 million in funding was needed to prevent Wisconsin from going over a 6% error rate on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which would incur more than $200 million in federal penalties.
Wisconsin had a 4.47% payment error rate as of late 2024–2025.
“Making sure folks have food to eat is one of the most basic things we do as a society—we should be doing everything we can to make sure Wisconsinites and Americans can access basic necessities like food,” Evers said in a statement. “It’s pretty simple.”
Lawmakers, however, questioned why Wisconsin’s payment error rate would suddenly rise.
“The governor wants the Legislature to bail him out,” Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, recently told Badger Institute. “I don’t think DHS is going to get anywhere close to that six percent error rate, and he’s scared (it’s going to be higher than 6 percent). We have asked him to show us the data and he hasn’t. But that’s the way he has always operated.”
The Assembly passed the latest version of the bill, 71-22, while the Senate passed the bill 25-8.
