Gov. Tony Evers sent a letter to the Trump administration urging it to use the United States Department of Agriculture’s powers to transfer funds to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program after announcing Tuesday that the federal program would run out of money due to the federal government shutdown.
Nearly 700,000 Wisconsin residents rely on SNAP to get food assistance.Â
“Empty cupboards and stomachs are not abstract outcomes,” Evers said in a statement. “They are the very real and near consequences of the dysfunction in Washington. These are also consequences you can prevent today.”
The USDA has the authority to allow for the temporary transfer of funds between nutrition programs, which was recently used to preserve WIC (a supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children) benefits. The same action could be used for SNAP.Â
Evers sent out a statement on Tuesday warning that SNAP, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, will be out of federal funding — where all of its funding comes from — in November.
