County seeks additional funding to deal with new food assistance requirements

An Ozaukee County committee voted earlier this month to urge the state of Wisconsin to provide funding to offset the effects of changes in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, also known as FoodShare.

The resolution passed by the Health and Human Services Committee is unrelated to the recent federal government shutdown, and asks the state to take action to mitigate the effects of changes made to SNAP in July.

Those changes include extending work requirements for those 64 or younger, lowering the child age threshold for parent exemptions and eliminating waivers for areas with high unemployment.

Officials say these changes will increase the workload for the county’s Human Services Department and could cause higher error rates, which could lead to hefty financial penalties, up to $69 million, for the state. 

Those costs could “cascade down to the counties,” according to the resolution.

The resolution, which is being promoted by the Wisconsin Counties Association, asks for state funding “to offset the financial burdens imposed by the federal changes and to ensure adequate resources for the administration of FoodShare and related programs.”

In addition, the resolution, points out, administrative costs for the program have increasingly been shifted from the state to the counties, totaling about $17 million annually.

The County Board would have to approve the resolution before it is sent to the governor and Legislature.