This post originally appeared at https://www.badgerinstitute.org/wisconsin-should-listen-to-its-people-link-foodshare-to-work/

Voters overwhelmingly favor job requirement, but state has waived it for years, swelling benefits rolls by 56,000 adults a month

In a spring 2023 referendum, nearly four in five Wisconsin voters agreed that able-bodied childless adults should be required to seek employment to receive government benefits. Despite this near consensus, state government officials have historically taken a different approach — especially in Wisconsin’s FoodShare program. In a recent report, I found that state officials have consistently waived FoodShare’s work requirement, even when plenty of jobs were available.  

It is time for Wisconsin to reverse this policy and re-establish a work requirement for able-bodied FoodShare recipients. 

FoodShare is Wisconsin’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — previously known as food stamps. The program serves more than 700,000 low-income individuals in Wisconsin, at a cost of $1.7 billion per year.  

As part of the program, the federal government requires that able-bodied adults without dependent children (abbreviated as ABAWDs) work or participate in a work-related activity for an average of 20 hours per week. These activities can include volunteer service, job training, or job searching. However, a state can request a waiver to this federal requirement if it demonstrates that it lacks a sufficient number of jobs for these individuals.   

Since the ABAWD work requirement was established by Congress in 1996, Wisconsin officials have consistently waived it statewide, with the exception of just five years including 2015 to 2019 under then-Governor Scott Walker. In a recent report, I found that these waivers have increased the number of FoodShare recipients, expanded costs, and likely reduced labor supply in Wisconsin throughout much of the past 30 years.   

Even when the unemployment rate in Wisconsin was historically low and Wisconsin businesses faced worker shortages, state officials still decided to exempt ABAWDs from working or seeking work. In fact, in 2022, Wisconsin waived the work requirement for the entire state, even in low-unemployment places like Dane County (including Madison), which had an unemployment rate of just 2 percent at the time. 

Federal policy permits waivers even with low unemployment. States have several different ways to demonstrate that they do not have enough jobs, and Wisconsin officials have exploited this leniency, even as Wisconsin has had historically low unemployment.  

Exploiting loopholes related to work requirements has become a pattern in Wisconsin. In 2018, the Wisconsin Legislature passed 2017 Act 264, expanding the ABAWD work requirement to other able-bodied FoodShare recipients, while allowing exceptions for caretakers of children under age 6 and disabled dependents. However, Gov. Tony Evers vetoed funds included in the Legislature’s 2019-2021 biennial budget that were necessary to implement the law, including eliminating employment and training funds dedicated to FoodShare recipients. Evers also vetoed a subsequent bill passed by the Legislature requiring the state’s Department of Health Services (DHS) to implement the work requirement and barring the DHS from applying for waivers to the federal work requirement. Evers vetoed that bill in April 2022 — when unemployment in Wisconsin was 2.9 percent.   

By my estimates, from 2012 to 2023 the state added more than 56,000 FoodShare adults per month on average in the months it waived the work requirement, costing federal taxpayers $8.5 million more a month. FoodShare benefits are funded entirely by the federal government, but the implications still loom large for Wisconsinites.  

Wisconsin residents pay federal taxes, meaning that increased FoodShare caseloads and expenditures hit their pockets too. Additionally, research shows that food stamp participation reduces labor supply, making it harder for low-income Wisconsin families to escape poverty and creating challenges for Wisconsin employers to find workers. The expectation that non-disabled FoodShare adults work, look for work, volunteer, or engage in education or training for 20 hours per week was put in place to help low-income families secure employment and achieve upward mobility. By waiving work requirements, policymakers undermine these goals.  

Wisconsin voters have overwhelmingly expressed support for work requirements in safety net programs. It is time for state officials to align their policies with the values of voters.

Angela Rachidi, a Badger Institute visiting fellow, is also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), based in Washington, D.C.

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