The state could gain oversight over food stamp users’ unhealthy or “junk” food purchases under a new piece of legislation.

The Assembly Committee on State Affairs held a public hearing Tuesday to gauge support for a bill authored by Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, that would limit the amount of unhealthy or junk food recipients of Wisconsin’s food stamp program, known as FoodShare, can purchase with their benefits.

“A lot of constituents have seen a lot of abuse with the food stamp program,” Kaufert said. “Anyone who has ever been in a grocery line and witnessed someone purchasing soda, candy or junk food with the food stamp card noticed that and it irritates them.”

While most beneficiaries of the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, use their food stamps wisely, Kaufert said a small segment of recipients abuse the program by using the money to purchase either unhealthy snacks or extravagant items, such as porterhouse steaks.

Kaufert said he proposed the bill because these people are using taxpayer dollars that are meant to provide staple and quality food.

Several people with food stamps are also on state medical programs, he said. If they are not eating healthy and their health deteriorates, taxpayers will have to continue to pay for them, he said.

“Looking at how they spend [SNAP] dollars, I want to put some guidelines on how people who qualify get to spend it,” Kaufert said. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask for there to be regulations on this.”

Kaufert said he is not advocating food stamp recipients cannot buy junk food but that the state should put a limit on how much they can buy. 

For example, 25 percent of purchases made with food stamps could be used for junk food, he said. The state Department of Health Services would determine which foods would be affected, he said.

The proposed bill was met by opposition at the public hearing. Brandon Scholz, CEO and president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association, said grocers took issue with the process of administering the program.

Scholz said changing the computers and systems to flag prohibited products are costs Wisconsin grocery stores cannot afford.

“The main point [of our argument] is if you want to change what products SNAP beneficiaries can purchase with their card, you have to change how grocery stores are run,” Scholz said. “The point is [grocery stores] need to be reimbursed for costs and the bill does not plan to reimburse us.”

To have this program run the way Kaufert proposed, taxpayers will pay higher prices at grocery stores every day to offset the costs of implementing the changes.

Scholz said he would like to see the bill amended to require conducting a cost study before implementing any changes. He said the bill should also be amended to include state reimbursement to grocery stores for the costs of complying with changes to the SNAP program.

According to Kaufert, there are still aspects of the bill that need to be worked out regarding how the bill would be implemented.