Though an Assembly bill that would overhaul Wisconsin’s FoodShare program is currently tabled for this session, it could be taken up at a later date. We should take this moment to contemplate what type of message the passing of the bill would send.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, calls for removing all funds from a FoodShare account that are more than a year old found in any account.

The FoodShare program in Wisconsin provides financial credit to families, or individuals, living below a certain income threshold. The program also, for the most part, only provides financial support to individuals who work at least 80 hours a month. Though there may be some exceptions, for the most part, this program can’t be attacked as a free loader program, as many would like to.

Assembly legislation changes FoodShare, unemployment benefit programs

The bill has been pushed through the Legislature under the pretense of eliminating fraud in the FoodShare program. And though there may be small levels of fraud, the ultimate impact of the bill comes in its elimination of the ability to use the FoodShare program as a device for saving money.

Because the FoodShare program provides subsidiary income to people in the lower financial brackets, it represents an additional income that some families use as a means of formulating small savings accounts. The bill would expunge unused benefits after one year, meaning the program would no longer be able to act as a means of saving.

Opponents of the bill also claim that the measures proposed in the bill wouldn’t mitigate the fraud risk, meaning that the harms of the bill come without any benefits, not to mention that the bill has an estimated cost of $1.3 million. So, in review, the Legislature wishes to spend $1.3 million, even though the state currently sits on a $45 billion debt, to fund a program that will hamper the ability of poor people to save money — all in the name of attempting to cut down on small levels of fraud.

This strikes me as a poor allocation of funds from a state that currently runs at a deficit, not to mention that the bill represents a contradiction in what Republicans claim they want people to do.

The Republican party claims to stand for limited government spending that allows individuals who work hard to keep more of their money and spend it the way they as an individual see fit. They also pushed hard the idea that in America you move up through hard work and “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.”

These beliefs exposed by the GOP have some merit to them, however, oftentimes it seems the bills pushed by Republicans in the Legislature run contrary to the goals they claim to support. For instance, one would think Republicans would support a program that provided additional income to people who worked and support individuals making the sacrifice to spend less right now, in order to accumulate a savings account.

Yet, the bill stands completely contradictory to these outcomes that Republicans claim to support. Instead,the bill pushes lower-income individuals away from trying to save money, by eliminating the ability to save through the FoodShare program. By pushing people away from saving money, the bill furthers the cycle of poverty.

I understand that the Republicans see the bill as a means of long-term curbing government spending and cutting down on fraud. But the negatives of the bill far outweigh the positives.

In the case of this bill, Republicans are focusing on spending more than $1 million as they also create an environment in which the American people cannot save money through hard work.

Connor Allen ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in economics, history and marketing.