Washington Is Passing the Buck to Wyoming
Starting October 1, Wyoming is on the hook for 75 percent of the cost of running SNAP, up from 50 percent. Washington made that decision. Wyoming taxpayers get the bill.
That is not the only change. The federal law behind it also raised the age limit for SNAP work requirements from 54 to 64. Together, these rules make it harder for working Wyomingites to put food on the table and more expensive for our state to run the program.
What changed
Here is what the new federal rules do:
Work requirements reach further. Adults without dependents up to age 64 must now document at least 80 hours a month of employment, job training, or qualifying volunteer work to keep basic food assistance beyond three months. The old limit was 54.
States pick up more of the tab. Starting October 1, states must cover 75 percent of SNAP's administrative costs, up from the long-standing 50 percent.
The risk lands on Wyoming's agency. The Department of Family Services has to manage compliance, process verifications, and avoid steep federal penalties tied to administrative error rates, with no new money from Washington to do it.
That is a massive, unfunded shift in state spending obligations.
Who it hits
In a state where economic opportunities in rural counties can be seasonal and sparse, telling a 60-year-old worker in a small town that they have to jump through bureaucratic hoops just to put food on their table isn't just bad policy. It's cruel.
Wyoming citizens are being punished by Washington mandates that ignore the realities of living and working in our rural communities. These are the people the changes will reach first: neighbors who have worked hard their whole lives and are now asked to prove it, month after month, to keep groceries on the table.
The new rules could strip food assistance from thousands of low-income Wyoming residents.
A standard Washington can't meet
The irony is staggering. Congress has been in session for only 148 days so far this year, and a big chunk of those are pro forma sessions where lawmakers gavel in and out in under a minute.
If members of Congress had to apply for SNAP under their own new rules and document actual floor time, they wouldn't meet the 80-hour monthly requirement to buy groceries.
So why are politicians holding grandparents in Wyoming to a rigid administrative standard they don't meet themselves?
What I'll fight for
Instead of delivering real relief to working families facing high grocery costs, Washington is passing the buck to Wyoming taxpayers. Our state agency is being forced to absorb higher overhead just to manage extra paperwork that knocks folks off the rolls.
When I am in the U.S. Senate, I will fight to protect our safety net, eliminate these punitive administrative traps, and make sure federal food assistance works for Wyoming, not against it.
Let's Show Washington that Wyoming still cares for all its citizens
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