food insecurity

Wyoming has a budget for the next two years! After weeks of divisive lead up, how did we get here? Plus, the House issues its report on an activist handing out campaign checks on the House floor. WyoFile's Maggie Mullen and Wyoming Public Radio's Chris Clements break down the penultimate week of the budget session.

Wyomingites won’t be able to use SNAP benefits to buy sweetened carbonated beverages starting next February. Candy will get phased out in Feb. 2028.

Lawmakers rejected a budget amendment to participate in the federal program this year, and rejected a bill to do the same last year. SUN Bucks provides low-income families with $40 a month per child when school is out in the summer.

The state program lost the majority of its budget last fall, when the Trump administration eliminated funding for SNAP-Ed. Now it’s spreading out educators and exploring more online classes.

Gov. Mark Gordon’s office submitted a waiver last month to the federal government for approval to ban people from using SNAP benefits to purchase soda and candy. That’s as a bill to try and create more restrictions on spices and other ingredients failed to gain momentum during the first week of the budget session in Cheyenne.

The state program distributed $2.4 million to food pantries around the state and ended when the government reopened in mid-November. The Wyoming Department of Family Services recently put out a report detailing the program’s impacts, challenges and takeaways.

Wyoming is one of 13 state yet to opt into the program known as Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer. The program provides $120 during the summer months for each school-age child who qualifies for free or reduced-price meals during the school year.

That’s following the back-and-forth about the funding of SNAP benefits during the government shutdown in November.

Seven hundred boxes of food went out into the community at the end of November, each with a package of bison meat from the reservation and chokecherry jam for elders.

The effort is a response to the ongoing back-and-forth about funding for federal SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps.