The Tiffany Telegram: April 17, 2026
Dear Friend,
Telegram readers know that I sent a letter to Governor Tony Evers urging him to allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to audit Wisconsin’s food stamp rolls.
That came after the USDA asked each state to cooperate with a nationwide review. In the 28 states that have allowed the audit, the administration says it found 186,000 deceased individuals receiving benefits and 356,000 duplicate enrollments. Since food stamps are funded by the federal government, Wisconsin should welcome that kind of accountability.
But in bizarre fashion, Governor Evers insists everything is “just fine” while continuing to block audits. If everything were truly “just fine,” wouldn’t you want to prove it to taxpayers and give them peace of mind?
This comes even after federal prosecutors uncovered a $1.6 million food stamp fraud scheme tied to a single Milwaukee convenience store.
Then last week, he went even further by vetoing Assembly Bill 1027, which would have required Wisconsin to be transparent and allow the USDA to conduct an audit.
That is absurd. With billions in fraud already exposed in our neighboring state, we should be doing everything possible to root out abuse and protect taxpayer dollars.
That is also why I cosponsored the No Welfare for the Wealthy Act. This commonsense bill simply requires individuals to demonstrate that they qualify for benefits instead of being automatically enrolled. You can read more about it here.
When fraudsters steal from these programs, it does not just waste taxpayer dollars, it also takes resources away from our most vulnerable neighbors who truly need help.
With the White House now leading a Task Force to Eliminate Fraud that has already uncovered more than $600 million in suspected fraud involving Los Angeles hospices, I hope we uncover it all.
It’s time to open the books, root out fraud, and give you the transparency you deserve.
Thanks again for starting off your weekend with us! We hope you enjoy this week’s edition of the Tiffany Telegram.
Sincerely,
Tom Tiffany
Member of Congress
Click here to watch Governor Evers explain why he refuses to allow the USDA to audit Wisconsin’s food stamp rolls, claiming “the program right now is working just fine.”
The shameful attack on girls’ spaces
As you know, the New Richmond School District has decided to implement a policy that allows biological men to go into girls’ bathrooms – something that clearly degrades the safety of our girls, and forces the woke transgender ideology on our students. Thankfully, many parents and students, including courageous Ella Frei, have decided to stand up against the school district and filed a federal lawsuit to end this harmful policy. This also comes on the heels of Governor Tony Evers vetoing a wide variety of bills that would have enshrined protections for girls’ spaces in K-12. For example, he blocked a bill that would have stopped men from competing in women’s sports and vetoed another that would have barred health care providers from providing sex change surgeries to minors.Telegram readers know that I have fought to stop irreversible practices like these that promote transgender ideology and tear away at the safety of women and girls across the country. I have voted to pass bills such as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to prohibit biological men from competing in women’s sports and the Protect Children’s Innocence Act to stop the mutilation of children in the name of the transgender ideology. Our girls should feel safe at school, and our K-12 system should not be focused on indoctrinating our children with leftist ideology but rather providing them with a safe place to grow and learn.
Putting working families first
A record number of Americans received tax refunds this year, with the average refund reaching $3,400, an 11% increase over 2025. Millions of families are already seeing the benefits of the Working Families Tax Cutthat was signed into law last year. Roughly 45% of tax filers, or 53 million Americans, claimed one or more of the new tax cut provisions. More than 6 million workers used the no-tax-on-tips deduction, averaging $7,100. Another 30 million seniors claimed the Enhanced Deduction for Seniors, with an average deduction of over $7,500. Hardworking Americans should be able to keep more of what they earn, and that’s exactly what this bill did. Unfortunately, every Democrat in Congress voted against these tax cuts and sided with taking more from working families and seniors. They claim they would have supported no tax on tips or overtime as stand-alone bills, but the record tells a different story. Here in Wisconsin, Governor Evers had the opportunity to eliminate state income taxes on tips and overtime, and he vetoed those bills. I will keep fighting to help you keep more of your hard-earned money, lower costs, and put an end to the tax-and-spend madness.
T is for Temporary
This week, I opposed a Democrat effort to extend what’s known as “Temporary Protected Status” (TPS) to Haitians for another three years, which Democrats and even a few Republicans pushed after President Trump tried to end it. For those who don’t know, TPS allows the executive branch to provide a short-term delay of up to 18 months in removing aliens without valid visas in the event of extreme events in their home country, like a hurricane or earthquake. In practice, however, it is anything but “temporary.” In fact, there are now nearly 1.5 million aliens from a dozen countries living under TPS in our country. Some of these TPS orders have been in place for decades. Haiti’s TPS was designated by President Obama back in 2010, and Democrats now want it pushed out to 2029. That’s almost 20 years. So much for “temporary.” But it isn’t just Haiti – or Democrat presidents – who have abused TPS. Somalian nationals were given TPS by George H.W. Bush way back in 1991 – when hits by Paula Abdul and Bryan Adams topped the Billboard charts. More than thirty years later, it is still in place. Bill Clinton gave it to Hondurans in 1999 – when Microsoft had just replaced General Electric as America’s most valuable company. It lasted more than a quarter century – and was only terminated last year by the Trump administration after a lengthy court battle. George W. Bush extended TPS to El Salvador in 2001 – a full year before the first BlackBerry smartphone would hit store shelves. It remains active. Here’s the bottom line. TPS was never intended to be a “Hotel California” that allows illegal aliens to enter any time they like – but never leave. It’s time to put the T back in TPS and close this shadow amnesty loophole. You can see how lawmakers voted on the Haiti bill here.
The T in TPS stands for “Temporary,” yet it has turned into a permanent amnesty program. It’s time to close this loophole. Click here to watch my comments.
District Update
Secure Rural Schools payments
On Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service announced $248 million in Secure Rural Schools payments for Fiscal Year 2025. You may remember that at the end of last year, we passed the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act with bipartisan support, and it was signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 18th. Now the Forest Service has been able to send out payments that this bill authorized to counties that rely on this program. These payments deliver critical funding to rural communities with large amounts of federal land, and allow counties to keep their schools open, roads maintained, and improve wildfire preparedness. In this round, Wisconsin received over $1.8 million, benefitting communities that have a footprint with the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. This funding will ensure that students and families aren’t left behind simply because of where they live, including the Wisconsin counties that benefit from the program. In January, I visited the School District of Crandon to celebrate the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. You can read more about SRS and my work here.
Photo of the week
Earlier this month, I was able to help Rob Richard, and his wife, Carrie, secure and send a care package of Jack Links beef jerky to their son, who is serving in the Middle East with Milwaukee’s 128th Refueling Wing. Thank you to all the Wisconsinites serving our country and thank you to Jack Link’s for giving them a taste of home halfway around the world. If you have a photo of Wisconsin that you would like to share, please send it to comms.tiffany@gmail.com with your name and location. Your photo could be featured in next week’s Telegram!
“A Taste of Wisconsin”
Resources
Vacation is meant to be relaxing, so don’t let renewing or applying for your passport stress you out. The current processing time is 4 to 6 weeks, so we recommend getting this done as soon as possible. For more information, click here.
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Good News from Wisconsin's 7th District and Congress
SkillsUSA
Congratulations to Chetek-Weyerhaeuser’s high school and middle school students on qualifying for SkillsUSA Nationals in Atlanta. Good luck!
Pollinator Initiative
Zoey Frandsen, a Barron High School junior and Girl Scout, launched Barron’s first-ever community pollinator garden as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award.
The Invisible Leak
Ellie Crosby, Alissa Andreo, and Chloe Johnson of Chippewa Falls came to Washington, D.C. this week as top ten finalists in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow U.S. national competition. It was great to hear about their project!
Tax Relief for Working Families
This Tax Day, families are seeing, on average, an 11% higher refund than last year. Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts, filers are receiving about $3,400 in refunds.
American Energy Dominance
With the increase of LNG facilities, U.S. natural gas exports are expected to grow nearly 30% by 2027.