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DHS: 8,000 Minnesotans likely to lose SNAP benefits

The commissioner believes that 2,000 Minnesotans will lose their food assistance, and that an additional 6,000 will lose SNAP benefits by December of 2020.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Thousands of Minnesotans will likely lose their SNAP benefits as a result of a new federal rule, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).

DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead outlined this concern in a letter to Minnesota's Congressional members on Dec. 18, 2019. Harpstead said that because of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that changes benefits for "able-bodied adults without dependents," approximately 8,000 low-income adults across Minnesota will likely lose their SNAP benefits.

Currently under SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, adults without kids can only receive benefits for three months in a three-year period if they're not working or in job training at least 20 hours per week. States are able to request waivers for those adults, however, if they're in an area of high unemployment where it's hard to find steady work.

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The new rule will make it much harder to grant those waivers, according to Commissioner Harpstead. She said the DHS believes that 2,000 Minnesotans will lose their food assistance, and that an additional 6,000 will lose SNAP benefits by December of 2020.

"SNAP is the most effective anti-hunger program in the nation and it is once again under significant threat," Harpstead said in the letter's conclusion. "My hope is that there is some way to block implementation of this harmful policy change."

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Back in November, Harpstead also filed a public comment on behalf of the Minnesota DHS on the proposed USDA rule. 

"The proposed rule would increase hunger in Minnesota," she wrote at that time. "At approximately $1.40 per person per meal, SNAP benefits are modest to begin with. This rule would cut this already meager benefit by an average of $10 per month for 40 percent of SNAP households in Minnesota."

From July 2019 (watch below or click here): Impact of proposed food stamp changes

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