Joseph Myers worked as a farm hand, milking cows on the same farm outside of St. Peter for four decades. But, working long hours in the dairy barn took a physical toll on his body and he had to quit.
“That was the most painful job I ever had,” Myers, 58, said. “I got pains in my knees. They hurt when you got to get down and put milkers on, or stand here all day like this,” he added, demonstrating how he did his aching work.
Myers received food assistance through SNAP, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and he now works at the St. Peter Area Food Shelf, getting paid to work 10-12 hours a week through the state’s Senior Community Service Employment Program. It provides job training and work experience to low income, unemployed individuals ages 55 and up.
At 58, Myers previously didn’t need to work to receive SNAP benefits. But with age for the work requirement now increasing to 64, those 10-12 hours a week he works fall far short of the 80 hours a month he needs to be working, volunteering or in job training to continue to receive his SNAP benefits. And now the clock is ticking because if he isn’t working or volunteering at least 80 hours a month by April 1, he’ll lose the benefits he needs to put food on his table.
The newly expanded SNAP work requirements and the elimination of several exemptions are a part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Republicans in Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump in July. In addition to increasing the age for able bodied adults to work from 54 to 64, the law eliminates exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, young adults aging out of foster care, and parents and caregivers with children between the ages of 14 and 18.
Myers said it’s been difficult to find work that he can perform physically, and fulfill the work requirements for SNAP.
“I get 10 to 12 hours a weekend, so I’m not getting anywhere close to 80 [hours a month],” he said. “What’s going to affect me is that in April, when it comes up, I’m going to be off everything.”
Recipients who’s don’t meet the work requirements now have until April 1 to do so. If they don’t, they'll be ineligible to reapply for SNAP benefits until 2029. It’s something Myers said he’s extremely worried about.
“It gives me a headache, big one,” he said. “We stocked up on stuff, so we’re doing not real good. But, we’re doing OK yet. But, when the food stamps come to an end, because I’m not making my 80 hours, then it’s gonna be really suffering.”
There are about 12,700 Minnesotans between the ages of 18-64 who will be in a similar situation come April, according to The Food Group, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit that fights hunger and provides nutritional support in Minnesota. Another 15,000 people in the state may lose benefits due the elimination of the exemptions.
Right now, advocacy groups are trying to help coordinate efforts within the hunger-relief sector to help SNAP participants meet new work-reporting requirements and educate them on required paperwork to avoid benefit interruptions.
Sophia Lenarz-Coy, executive director of The Food Group, said SNAP is a huge part of meeting people’s nutritional needs and keeping families from going hungry, and nonprofit food banks and food shelves aren’t positioned well to fill the void when these thousands of Minnesotans lose their SNAP benefits. She added that these changes “just adds to this real sense of chaos and uncertainty.”
“There is a sense that SNAP can be used as a bargaining chip by the federal government,” Lenarz-Coy said. “And again, that’s not ever been something that we’ve seen or experienced with the [SNAP] program before, so that has been really concerning.”
On the county-level, administrators are especially confused and worried as they try to disburse SNAP benefits to recipients. In St. Louis County, about 16,000 individuals receive SNAP benefits on any given month. Each individual receives an average monthly amount of about $165.
Dustin Letica, deputy director of Public Health and Human Services for St. Louis County, said it’s been very difficult and confusing to keep pace with all the rule changes happening now.
“This is very confusing for staff, but it's even more confusing for the individuals we serve,” Letica said. “And we also recognize that if individuals lose benefits, that can also create additional pressures, not just on the families, but on our community partners and local support systems and resources in general across the state of Minnesota.”
