Minnesota Gov. Walz uses holidays to call attention to cuts for food stamp cuts

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan using the holiday season Monday to call attention to a Trump administration plan to cut hundreds of thousands of Americans from the federal food stamp program.

Walz and Flanagan volunteered Monday at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center food shelf in St. Paul. They also held a roundtable discussion there on the importance of what’s officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

The Trump administration announced a new rule earlier this month to tighten work requirements for recipients, which would cut about 688,000 people defined as able-bodied adults without dependents. The change would cut an estimated 30,000 Minnesotans. The final rule will take effect in April.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has said the rule will help move people “from welfare to work.”

But advocates for the poor say the change will just force people to rely even more heavily on charity, and won’t make them more self-sufficient.

Walz sent a letter to Perdue asking him to withdraw the plan.

“This critical program provides food to thousands of Minnesotans — the majority of whom are children, seniors, and people living with disabilities,” the Democratic governor wrote. “Let me be clear: These misguided policy changes will increase hunger across Minnesota.”