AARP Applauds Minnesota’s Expanded SNAP Eligibility

We’re thrilled that Minnesota last week raised the income threshold for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), allowing more households to receive federal support for their food expenses. 

Lawmakers passed a bill expanding SNAP benefits to households living at 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of three, that equates to roughly $46,000 per year. The threshold previously sat at 165 percent of the poverty level, or less than $38,000. 

We’d been urging lawmakers to pass the bill, considering inflation continues to raise the prices of groceries and nearly 5 percent of Minnesotans aged 50 and up live in food insecure households, meaning they don’t have consistent, reliable access to affordable and nutritious food. With the federal government’s expanded SNAP benefits expiring if the U.S. doesn’t continue to declare COVID-19 a public health emergency, the bill’s passage is expected to help thousands of Minnesotans. 
 
Learn more about how AARP Foundation helps older adults sign up for SNAP benefits.