Minnesota expects the new federal SNAP work rules to cost some households their food benefits. State projections say almost 18,000 more adults in an average month are now covered by the rules, and roughly a third of them are expected to eventually lose benefits. The rules now reach adults all the way up to age 64.
The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) lays out the numbers on its page about the federal SNAP changes and their effect on Minnesota. The almost 18,000 adults amount to about 4 percent of the state’s SNAP participants.
Who the new work rule reaches
The 2025 federal budget law raised the upper age for SNAP work requirements to 64 from 54, DCYF says, and the change has applied in Minnesota since November 1, 2025. According to the state’s time-limited SNAP rules page, the rules cover recipients who are between 18 and 64 and do not live with a child under age 14.
Under those rules an adult must work, train or volunteer at least 20 hours a week, or 80 hours each month, and report it. Otherwise benefits are limited to three months in a three-year period. For adults who were never covered before, that is a new monthly task.
The practical question for Minnesota households is whether anyone in the home is an adult between 55 and 64 with no child under 14 and no clear exemption. Anyone in that spot needs to know whether the three-month clock has started, and what the county or Tribal Nation worker needs to see each month.
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What the federal law changed
A USDA implementation memo says individuals aged 18 to 64 are now subject to the SNAP time limit, effective on enactment on July 4, 2025, with November 1, 2025 marking the end of a federal exclusionary period for states. The same USDA memo narrows the exception for parents and caregivers to a child under 14, where it was once under 18.
The memo also removes the exceptions for veterans, homeless people and young adults who aged out of foster care, and adds exceptions for Indians, Urban Indians and California Indians. People aged 60 to 64 stay exempt from the general work requirements, though they remain subject to the time limit.
Waivers from the work rule are now limited to areas with unemployment above 10 percent. DCYF says 17 counties and 9 Tribal Nations had waivers before the law, and now only three Tribal Nations qualify.
The memo also tells states to screen every application and recertification under the new criteria, and to give households a written notice plus an oral explanation of the work requirements. Adults aged 55 to 64 are supposed to be told that they are now subject to the time limit.
How the three-month clock runs and who is excused
Minnesota’s statewide 36-month period reset on January 1, 2026, DCYF reported in a news notice. Time-limited recipients who do not meet the work requirement or verify an exemption for three full months of receiving SNAP lose their benefits until the next 36-month period, in January 2029.
Each qualifying month of at least 80 hours earns another month of eligibility. Current recipients do not need to reapply, but anyone not now on SNAP must reapply to confirm eligibility. USDA’s work requirements page says benefits can be regained by meeting the requirement for a 30-day period or by becoming excused.
Minnesota’s page lists the situations that excuse an adult from the time limit. DCYF says anyone who thinks they are exempt should call the county or Tribal Nation eligibility worker. The list includes:
- Pregnancy, or a physical or mental health condition that keeps a person from working
- Getting unemployment benefits or having applied for them
- Attending school or a training program at least 20 hours a week
- Taking part in a drug or alcohol treatment program
- Caring for a person who is disabled or ill
- Already earning $217.50 or more per week
Members of an Indian, Urban Indian or California Indian group, as defined in federal law, are also excused. The state asks time-limited recipients to verify an exemption with their eligibility worker, so a missed call can matter as much as a missed shift.
What the projection does and does not say
DCYF describes the one-third figure as a projection, and the wording is that roughly a third are projected to eventually lose benefits because of the work requirements. It is an estimate for an average month, not a count of people who have already lost SNAP.
The same DCYF page puts two other changes next to the work rule. About 440,000 Minnesotans on SNAP are expected to receive roughly $5 less per month on average starting October 1, 2027, and about 9,000 fewer Minnesotans in an average month will be eligible because of new noncitizen restrictions. Those are separate from the work-rule loss.
Is a Minnesota SNAP household one of the 18,000 added to the work rule?
The people most likely to be caught are adults in their late 50s and early 60s who never had to log hours before and do not realize an exemption has to be verified. Three full months without hours or a verified exemption ends benefits until January 2029, and a missed call to the county worker is enough to start that count.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer covers the SNAP work-rule time limit and who is exempt, along with a state pack for Minnesota among its 51 state packs. Part 4 of the 20-page kit walks through the 2025 work-rule change step by step.
Get the SNAP work-rule time limit and exemption checklist for Minnesota households →
More Financial Reading
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
