Minnesota
Walz: Minnesota won’t leave
anyone behind during shutdown
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz pledged Tuesday that his administration won’t leave any Minnesotan behind as it taps state money to fill funding gaps left in programs by the partial federal government shutdown.
Surrounded by religious, community and governmental leaders, the Democratic governor said the shutdown represents “uncharted territory” and that his administration is still assessing the implications. He said it’s affecting a huge swath of programs ranging from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps to highway projects that use federal funding.
The former congressman declined during his news conference to directly blame President Donald Trump for the shutdown. But he said it makes no sense to hold up agencies that have nothing to do with the border wall debate that’s at the heart of the impasse.
“End this damn thing,” Walz urged.
In the meantime, he said, the state has measures in place to protect its most vulnerable residents and to keep the federal programs it administers running for the time being. He said the state is able to manage the problem internally for now, all benefits are being paid, nobody in state government has been laid off and he’s not asking the Legislature to come up with additional money — yet.
“This is a state that will not leave anybody behind. This is a state that said, ‘We’re all in this together,'” he said.
Human Services Commissioner Tony Lourey said SNAP would be the first benefits program harmed by the shutdown. Its money runs out at the end of February and it serves about 400,000 Minnesotans, more than 70 percent of whom are elderly, disabled or children. He said that for logistical reasons, the next round of payments will be posted on recipients’ electronic benefits cards early, around Jan. 20, so their money will run out earlier in February than normal.