Top state officials say some programs like SNAP foodstamps and Section 8 housing subsidies could still be disrupted, even though the federal government shutdown is over for at least three weeks. Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans (FRANZ) says, “Section 8 housing, those payments are gonna be due on March 1. Will those get processed so that we at least have a little breathing room if there’s another disruption? We don’t know.”
Frans says the Walz administration is continuing with contingency planning: “We have to assume that we’re gonna have to step in, in some cases, to fund those programs, unless we can get assurance from the federal government that they’re actually gonna extend those benefits.” Frans says they also must put contingency numbers in Governor Walz’s proposed state budget, in case the federal shutdown happens again.