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ST. PAUL 鈥� For 35 years, the University of Minnesota Extension Service has funded nutrition education in low-income areas statewide, including innovative projects like the medicine garden at the Ramsey County Fairgrounds, which connects the county鈥檚 military veterans to a Native American grower and healer.

On Monday, all 59 of Extension鈥檚 full-time nutrition educators received termination letters, permanently ending the $7.2 million education and outreach program.

Extension issued letters to 700 partners Tuesday 鈥� from clinics and day cares to parks and food banks 鈥� explaining that heavy cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, had forced the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families to slash grant funding for the dozens of health and wellness coordinators who run special projects or teach healthy eating to SNAP-eligible families across the state.

The cuts are a direct result of President Trump鈥檚 鈥淏ig Beautiful Bill,鈥� approved last week by the Republican-led Congress. The eight tribal nations in Minnesota, alongside SNAP education programs nationwide, face the same straits as a result of the wide-ranging, 800-page budget document.

鈥淢innesota was a pilot program when it started 35 years ago. This is not temporary. It is a permanent cut,鈥� said Patricia Olson, director of Extension鈥檚 Department of Family, Health and Wellbeing, which is based in St. Paul. 鈥淚t is a national program. How do you wind down a program that is 35 years old?鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e sad about losing staff, but also about the kind of work we were doing in the community,鈥� she added.

The sweeping budget bill, which includes both spending cuts and tax cuts expected to add $3 trillion to $4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, has already had repercussions for Minnesota, with deeper impacts likely as the legislation鈥檚 many varied provisions take effect over the coming months and years.

Nearly $1 trillion in cuts to state Medicaid allotments nationwide may not be fully implemented until 2027 or 2028, leaving big choices ahead for the state of Minnesota, which determines how federal Medicaid dollars are distributed, said Karen Kleinhans, chief executive of Community Dental Care. The nonprofit, which maintains offices in Maplewood and four other locations across the state, charges low-income patients on a sliding scale; 88% of its clients are on Medicaid, while others are uninsured.

Kleinhans fears the state may roll back the increased Medicaid reimbursements that she and other safety-net dental care providers lobbied hard for in 2022, or make even deeper cuts.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 predict what the state will do with the very limited dollars that will be coming to them,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you are on Medicaid, you should just make sure you get some dental care before the end of this year, because you might lose those benefits.鈥�

Minnesota is one of a handful of states where the counties conduct Medicaid screenings and connect seniors and the disabled to services.

Facing screening backlogs as long as eight months or more, Ramsey County recently committed to hiring 80 new financial assistance workers, including 60 screeners. As a result of Trump鈥檚 budget, yearly screening requirements are doubling to twice-annually, moving a goal post that already was exceedingly difficult for some counties to reach.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to certify people twice a year. That鈥檚 a huge administrative burden,鈥� said Rafael Ortega, who chairs the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners. 鈥淢ore people fall through the cracks, and that extra work requirement falls on counties in Minnesota.鈥�

鈥淲e have no immediate plans, for the people we just hired to expedite financial assistance, to let those people go,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e budgeted for that, so we鈥檙e good for a while. The biggest impact is the people who are going to be cut off from Medicaid and are going to go through the emergency room.鈥�

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Ortega predicted a trickle-down effect for hospitals, nursing homes and other Medicaid-backed housing and care providers, who likely will see more patients lacking medical coverage. Up to $500 million in annual reimbursements for hospitals and nursing homes could be eliminated, according to the League of Minnesota Cities.

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 verify people for Medicaid, and then they go to the hospital or nursing homes, that impacts reimbursements,鈥� he said.

County officials are still reading through the legislation and bracing for changes that, in some cases, are well over a year into the future.

鈥淭his bill pushes impacts out past the midterm elections (in November 2026), so we have to figure out what happens when,鈥� Ortega said.