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Senate committee hears pleas to boost senior nutrition and support services; bill laid over for omnibus inclusion
Summary
Senate File 2383, carrying increased appropriations for senior nutrition and supportive services, received testimony from providers and advocacy groups about rising demand and service cuts; committee adopted an author's amendment and laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill.
Senate File 2383, a bill to increase state funding for senior nutrition and related support services, drew testimony March 12 from senior‑service providers and advocates urging additional funding to meet rising demand.
Senator May Quaid, sponsor, moved and the committee adopted an A1 author’s amendment. The bill, as amended, would appropriate $5.5 million in each year of the biennium for senior nutrition programs and $2 million in each year for supportive services such as assisted transportation, homemaker services and outdoor chores, according to the sponsor’s description to the committee.
Don Simonson, president and CEO of Trellis and co‑chair of the Senior Meals and Services Coalition, told the committee Minnesota’s older population has grown and services are strained. He said providers have reduced the number of meals and added waiting lists; in the metro and elsewhere providers reported reducing about 487,000 meals in 2025 and closing dining sites in some regions.
Leah Abare Wells, CEO of Open Arms of Minnesota, which provides medically tailored meals, described medically tailored meals for clients with heart disease, cancer and kidney failure and said Open Arms served 1,623 seniors and provided 316,000 meals to clients over 60 in 2024 using state and federal funds. She said Open Arms currently has a waiting list and turns away clients each month.
Jeff Wyant, senior services director for SEMCAC, described services in rural Southeast Minnesota and said reductions in senior nutrition would disproportionately affect small, hard‑to‑reach communities that rely on routes and dining sites.
Committee members did not approve funding at the hearing; the chair laid SF2383 over for possible inclusion in the human services omnibus bill so fiscal details can be weighed in the budgeting process.
