St Paul, MN – Members of the Twin Cites-based Welfare Rights Committee made themselves visible at the Feb. 20 opening day of Minnesota state legislature. This session, members of the WRC initiated and are pressing for the passage of two bills.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the followings March 29 statement from the Welfare Rights Committee.

St. Paul, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) will ‘occupy’ the Governor’s mansion, at 4:00 p.m., Jan . 8. Protesters will be there on and off throughout the day and night.

St. Paul, MN – The Welfare Rights Committee’s bill to double the welfare grants for poor families in Minnesota cleared a key senate committee March 25. Senators entering the hearing room in the state capitol passed through a crowd of low-income people. Members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) held signs reading, “The rich got bailed out, we got sold out. Raise the MFIP grants,” and “Past due, pass SF432! 29 years is too long to wait.”

St. Paul, MN – Kurt Daudt, a politician who has made a specialty out of bashing low-income people, was elected speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Jan.6, by the incoming Republican majority. Outside the House chambers, where the election took place, members of the Welfare Rights Committee loudly demanded that welfare grants be doubled and that aid should be extended to all in need.

Minneapolis, MN – About 40 members and supporters of the Twin Cities-based Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) came together here, Aug. 9, to celebrate the two-year battle to raise welfare grants. Speaking to the crowd, members of the WRC talked about some of the key protests and actions from the past year and expressed determination to continue the struggle.

St. Paul, MN – On March 25 Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) members sat in at Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s office throughout the morning to demand welfare grant increases for poor families in Minnesota. The sit-in was timed to coincide with a Senate hearing on bills pushed by the Welfare Rights Committee.

St. Paul, MN – On Feb. 25, Minnesota politicians returned to the State Capitol for the opening of the legislative session and the Welfare Rights Committee and their supporters were there. Over 50 low-income people joined together, despite below-zero temperatures, to send a message to legislators: “Raise the welfare grants. 28 years is too long!”

St. Paul, MN – Organized by the Welfare Rights Committee, low-income people gathered in front of Governor Mark Dayton’s mansion, Dec 18, to demand the state budget surplus be used to meet the needs of the poor and for an increase in the welfare grants. Protesters did a spoken word version of the song Twelve Days of Christmas, called Twelve Days of Poverty. Building on the Christmas theme of the event, they threw brightly colored packages adorned with slogans over the mansion fence.

Saint Paul, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) ‘huddled’ in front of Governor Mark Dayton’s mansion Sept. 25. After a rally and speeches, low-income people hurled footballs over the locked fence. Written on streamers attached to the footballs were messages such as, “Help poor kids, not millionaires,” and “Raise the grants now!” Before they left, the protesters taped signs to the outside of the fence to hammer home the message.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 40 members and supporters of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) gathered here, Aug. 10, to celebrate past victories and look ahead to future battles.

Protesters tell Dayton to quit giving money to billionaires

St Paul, MN – Members and supporters of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) protested July 10 in front of Governor Dayton’s mansion to demand that he act now to raise the welfare grants in Minnesota. As things stand, about 70,000 Minnesota children are living in extreme poverty.

Victory Delayed: Politicians set increase for 2015

St. Paul, MN – Because of the Welfare Rights Committee’s fierce battle at the State Capitol, the first increase for welfare since 1986 passed and was signed into law by the governor in late May. The Health and Human Services Omnibus bill includes a housing allowance for MFIP families (MFIP is Minnesota’s welfare program for poor families). The Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) won over $40 million dollars (over a 2 year period) that will go directly into the pockets of poor families. Specifically, MFIP families who do not live in subsidized housing will receive an additional $110 dollars a month.

St. Paul, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee and supporters brought dozens of cardboard boxes into the capitol rotunda here, April 15, to construct a ‘Poverty-ville.’ The homeless village was a warning to the ruling Democrats that, if they carried through with their current budget cuts to health and human services, they would be adding to the homelessness caused by the economic crisis. They called on the Democrats to increase the welfare grants.

MN welfare grants will be essentially unchanged after 27 years without an increase

St. Paul, MN – The Twin Cites-based Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) issued a statement today, Jan. 22, responding to Governor Dayton’s 2014-2015 budget proposal. It read, “A shameful part of the budget proposal is how it fails the poorest families in Minnesota, by not calling for a substantial increase in Minnesota’s welfare cash grants.”

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following speech given by Cherrene Horazuk, president of AFSCME Local 3800, in support of raising Minnesota’s welfare grants. Horazuk delivered this speech at the Jan. 8 protest organized by the Welfare Rights Committee. Tax the rich! Defend public services and the people who provide them

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following speech given by Cherrene Horazuk, president of AFSCME Local 3800, in support of raising Minnesota’s welfare grants. Horazuk delivered this speech at the Jan. 8 protest organized by the Welfare Rights Committee. Tax the rich! Defend public services and the people who provide them

Protest to ‘raise welfare grants’ and Idle No More at State Capitol

St. Paul, MN – Hundreds of people filled the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda here, Jan. 8, the opening day of the state legislature, joining protests to demand justice. The Welfare Rights Committee put forward the demands: “Tax the rich; no more cuts; raise the welfare grants.” Idle No More, which brought together Native Americans and others, drummed and danced in the rotunda under the slogan: “Honor the women, water and land.” Then the North Star Energy Coalition rallied to say no to the planned tar sands oil pipeline.

Prepare for trip to RNC protest in Tampa

Minnetonka Beach, MN – On August 23, members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) and others protested outside a fundraiser for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In two days, WRC members will load up in a van for a drive to Tampa, Florida for the protest at the Republican National Convention, which takes place on Monday, August 27.

St. Paul, MN – People crowded into Governor Mark Dayton’s reception area, August 9, to tell him to “Raise the welfare grants” in the state of Minnesota. Despite harassment by capitol security, the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) members refused to leave until they felt they were on the path to securing a meeting with the governor himself.