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.

Last legislative session, Governor Dayton found $24 million to give to Vikings football team owner Zygi Wilf for 2013, but no money for poor kids on welfare. The monthly amount of cash MFIP – the state’s welfare program for poor children and their parents – has not increased since 1986 – 27 years ago. Had the cash welfare grants kept up with the cost of living, they would be double. A family of two gets a cash grant of $437 per month. According to the WRC, “That $437 has to cover rent, clothing, transportation, utilities etc. The current welfare grants all but guarantee homelessness.”

According to the Welfare Rights Committee statement, “Governor Dayton could call for increasing the welfare grants. He could make helping the poor his priority. Instead he gives millions of dollars to millionaires like Vikings Football team owner Zygi Wilf.” Wilf was recently found guilty in New Jersey courts for defrauding his past partners and ordered to pay damages of over $80 million.

This fall, the Welfare Rights Committee will also be fighting cuts to the Food Stamp/SNAP program. Last week, Congress voted to cut millions from the program, passing, in the words of WRC, “an irrational provision saying that adults can’t get food stamps unless they are working, even though in much of the country there are no jobs to be found.”

For info, check out the Welfare Rights Committee at welfarerightsmn.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/104618039626888.

#SaintPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #GovernorMarkDayton #Vikings #sports

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.

A statement from protest organizers stated, “The Welfare Rights Committee calls for Gov. Dayton to raise the welfare grants, so Minnesota families can get the help they need during these economic downturns. With 70,000 children living in extreme poverty, our children need help now! Tell Gov. Dayton to stop giving money to billionaires.”

The WRC’s Lena Buggs said, “The Welfare Rights Committee hosted a protest for our ‘Raise the Grants’ campaign to highlight the stories of real people in Minnesota who are living in extreme poverty. Welfare Rights hopes their experiences will spur the much needed course of action for Gov. Dayton to take immediate steps for people who are still struggling living in poverty.”

Kim DeFranco of the Welfare Rights Committee states, “It has been 27 years since welfare [MFIP] grants were last increased in the state of Minnesota. While the Welfare Rights Committee was victorious in getting a small increase through the 2013 legislative session, the politicians delayed the increase until 2015. Our kids can’t wait that long!”

The WRC’s Ebony Harris says, “The politicians said there wasn’t money to increase the grants in 2013, but they managed to find over $26 million to give to billionaire Vikings owner Zygi Wilf. This is an insult and an outrage.”

#SaintPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #GovernorMarkDayton

St. Paul, MN – 5000 people rallied throughout the Minnesota State Capitol here, May 13, to make their voices heard for the historic senate vote to legalize same-sex marriages in the state. The capitol overflowed with the equality campaign’s orange and blue color scheme. Supporters of marriage equality outnumbered the opponents by at least 20 to one. The chant “Vote yes!” could be heard throughout the building.

Minnesota is poised to be the next state to legalize same sex marriages.

On May 9, the House passed the bill with a 75 to 59 vote. On May 13, the Senate passed the bill 37 to 30. Governor Dayton will sign the bill into law May 14 at 5:00 p.m. in a signing ceremony on the steps of the capitol. It will go onto effect August 1.

Steff Yorek, who was at the rally, said, “There was so much joy at the capitol today.” She added, “Today is a historic day for Minnesota and is a large step forward for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer rights. I haven’t always agreed that marriage equality should be the top item on the agenda, but I am still grinning from ear to ear today.”

#StPaulMN #LGBTQRights #sameSexMarriage #GovernorMarkDayton

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.”

Welfare grants have not been increased since 1986 – 27 years ago. Meanwhile the cost of living has doubled since 1986. In 1986, a family of two (a parent and a child) received $437 per month in cash to live on. Today, that same family of two still only gets $437. If the grants had kept up with inflation they would now be doubled.

The WRC statement notes, “The governor pays back the school funding shift, but it is also time to talk about paying back the TANF funding shift. TANF is the yearly block grant that Minnesota gets from the federal government to fund its welfare program. Year after year, TANF dollars have been raided to supplant general fund spending. Right now, there is almost enough money in the federal TANF block grant to double the grants in 2013, if it were used for poor families.”

The statement concludes, “The Welfare Rights Committee, supported by dozens of other organizations, has a bill to double the welfare grants. The bill will be introduced soon. We don’t care what the governor’s budget says – we will call on legislators to do the right thing. It is time to use TANF money for TANF families. It is time to double the grants.”

#StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #TANF #GovernorMarkDayton

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.

Before the group entered the office, they held a short rally outside. Lena Buggs read the statement from the Welfare Rights Committee, which said, in part, “We are here today, at the office of Governor Dayton, to demand that he take action to raise the welfare grants for low-income families. We insist that he place language in his budget proposal for the 2013 legislative session that would increase public assistance for low income families.”

Angel Buechner led the way into the office bearing an oversize check for $437, the amount of cash that the state allots to a family of two. They left with the governor’s staff. WRC’s Paivey Ballayan presented staff with a large chart showing what a family of two really needs – nearly eight times as much as the grants are now.

Welfare grants in the state of Minnesota have not been increased since 1986 – 26 years ago. If the state’s welfare grants had kept up with inflation, they would be double what they are now, according to the government’s own Consumer Price Index calculator.

The WRC statement concludes:

“We are in the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the need for a public assistance program that keeps families afloat is needed now more than ever. As layoffs continue and unemployment runs out, more and more families are needing welfare.

“We understand that we have a tough fight in front of us. For decades poor-bashing politicians have been balancing the budget on the backs of poor and working people. We have seen one cut after another to the programs and services that we need. Last legislative session we had to face down a politician who was actually comparing low income people to animals. Politicians continue to blame the poor for poverty and we have had enough.

“Over the past 20 years the Welfare Rights Committee has put forward many of the bills and changes in legislation to make things better for low-income Minnesotans. We have organized everything from protests to sit-ins to fight back against attacks on poor and working Minnesotans. We are fed up with the rich in this state getting richer, while poor and working families suffer. We will not remain silent while our families sink deeper into poverty. We demand that Governor Dayton take the lead and take action to raise the welfare grants now!”

#StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #GovernorMarkDayton #lowincomeFamilies

Saint Paul, MN – The Welfare Rights Committee and their supporters held a press conference and picket at Governor Mark Dayton’s office, May 11, to demand he veto the Viking's stadium bill.

For many years, Vikings' owner Zygi Wilf threatened legislators that he would move his team out of Minnesota if he didn't get a new stadium. This year he got his stadium.

Lena Buggs of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) stated, “We are upset that this legislative session has chosen to bail out a rich man and his profession team while ignoring hard working and struggling Minnesotans trying to survive during this economic recession.”

Since before session began the Welfare Rights Committee spoke out against every stadium proposal that uses public money – in other words, all of them. WRC demanded the state should not be using any tax money, from any source, to give to a rich team owner.

The Viking's stadium bill was off to a slow start, but one month before the close of session, it moved at lightning speed. The Welfare Rights Committee was a force opposing the passage of the stadium bill. WRC’s Kristin Rafferty said, “We are not against the Vikings stadium. But if we need to save the Vikings and build a stadium, ok but not at the expense of the poor and working families of Minnesotans.”

WRC shouted, “Make the rich pay for their stadium. Bail out the people of Minnesota, not the rich!” while Vikings fans sang the Vikings' fight song outside the House Chambers earlier in the session.

The WRC’s Angel Buechner said May 11, “We urge you, Governor Dayton, to veto the stadium bill. We urge you not to use any public money for this stadium. However if you decide to sign the bill, we say, ‘Shame on you for giving the people’s money to a rich man.’”

Ebony Harris, member of Welfare Rights Committee, “Our families are still struggling to find work and keeping our families above water to survive the economic depression we are still living in. It is criminal that the session took up the stadium talk, to help a rich team owner. Poor and working families all around the state are dealing with foreclosure, unemployment, schools running on empty, homelessness and huge cuts to critical health and social services. Now is not the time to bail out the rich and corporations!”

Angel Buechner stated, “After the passage of the stadium bill, we see they don't have any qualms of throwing us under the concrete slabs of a new rich man's stadium.”

This bill will create jobs for the construction industry for a few years. However, after the stadium is built, the jobs left will be in the concession and souvenir stands. They will be minimum wage and families can't live and survive on those poverty wages. WRC noted that if state politicians want to put building trades for people to work, they should be funding the creation of more affordable housing and other projects to help the majority of Minnesotans who are suffering in these economic times.

Reflecting on the millionaire team owner demanding state money, the WRC’s Deb Howze said, “Our families will be in the front line of cuts. Once again the poor and working Minnesotans will be in that firing line with even more devastating times for us. We know all too well that the rich will be in line again demanding bailouts.”

After the press conference, the Welfare Rights Committee marched into Governor Dayton’s office demanding to see him. “He needs to hear from us, the people of his state that oppose a stadium that will be built on our families' backs,” demanded Buggs. The Governor was ‘off site’ at a meeting, his staff stated. Members of the committee told his staff to veto the bill and handed them a letter and posters.

The Committee marched out of the Governor's office chanting, “Wilf got bailed out, we got sold out!”

#SaintPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #GovernorMarkDayton

Saint Paul, MN – On Dec. 29, immigrant rights activists and supporters spoke out at a press conference against a new anti-immigrant law slated to cut immigrants off of Emergency Medical Assistance on Jan. 1, 2012. They called on Governor Dayton to take immediate executive action to stop it.

According to the change in law, on Jan. 1 undocumented immigrants in Minnesota will no longer qualify for many medical treatments under Minnesota’s Emergency Medical Assistance program. This means that immigrants in Minnesota who receive chemotherapy, dialysis, diabetes management, alcohol and drug treatment, pre-natal care and many other things will be in danger of not receiving their treatments. For people receiving essential treatments like chemotherapy for cancer or dialysis for kidney disease, this can mean life or death.

This new anti-immigrant policy was passed at the end of the legislative session on July 20, 2011 in the wee hours of the morning. Most people didn’t notice this anti-immigrant change in the law until after it had passed because the final budget deal was negotiated in secret between the Republican legislative leadership and the governor. The public and most legislators didn’t even have the chance to read through the final bills before having to vote on them during the special legislative session that ended the state government shutdown.

At the press conference, State Representatives Karen Clark and Carlos Mariani, along with State Senator Jeff Hayden, announced they they'll seek to reverse this anti-immigrant and inhumane policy when the new legislative session starts on Jan. 24. Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman said over 200 people in critical situations would be cut off in Hennepin County alone, and that the county has been scrambling to even let the affected people know that they are facing a cutoff of potentially life-or-death services. The Reverend John Gutterman of the Interfaith Coalition on Immigration spoke to the moral issue of denying fellow human beings basic medical care.

Linden Gawboy, speaking for the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout, groups that fought to stop all the cuts to human services during the legislative session, said, “We want this law stopped. If this law goes into effect, they will not just kill people. They will torture them before killing them. Imagine the process of dialysis being stopped, how long before the pain sets in. How long before you get so sick that you’re just waiting to slip into that coma.”

Isaac Martin of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) said, “This shows that anti-immigrant politics remain inhumane. Minnesota’s politicians chose to balance the state budget on the backs of immigrants who have serious illnesses. They are taking away care from the elderly, people with cancer and with kidney disease, while they refused to raise taxes on the rich.”

Brad Sigal of MIRAc said, “Having the 'wrong' immigration status shouldn't be a death sentence. We call on Governor Dayton to take immediate action to assure that nobody in Minnesota dies from this inhumane law. We’re asking everyone to call Gov. Dayton at 651-201-3400 to demand that he take action to stop this before Jan. 1.”

#SaintPaulMN #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #GovernorMarkDayton #undocumentedImmigrants #EmergencyMedicalAssistance

On July 14, Gov. Dayton proclaimed that he would accept a previous Republican budget offer, in order to end the shutdown. Before that, Dayton had already given up on many proposals to tax the rich in Minnesota, even though he campaigned on increasing taxes to the wealthy as a way to solve the deficit.

It is broadly acknowledged that the budget signed into law on July 20 relies on unprecedented amounts of borrowing. Less publicized is reliance on taking money from dedicated funds for the poor.

Secret deal: $58 million from the poorest of the poor

Most of the issues that involve programs for poor people are in the Health and Human Services bill. The 286-page HHS bill is the most complex of the budget bills. It is full of references to various laws and hard to follow. The government did not make the bill available to the public until the session was six hours along, only a few hours before it was voted on. As an example of the difficulty of the bill, the plain English ‘summary’ of the HHS bill had dozens of items such as: “[section] 27 – Citizenship requirements. Amends § 256B.06, subd. 4.” And that was it.

However, for some programs, the spreadsheets made it clear. “No wonder they didn't release the HHS budget until late in the night of the Special Session, July 19. The spreadsheets show a total theft of $58 million from TANF funds over the biennium,” says a statement issued by the Welfare Rights Committee.

TANF is the federal money that goes to states for welfare for families. In Minnesota, welfare grants put families 60% below the federal poverty line. The Welfare Rights Committee has fought for years against the state stealing TANF money, under the slogan, “TANF money for TANF families.” The 2011 theft of TANF money is one of the largest in history.

Welfare Rights Committee takes action

Since July 1 the WRC held many call-in campaigns to Gov. Dayton, demanding that he not give in to certain Republican cuts to welfare and insisting that they a tax on the wealthy. The call was, “Tax the rich or shut the government down!”

Late at night on July 18, Dayton abruptly announced that the Capitol building would open up the next day. Welfare Rights Committee members were there at 8:45 a.m., July 19, holding signs that read, “Vote no on the Dayton/G.O.P Budget. Tax the rich.” They met Minnesota legislators as the capitol doors opened for the first time in 19 days. The capitol complex’s buildings had been closed to the public since July 1, when the government shutdown went into effect.

“I was in the last group of people the cops pushed out of the capitol June 30,” says the Welfare Rights Committee’s Kim DeFranco. “I’m glad WRC was there to be the first at the re-opening.”

On the same day the capitol re-opened, Governor Dayton announced a special session for 3:00 p.m. Most of the bills that were to be taken up were not available to the public (or to most legislators) in paper or electronic form. Welfare Rights Committee members mobilized to be outside the doors of the House and Senate chambers with “Vote no” signs as the legislators filed in.

Budget deal aftermath

Much of the budget and how it will play out still needs to be analyzed. But there is general agreement that poor and working people, the elderly and disabled, and students from pre-K to college will be suffering from the cuts.

The ‘financing’ of the budget deal will make trouble down the road. Once money is taken away for the poor, it’s hard to get back. Angel Buechner, of the Welfare Rights Committee said, “This budget deal just sets us up for more cuts to the poor next year.”

#StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #BudgetCuts #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown

Saint Paul, MN – Amidst the flurry of budget cuts hastily pushed through on July 19 and signed on July 20 on the 20th day of the state government shutdown, immigrant rights activists claimed one victory and one defeat amidst the chaos.

The victory is that the Secure Communities deportation program was not included in the final Public Safety/Judiciary budget bill. This makes Minnesota one of the states that continues to refuse to implement the controversial fingerprint-sharing deportation program that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Obama administration are trying to implement nationwide. It was recently revealed that the program has a behind-the-scenes push from the FBI, which is hungry to universalize such programs that gather biometric data on as many people as possible.

The absence of the Secure Communities program from the Public Safety bill was a reversal from the version of the bill that passed at the end of the legislative session in late May. About a week before the Minnesota legislative session ended, Sen. Ortman ® snuck the deportation program into SF1143, an omnibus bill, with no debate, discussion or committee hearings, and it quickly passed with an unanimous 57-0 vote. Then just before the end of the session, Secure Communities was transferred into SF958, the Public Safety bill, which the legislature passed just before the session ended on May 23. However, on May 24, Governor Dayton vetoed SF958, along with all the other budget bills.

According to Anh Pham of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc), “Preventing Secure Communities deportation program from being implemented in Minnesota is a victory. Because of this, there will be fewer families torn apart over the next year. The No More Deportations campaign will continue working to stop the other deportation programs that are already separating families in Minnesota. Even one separated family is too many.”

The setback for immigrant rights this session is that the national E-Verify program was inserted into the State Government Finance bill. The new law says that any company with contracts with the state of Minnesota over $50,000 will need to use E-Verify to screen their workers for immigration status. In 2008 Governor Pawlenty implemented this same policy administratively through an executive order. When Dayton became governor last year, he decided to let this and another of Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant executive orders expire without renewing them. According to Anh Pham, “It was a step forward when Gov. Dayton let Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant executive orders expire. Now it’s a step back to have the unreliable and unfair e-verify program put into law in Minnesota. The Republican leadership and Governor Dayton shouldn't have done this.”

Battle over Cuts and Taxing the Rich Led to Shutdown

At the end of the regular legislative session in May, Governor Dayton’s vetoed all the Republican-crafted budget bills that contained severe budget cuts with no new revenue. Dayton instead favored an approach of keeping some budget cuts, but cutting less severely by raising taxes on the richest 2% of Minnesota. The Republicans wouldn’t budge from their all-cuts and ‘no new taxes’ pledge, protecting the richest 2% of Minnesotans from paying even a tiny bit more in taxes while the budgets for education, transit, health and human services programs are gutted. This impasse led to the state government shutdown on July 1.

In mid-July Gov. Dayton finally gave in to the obstinate Republicans, announcing he would accept their June 30 budget proposal made right before the shutdown. This led to a sudden and furious push by the governor and the Republican legislative leadership to hastily rewrite all nine budget bills behind closed doors, without debate or time for public review, at the special legislative session that Gov. Dayton initiated on July 19 with only a couple hours notice.

The Health and Human Services bill has severe cuts. Among other things, $58 million are taken from TANF funds designated for poor people. According to Linden Gawboy of the Welfare Rights Committee, “TANF is supposed to be used for poor families, but because they didn't tax the rich, they had to steal from the poorest of the poor.” Education, transit and other key services are not spared either.

One Front in the State-by-State Battle Over Immigrant Rights

In the absence of national immigrant rights legislation, battles are being fought state-by-state. Over the last few years, deportations that separate immigrant families have increased around the country to levels not seen even under the Bush administration. Secure Communities is a program that is responsible for a large part of this increase in deportations. States opt in to the ICE program, and then force counties to connect booking information from county jails to a federal database used by both ICE and the FBI. ICE claims that Secure Communities focuses on deporting “dangerous criminals”. But over 70% of the people deported under Secure Communities have not been convicted of any crime or have only been convicted of minor traffic-type offenses.

While harsh anti-immigrant laws are being passed in states like Arizona, Georgia and Alabama, immigrant rights activists have struck back against repressive ICE programs in other states. Specifically ICE and the Obama administration are on the defensive around the country about the Secure Communities deportation program. Illinois, Massachusetts and New York announced they want to get out of the program. California’s Assembly voted to allow it’s counties to opt out if they want to. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus came out against it as well as many other congresspeople. Dozens of counties and cities around the country have also tried to opt out of Secure Communities.

In response, ICE told states and counties that they can not opt out, but this just caused more states and counties to say they don’t want to participate. In damage control mode as more states abandoned ship, the Obama administration finally announced in mid-June that they would make minor reforms to the embattled program. But most activist groups see this as too little too late. Dozens of immigrant rights and civil liberties organizations jointly signed a letter to ICE director John Morton on July 20 condemning their inadequate review and reforms of Secure Communities, and instead demanding that a moratorium be called to halt the program entirely.

#SaintPaulMN #ICE #deportations #MIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown #everify

While the many of the specifics of the budget will be worked out over the next few days, the broad outline of what’s intended is clear. Governor Dayton decided to take one of the pre-shutdown Republican offers, which means that payments to school districts will be delayed and bonds will be issued for tobacco settlement money. Dayton abandoned the approach of taxing Minnesota’s rich – even though that is what he campaigned on and why he got elected. Get ready for a wave of attacks on programs that serve working and low income Minnesotans. Health and Human Services will be the number one target for the proposed cuts.

That said, the future is unwritten. In the days ahead, it is vital that progressive forces work to torpedo the budget agreement and insist that cuts be voted down in the special session of the legislature.

Minnesota’s budget crisis did just happen. It is not an act of God nor is the result of ‘mistakes.’ Instead, it is a recurring, politician-made problem that gets worse every time there is an economic crisis. Since the mid 1990s corporate taxes have been cut. Individuals making big money have gotten break after break. The abolition of the corporate sales tax, the abolition of corporate property taxes, $300 million here another few million there (with local property taxes going up) and we arrive at a place where there is a budget crisis all the time. And for that matter, there will be one when the legislature meets next year.

While it is better to have funding shifts than cuts, all the shifts do is delay the day of reckoning. Take for example the funding shift that delays payments for schools. School districts will have to borrow money and pay interest on it to make up for the delayed state payments. The added costs will be made up on a local level. In the next state budget you will have a corresponding shortfall for the delayed state payment to schools (about $700 million) and you will a have the same reactionary politicians who endorsed this approach saying this is evidence that the state “is not living within its means.”

The only reasonable and progressive approach to the state budget is to tax the rich. The rich are the ones who have the money. Far from being job creators, the big corporations that lay people off are in reality job destroyers. The rich have done really well these past few years. They are the ones who should pay for the crisis.

#MinneapolisMN #PublicSectorUnions #GovernorMarkDayton #republicanParty #governmentShutdown #Minnesota

St. Paul, MN – On July 13, members of the Welfare Rights Committee rolled out a huge banner on the steps of the Minnesota state capitol building. The Republicans have pushed the state into a shutdown, throwing more than 22,000 state employees out of work and causing dramatic cuts to state services. The banner reads, “Tax the rich! No cuts to poor and working people!”

#SaintPaulMN #CapitalismAndEconomy #PoorPeoplesMovements #TaxTheRich #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown

St. Paul, MN – Members and supporters of the Welfare Rights Committee gathered on the steps of the state capitol building here, June 30, unfurling a huge banner reading “Tax the rich! No cuts to poor and working people.” Unless Democrat Governor Mark Dayton goes along with the Republican plan to slash the social safety net, the government will shut down at midnight.

“Time is quickly running out. Rather than make the rich pay one dime for the budget deficit, the Republicans are set on pushing our state into a government shutdown. For working and poor, disabled and elderly Minnesotans, a government shut-down would by far be a better outcome than the deadly cuts that Republicans are trying to force down our throats,” stated Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee.

Republican politicians have staked out a ‘no new taxes’ position and want to balance the budget with massive cuts to programs that serve poor and working people. Dayton’s original budget also contained huge cuts to health and human services. Also, in March, the governor backed down on his proposal for a surcharge on the very richest and increased taxes on million-dollar homes. In addition, Dayton has also floated proposals attacking Indian gaming, a move that would balance the budget on the backs of Native Americans.

The governor has stated recently that he wants to compromise 50-50 with the republicans. The Welfare Rights Committee asserts that Dayton has compromised enough. Kim DeFranco of the Welfare Rights Committee said, “We are against any budget compromise that comes at the expense of the people of Minnesota. The rich need to pay for this crisis.”

#SaintPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #TaxTheRich #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown

St Paul, MN – As the legislative session nears its final day, Republicans continue to push the state toward a government shutdown. For working and poor, disabled and elderly Minnesotans, a government shutdown would by far be a better outcome than the deadly cuts that Republicans are trying to force down our throats.

“The Republicans are acting like school yard bullies, threatening the people of Minnesota with their deadly cuts and refusing to make the rich pay even one dime!” stated Kim DeFranco of the Welfare Rights Committee.

The Richest in Minnesota Have Not Paid One Dime for the Past Decade of Budget Deficits

While working and poor people have paid for past budget deficits, the wealthiest in Minnesota have not paid even one dime. In fact they have gotten richer and richer at the expense of poor and working Minnesotans. Look at the facts: if the governor’s original proposal to raise taxes on 5% of the population with the most income results in over $3 billion, this signifies just how much the State of Minnesota has been losing in tax income, year after year after year because the rich have not paid enough and because of the massive tax breaks they have benefitted from. This is incredible. It also means that the richest have amassed billions of dollars in extra income year after year while the rest of the people in the state have been living in desperate times.

“We live in the one of the wealthiest states in the country and one of the richest countries in the world,” stated Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee. “Yet our kids are homeless, going hungry and being kicked off health care! We did not make this crisis and we should not be the ones to pay for it.”

The Rich Created the Budget Crisis, The Rich Should Pay!

The fact is, if the rich paid enough taxes we would not even be in a budget deficit. The rich should actually pay back the wealth they have gained at the expense of poor and working people. In this time of budget crisis this state should be prioritizing the survival needs of the families and individuals in who are coping with disabilities and unemployment.

The Republican’s Health and Human Services Bill Butchers the Safety Net for Working and Poor Minnesotans! Governor Dayton must veto this bill.

The Governor must veto SF760 because it would cut the cash portion of the MFIP (Minnesota’s public assistance program) grant by $50 per adult SSI recipient who resides in the household. This uses disabled people’s federal SSI funds as a bludgeon against their impoverished family members. A cut such as this has never been carried out in any other state in the country. Also, it basically forces parents to break federal law by using the federal SSI grant for living expenses for the entire family rather than for the disabled family member as intended.

The Governor must veto SF760 because of the 60-residency requirement. It’s unconstitutional.

At least half of the MFIP grant is federal money and if we’re eligible, we’re eligible. When we are that broke and desperate, we don’t move to other states for “fun” or for “great benefits.” We move because we have concrete hopes and plans to make a better life. In this time of economic crisis, everyone in this country should have equal rights at survival.

The Governor must veto SF760 because it eliminates General Assistance and emergency programs, by folding them into under-funded county block grants. General Assistance is not a supplement to other income, it all people have; it’s GA or zilch. These programs are there to keep disabled people alive based on clear need.

The Governor must veto SF760 because it slashes health care for the poor and working people. It cuts our PCA services that allow us to live independently.

And, after the Governor vetoes the bill, we will call on him to reject all of these cuts to the disabled, poor and working people in the Special Session.

Who should be paying for the budget crisis – the children living deep in poverty or the rich who get big fat tax breaks to pad their already stuffed pockets?

A family of three on MFIP gets only $532 per month – far below the federal poverty level. A disabled person on GA gets a whopping $203 to live on. When we are forced onto assistance, life is already a miserable struggle, 24-7. We don’t need any more hate-driven laws to make things even worse.

We say, “Not one dime in cuts to poor and working Minnesotans! We call on Dayton to stand up to those who are threatening devastation on the people of Minnesota and veto all cuts!”

#SaintPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #BudgetCuts #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown

St. Paul, MN – On May 20, protesters from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and the No More Deportations campaign marched through the State Capitol chanting “‘Secure Communities’ divides families – no more deportations!” and “Immigrant workers are under attack – what do we do? Stand up fight back!” At the same time, several other progressive groups also protested noisily inside the capitol as the end of the session looms with unprecedented cuts and attacks on every front.

The immigrant rights protesters marched to Governor Dayton’s office to deliver a statement urging him to veto SF 1143, the Omnibus Data Practices Bill, until Republican Senator Julie Ortman’s amendment mandating participation in the “Secure Communities” deportation program is removed. On May 16, Sen. Ortman inserted the Secure Communities amendment in the bill without any committee hearings, debate or discussion and it quickly passed the Senate. As of the writing of this article, it has not yet been approved by the House.

MIRAc’s statement condemned Sen. Ortman’s move of sneaking the highly controversial Secure Communities deportation program into a larger omnibus bill at the end of the session without debate. The MIRAc statement calls on Gov. Dayton to veto the bill until the deportation program is removed, and says it’s a bad program that’s separating thousands of children from their parents. While the program is supposed to focus on deporting criminals, more than 70% of the people it deports are not convicted of any crime or are only convicted of minor traffic-type violations.

Although the Obama administration’s stated goal is to have Secure Communities implemented in all states by 2013, the tide seems to be turning against the program. Illinois just withdrew from Secure Communities, California is trying to renegotiate their agreement because of ICE’s dishonest conduct in forcing it on them; the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other prominent legislators have come out against it; and increasing numbers of cities and counties are passing resolutions saying they don’t want it. The Secure Communities deportation program, along with ICE’s other main deportations programs, 287g and the “Criminal Alien Program” (CAP), have resulted in deportations rising dramatically under the Obama administration to record levels never seen even under President Bush.

Protesters on different issues unite in the capitol

As MIRAc stood outside the governor's office, some disability rights activists who were there with their own protest joined in with the immigrant rights chants. The immigrant rights protesters delivered their letter to governor’s secretary, then marched back through the capitol again. On the second floor of the capitol outside chamber where legislators were meeting, they joined with protesters for LGBT marriage equality who cheered as the immigrant rights protesters joined them. Together they chanted unified chants that applied to both issues: “Equal rights!” “Vote no!” and “Create jobs, not hate!” as the spontaneous solidarity energized both groups.

Inside the House chamber, the legislative session had erupted in chaos a few hours earlier when Republican legislators invited Pastor Bradlee Dean to lead the opening prayer for the day’s session. This was the day they were expected to vote to authorize an anti-gay referendum, so many people from the LGBT community and their allies were already mobilized to protest. Pastor Bradlee Dean launched into a partisan tirade, throwing the session into chaos. Dean was quickly indentified as a pastor who preaches that GLBT people should be put to death. The Republicans, who had been insisting that their marriage referendum proposal is not based on anti-gay prejudice or hate, left the session in disarray to caucus for an hour to figure out how to do damage control. They emerged with a contrite apology. But hours later, LGBT equality protesters were still chanting non-stop outside the chamber as legislators met inside, their powerful voices reverberating throughout the capitol. Their protest went into the night, and they plan to continue protesting non-stop as long as the legislature is in session.

Many union members were also at the capitol pressing legislators to focus on creating jobs, after having rallied earlier in the day. SEIU and other unions are planning a large rally at the Capitol on Saturday, May 21, and the public sector unions AFSCME and MAPE are calling on workers to descend on the capitol May 23 from 9:00 p.m. until midnight to have an overwhelming presence until the last second of the legislative session.

On all issues the demands are similar: telling the Republican-controlled legislature to stop the attacks and cuts, and demanding that Governor Dayton veto the legislature’s attacks and cuts.

#SaintPaulMN #deportations #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #GovernorMarkDayton

St. Paul, MN – On April 14, immigrant rights activists in Minnesota celebrated a victory as Governor Mark Dayton announced he would not pursue an Executive Order collaborating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on deportations and enforcement programs.

Earlier on April 5, Governor Dayton announced he would let two Executive Orders concerning immigration enforcement left over from former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty expire and that he would spend about a week deciding whether to pursue any new executive orders regarding immigration.

The first order he let expire was Pawlenty’s order mandating employers with state contracts to check new employees using the E-Verify federal immigration database. The second order was one that directed state agencies to pursue cooperation with ICE to carry out deportations and other punitive enforcement wherever possible, including the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) and 287g agreements with the Department of Public Safety, among other things. CAP is responsible for many deportations in Minnesota and is implemented in the county jails. 287g is a program that trains police officers to act both as local police and as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.

When former Governor Pawlenty, who is now running for the Republican presidential nomination, announced the immigration enforcement executive orders in January 2008, it touched off a firestorm of protests and criticisms. Most considered the executive orders to be little more than divide-and-conquer political grandstanding in an election year, yet the orders had a real effect in making life more difficult for immigrants in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee ( MIRAc) is waging a No More Deportations campaign which aims to stop Minnesota and its counties from collaborating with ICE deportation programs like CAP, 287g and Secure Communities. MIRAc put out a statement encouraging people to call Governor Dayton to demand that he not pursue any further collaboration with ICE on deportation or enforcement programs.

According to Niger Arevalo of MIRAc, “It’s good that Governor Dayton didn’t renew Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant executive orders. But this is just the beginning – immigrant workers are still being deported and families are being separated at an alarming rate in Minnesota and this has to stop now. The No More Deportations campaign wants to make sure that Governor Dayton does not implement the so-called Secure Communities deportation program. And we’re calling on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners to vote to stop cooperating with ICE through the Criminal Alien Program. We encourage people to join our campaign to stop deportations in Minnesota.”

#SaintPaulMN #InJusticeSystem #ICE #MIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #287g #CriminalAlienProgram #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #GovernorMarkDayton