St. Paul, MN — Poor people will take over the Minnesota State Capitol on February 1, 2000, the opening day of the legislative session. While politicians try to have their opening ceremonies, angry welfare recipients will storm into the rotunda, raising loud voices for justice.

“We have to let them know that they are criminals for passing these welfare laws,” declared Brenda Boettcher of Winona. “The longer they go unattacked, the worse off we families are going to be.”

The Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition (MN-WRC) planned the opening day protest at a statewide meeting in November. Coalition members are also getting ready for a serious fight to change Minnesota's disastrous welfare law, MFIP. The February 1 protest will be the opening blow in this fight.

“I'm protesting because people's voices are not being heard. People's needs are not being met. Families are suffering. Children are not getting what they deserve. The system is not set up to help us; it's failing us. I feel something desperately and urgently needs to be done!” stated Dolly Clater of the Duluth group, Low Income People Organizing for Power (LIPOP).

A Plan for Justice

MN-WRC members also worked out plans to change the MFIP law in the year 2000. “We know what's bad in MFIP, and we came up with law changes to fix it,” said Deb Konechne, when asked how the group decided on its legislative priorities. “We are sick and tired of hearing the poverty pimps and others who make their money running the welfare system say that everything's fine. We can't count on anyone but poor people to work in the interests of poor people.”

MN-WRC will fight for several key demands this year. They are:

Stop sanctions: Sanctions are cuts to the welfare grant and food stamps that are imposed on the family when the parent is seen as not “complying” with welfare rules. The grant cuts are devastating, causing homelessness for many and misery for all. Most sanctions are imposed illegally.

Education choice: MN-WRC wants to allow parents to have education (including ESL, GED, and post-secondary) as a first choice. Currently, parents are being denied the right to go to school, and forced into low wage, dead end jobs instead.

Food stamps and welfare for immigrants: State funding for food stamps and MFIP for immigrant families is slated to end in 2001 and 2000. MN-WRC fought for this funding in the past, and will fight to see that it is continued.

Stop the time clock on welfare: Minnesota's five-year clock started ticking on July 1, 1997. MN-WRC demands that the state government stop the time clock, and use state money if needed for anyone who hits the federal time limit.

Other priorities include stopping the $100 cut to families in subsidized housing (set to take effect in 2001), and making it so that parents, not welfare workers and job counselors, have the power to decide what work activities they do.

At press time, MN-WRC had sponsors for most of its legislative priorities.

MN-WRC members are determined to never give up the fight for justice for poor people. “Politicians are hurting people. They are tearing families apart,” said Dawn Leahy, of Working Poor of Mankato.

Brenda Boettcher, of Winona, added, “We'll let the politicians know that we are not going to take their treatment of us lying down. They need to realize that we are the experts on poverty, not them. They should put themselves in our shoes. Feel what it's like to scrimp and save and scrounge for food, and to keep a roof over our heads and raise our families the best we can.”

The February protest starts at noon, on the front steps of the capitol. “The biggest reason for the protest is we want to stop the war on the poor and people of color,” said Marvella Davis of LIPOP. “We've had enough!”

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Commenting on the February 1 Poor People's Rally, Dolly Clater said, “I thought it was great. It was powerful for all the different cities to come together and fight for changes in the inhumane and unjust way the system treats welfare recipients.”

LIPOP brought a bus to the Capitol on February 1. They went all-out leafleting the welfare office and low income neighborhoods. “There was a wonderful turnout of support,” said Linda Richey.

Poor people from Duluth were among those blasting Minnesota's welfare law, the Minnesota Family Investment Plan (MFIP) at hearings in the legislature. Along with recipients from other cities, they drove home the message, “MFIP is a disaster!”

“I believe the Senate hearings came out in our favor,” said Derek Parker, LIPOP. He noted that it was a huge victory when the Senate voted against the 100% sanctions plan, which would completely cut some families off assistance.

Marvella Davis, LIPOP, was among those who chained herself to the entrance to Representative Goodno's office. Goodno is the author of some of the most serious attacks on the poor this legislative session. “I think the sit-in is an excellent way to show the politicians that we are serious about our belief that we have the same rights as non-MFIP recipients,” said Davis.

Annabelle LaClaire stated, “I was really proud of the participants who did the sit-in at Goodno's office.”

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Aiming to get Mayor Gary Doty removed from office in the November elections, LIPOP is mobilizing and carrying out voter registrations in Duluth's low income community.

Derrick Parker of LIPOP says the struggle to get rid of Doty is part of the fight for living wage jobs. “He's not for living wage jobs...he has to go,” said Parker.

Parker points out that in Duluth, people of color are locked out of city and county jobs that pay enough to raise a family.

Doty says that 9000 new jobs have been created, but LIPOP argues that many of these jobs are in the tourism industry, jobs as maids or cooks, with minimum wages.

The Duluth economy is dependent on iron mining, timber and transport, which means that every economic downturn has hit the city hard. Doty's strategy to deal with this is to throw subsidies at big business and create low paying, part time jobs.

LIPOP also charges that Mayor Doty refuses to deal with police brutality. “He does not believe that the police department is brutal,” states Anabelle LaClaire. This comes on the heels of a sharp controversy over the pattern of disrespect and brutality that police aim at youth of color.

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“We are here today to tell you that MFIP-S is doing terrible things to families in St. Louis County,” said Derrick Parker of LIPOP.

Since the new welfare law went into effect, many low income St. Louis county residents have charged that there is a pattern of discrimination and abuse against people receiving public assistance.

County Commissioners are trying to avoid a public hearing by claiming there are other routes for low income people to pursue. “As commissioners of St Louis County you should want to know what's going on with the new welfare reform program and you should want to hear from the people that are affected,” said Parker.

LIPOP will continue to press their demands at a January 13th protest.

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The Republican candidate, Norm Coleman, refused to attend the debate. He has a reputation for open hostility to the interests of poor and working people. Despite tough questioning by LIPOP and the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition, Skip Humphrey refused to take a stand against the attacks on welfare. Green Party candidate, Ken Pentel said that welfare reform was a part of the war on the poor.

Had Enough

There is a rising tide of anger in Duluth's low income community. At a recent LIPOP meeting, Darren Hawpetoss told of being kept waiting four hours by a financial worker at the welfare office. When the worker finally emerged, she stated that she needed to go get a cup of coffee. “Her coffee comes before human lives,” says Hawpetoss. Another participant, Shelly Thygeson says, “We need to hold the system accountable.”

Paul Ebert sees fighting back as a matter of survival and states, “When a CEO gets 230 million dollars in one year, something is wrong with this country.”

Sharp Struggles

Davis notes, “Low Income People Organizing for Power has an impressive track record. We got our Senator Sam Solon and our Representative Mike Jaros to introduce the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition's Anti-Poverty Bill in the 1997 legislative session.”

“We also put the heat on Rep. Tom Huntley. Huntley works at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. We were nice enough to wait until his class was done. When he came out we cornered him, asked him questions on where does he stand with the welfare issue. The most important question was, 'Are you willing to get more education for those of us who need more education?' He answered with a yes. We also made him sign a contract that he would push for that,” said Davis.

Growing Movement

Duluth is emerging as a stronghold of Minnesota's poor people's movement. “We get new people involved in the organization through door-knocking, leafleting at the welfare office, or some kind of action,” stated Derrick Parker, another LIPOP leader.

LIPOP is now pushing for a public hearing on the abuses that are taking place within Minnesota's new welfare program.

“Our main goal is to get our community involved in organizing and standing up for what is right. We will use our power to fight injustice and oppression that affects every one of us,” said Parker

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