St. Paul, MN – 70 people gathered at Macalester Plymouth United Church here on July 27 to participate in a program called “60 Years After the End of the Korean War: Is the Korean War Really Over?”

St Paul, MN – More than 50 people gathered at the Wednesday Peace Vigil on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge, July 17, under the call “No U.S. war in Syria – war is not the answer.”

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 – 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.

St Paul, MN – On a cold and rainy April 10, several dozen people joined a Minneapolis-Saint Paul peace vigil to speak out against the danger of a new Korean war.

St. Paul, MN – 40 residents and community supporters from the Foreclosure and Eviction Free Zone marched on Wells Fargo with the boards used to illegally board up an occupied home. The march was part of the Homes for All national day of action, March 13. It was also hours after bank lobbyists killed the Homeowner Bill of Rights at the Minnesota state capitol.

St. Paul, MN – A bill to double the welfare grants moved closer to passage, March 4, when members of the Senate Health, Human Services, and Housing policy committee passed Senate File 165. The bill doubles the cash grants for people receiving public assistance through the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP).

Justice for Arafat Jaradat, Samer Issawi and all Palestinian hunger strikers

St. Paul, MN – On March 1, people of conscience gathered here during rush hour at a busy Saint Paul intersection, to show solidarity with hunger striking Palestinian political prisoners and to demand justice for Arafat Jaradat, who died Feb. 23 as a result of being tortured by Israeli security. Many passing cars honked in support of the protest.

St Paul, MN – Minnesota’s Governor Mark Dayton got an earful from members of the Welfare Rights Committee, Feb. 6, when he entered the House chambers in the Capitol building to deliver his State of the State address.

St. Paul, MN – A Ramsey County jury found Anthony Newby, executive director of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, not guilty on assault charges here Feb. 4. An employee of a law firm representing Freddie Mac, a primary target of the housing justice movement, pressed charges against Newby following a peaceful protest that happened March 1, 2012.

St. Paul, MN – With the wind chill at 15 degrees below zero, about 30 peace and justice activists gathered here, Jan. 23. Their slogan, “No U.S. Drones in Mali, No U.S. intervention in Mali” was the week’s theme of the Peace Vigil that happens every Wednesday on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge across the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

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.”

St. Paul, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee were at the governor’s mansion, Jan. 15, to deliver hundreds of postcards urging Governor Dayton to raise Minnesota’s welfare grants. Dayton is staying at the mansion while he recovers from back surgery.

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.

St. Paul, MN – More than 100 people joined a vigil and protest here, Nov. 21, to speak out against the Israeli attack on Gaza. Participants lined the sidewalks of the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge, which connects Minneapolis and Saint Paul, during rush-hour traffic, creating a highly visible statement against the attack on Gaza.

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.

St. Paul, MN – Forty people gathered at Cahoots Coffee Shop here May 9, to hear from anti-war speakers at a program entitled “Syria: The Myth of Humanitarian Intervention” organized by the Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) Mideast Committee.

St. Paul, MN – Members the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout gathered at the State Capitol Building, April 16, demanding that legislators tax the rich and stop cutting programs that serve poor and working people. “We are here – the day before Tax Day – to demand that the politicians in this capitol stop balancing the budget on the backs of working and poor Minnesotans. We say it is time for politicians to tax the rich,” said Kristin Rafferty of the Welfare Rights Committee.