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.

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.

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.

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 – 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.

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.

_Activists call on Gov. Dayton to take executive action to assure nobody dies from new anti-immigrant law _

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.

St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota government shutdown ended July 20 at 9:00 a.m., after Governor Mark Dayton signed a slew of budget bills – the biggest ones passed in the wee hours of that same morning. Many say that Gov. Dayton compromised too much and too soon, leaving poor and working people paying the price for the $5.2 billion budget deficit.

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.

Minneapolis, MN – The framework agreement reached by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and Republican politicians is a victory for big corporations and Minnesota’s wealthy. For the rest of us, it is a setback. It is the opposite of what a progressive solution to the state budget crisis should be. The Republican shutdown of state government appears to be ending with a Republican solution to the budget short fall – the burden of the crisis will be shifted onto the backs poor and working people. Again.