Minneapolis, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee and others gathered here, Jan. 6, to make signs and banners for the major Jan. 8 protest that will demand, “Raise the welfare grants; no more cuts; tax the rich.”

The protest will start at 11:30 a.m. on the front steps of the Minnesota State Capitol and will coincide with the opening day of the legislative session.

The public assistance grants have not gone up for 26 years, and if Minnesota’s welfare program (MFIP) had been indexed for inflation the grants would be more than double what they are now.

#MinneapolisMN #TaxTheRich #welfare #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition

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

St. Paul, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee stood in the hall outside the hearing room of the state House Health and Human Services Finance Committee, Feb. 23, holding signs reading, “No cuts to poor and working people,” and “Tax the rich.” As the representatives walked into the hearing room, the protesters insisted they take fliers with the WRC statement on the Governor Mark Dayton’s budget proposal.

The Welfare Rights Committee went to the Minnesota State Capitol to testify before the House committee on the governor’s budget. The state is facing a budget deficit of over $6 billion. While the Gov. Dayton proposes to tax the wealthy, he also puts forward millions of dollars in cuts to programs and services for the poor. For the first time since 1991, Minnesota has a Democrat governor. However, for the first time in over 60 years the House and the Senate are majority Republican.

Angel Buechner testified for the WRC: “We applaud the Governor’s proposal to tax the rich. While we have paid for the budget deficits with our blood for many years, 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. While we applaud the Governor’s tax increases, we say it is not nearly enough.”

Buechner pointed out that family welfare grants in the state have not seen an increase since 1986, leaving families 60% below the federal poverty level. She spoke against the governor’s proposal to take $14 million from the federal money that is meant for poor families, “If this state really respected the idea of helping to provide childcare and the Working Family Credit for low-income working families, it would ante up from the General Fund, not take money that is meant for the poorest of the poor.”

The Welfare Rights Committee is ready to do battle against much harsher attacks from the Republican-dominated legislature before the legislative session ends in May.

#MinnesotaStateCapitol #StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition

St. Paul, MN – As the 2011 Minnesota state legislative session came to order on Jan. 4, the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a People's Bailout chanted on the front steps of the capitol, “Hey politicians, here's the fix! Tax the rich!” This year, the right-wing Republicans have control of the Minnesota State House and Senate. They have vowed not to raise taxes on the wealthy and will make cuts to balance the budget.

Angella Khan of Welfare Rights Committee read the opening statement, “Getting sworn in right now are dozens of mean spirited people…over the years we have seen some of the poor-bashing, racist bills they have tried to push into law. We have seen them try to make cuts that absolutely target poor families and the people with disabilities in particular. In some cases they succeeded, in part because both parties used poor families as bargaining chips in their dirty back room negotiations. In most cases, they failed, because of our fighting back and exposing their nasty deeds.”

Students from the Southside Family School's Student Association for the Advancement of Children as People (SAACP) spoke as a team to raised their voices and put the politicians on notice. Said one student, “We want this to be a year of working for justice.” Said another, “As children, we believe we should have a say in what happens in our world. It's about time the politicians think about poor, homeless and the children who deserve a brighter future. The time for change is now!”

Other students proclaimed, “Let this be the year to put a moratorium on foreclosures, extend unemployment, have higher MFIP [Minnesota’s public assistance program for families] payments, have everyone get healthcare and to have good and safe childcare. The new governor wants to tax the rich and we support him. Let this be this the year: put working and poor families first!”

“We have a solution to budget. The time has come to tax the rich! We need to go where the money is,” shouted Mick Kelly of the Minnesota Coalition for a People's Bailout, “They need to be taxed and we need to have real job creation. Republicans say they are job creators but they are job destroyers. We need jobs and income now! We say 'foreclose on the wealthy, not people’s homes.’ We will fight for moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. We need to keep repeating and let it be known we will not stand for any cuts. Not one dime, not one cent, of cuts to poor and working people.”

Bernie Hesse, of the United Food and Commercial Workers 1189, said, “We are tired of hearing about this shared sacrifice. [They] use this as a tool on people who have less and less. We need to say ‘share the abundance.’ There is plenty to go around. We need to send the strong message to tax the rich. The trickle down isn't working.

Jess Sundin, of the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression, whose home was raided by the FBI in September 2010, targeted for being a solidarity activist with the people of Palestine and Columbia, stated that she stands with the people of Minnesota to fight for economic justice. “Instead of the government targeting activists, they should be making real homes with food, health care, education and everything that our loved ones need. The fact is that the government goes and drop bombs around the world while they make us and our neighbors go homeless and starve in their backyard. The terrorists are controlling the halls of government. We are not afraid! That is why I am here today. I stand with you to demand change. Let's do it, let's tax the rich.”

Misty Rowan, of the Anti-War Committee, said, “The war that is crumbling our economy, that is crippling my generation and destroying the planet must be stopped. But instead, republicans are happily singing the battle hymn – telling us tax breaks for their friends and cuts to social programs are the only way to balance this budget. We know this is ludicrous.”

After the speeches, the people exploded into the capitol rotunda and marched up the marble stairs and through the halls. They protested and chanted outside the House of Represents chambers and continued to the Senate chambers, with a final stop at the new governor's office. As the protest left the capitol, Deb Konechne thanked everyone for coming, “This fight isn’t over! We will come back and fight for what is ours. We will continue to say no cuts to poor and working people in the state of Minnesota.”

#Minnesota #StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #TaxTheRich #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition

A statement from the Coalition noted “The passage of the Federal welfare law in August 1996 marked the greatest attack on the safety net for poor families in 60 years. The most disastrous part of this welfare law was the imposition of a five-year lifetime limit on federal public assistance for families in need. The time limit hits our entire families, including our children.”

“We call on all organizations and people of good will to take a stand against this unjust law. Throughout history there have been laws that promoted slavery and discrimination, inequality for women, as well as many other injustices. The tearing up of the social safety net for children and families in poverty is one more cruel, inhumane law that must be opposed,” continued the statement.

MN Welfare Rights Declaration:

We the undersigned are opposed to the five-year limit on welfare for families in poverty. Cutting welfare from children and families in need will bring about devastating poverty, hunger, and homelessness. We call on elected officials at the state and federal level to restore the social safety net and stop this time limit. We call on our elected representatives to put a time limit on poverty instead of on welfare. What families need are living wage jobs, health care, education, affordable housing and childcare.

MNWRC organizers urge groups and individuals who wish to add their names to the declaration to call the coalition at 612-822-8020 or write:

Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition

310 E 38th Street #207

Minneapolis, MN, 55409

welfarerightsmn@hotmail.com

#Minnesota #MN #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareTimeLimit #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition

Didi Francis, of the Twin Cities based Welfare Rights Committee, told demonstrators assembled outside the Minneapolis Federal Building, “On this day in 1996, politicians in Washington D.C. declared a war on the poor in this country.”

The Welfare Rights Committee protest drew over 100 people, including supporters from labor, the religious community, women's organizations, youth and student groups. Among the speakers was Martin Goff, one of the leaders of the recent strike in area hotels.

“This is the biggest attack on welfare in over 60 years! The five-year lifetime limit will throw our families into hunger, homelessness and desperation across this state and across this country!” declared WRC member Kim Hosmer. Pre-teen protesters drew chalk outlines of the children on the plaza in front of the Federal Building to show the devastating effect the five year-limit will have on children.

Duluth

In Duluth, Low Income People Organizing for Power held a dynamic protest where over 50 people joined a rally and marched from the Federal Building to the welfare office. Nearly twenty local organizations endorsed the rally.

“In Minnesota, over 6000 families will hit the time limit in less than two years. This adds up to tens of thousands of children!” said Marvella Davis of Low Income People Organizing for Power.

Many people spoke out against the five year limit, including families receiving welfare, along with supporters from the NAACP, Anti-Racism Collaborative, labor organizations, religious communities and student organizations.

Moorhead and St. Cloud

In Moorhead and St. Cloud, low-income people held lively pickets in front of the welfare offices. Protesters handed out hundreds of educational fliers to people passing by and going into the welfare offices.

“With this five year limit there's going to be so much homelessness! The wages aren't high enough to sustain our families and people are going to be falling left and right! Families in St. Cloud are so angry about these welfare reforms. We need to get ourselves organized! If politicians don't stop this time clock, there's going to be trouble in St. Cloud!” said Kathy Krueger of Minnesotans United for Social Justice.

People Escaping Poverty Project organized the protest in Moorhead. “August 22, 1996 marks the day that the U.S. government turned its back on poor people,” declared Duke Schempp, Director of PEPP. Protesters signed a giant declaration against the five year limit and delivered it to Moorhead Representative Kevin Goodno's office.

“It's not just the recipients that need to take action and hit the streets, it's the people in positions of power that need to step out and take risks. Until those people in power step along side of us and take risks, many more people will be out on the street homeless,” said Organizer Apprentice, Lysa Rinquist of People Escaping Poverty Project.

The Campaign

The day of protests was part of the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition's statewide campaign to stop the time limits on welfare. “This five year limit is a vicious law that we have to fight! We call on elected officials to put a time limit on poverty, instead of on welfare! We need to all come together and work together to stop this time bomb that is ticking away!” stated Derrick Parker of Low Income People Organizing for Power.

#Minnesota #MN #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareTimeLimit #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition

Despite freezing temperatures, 200 people of all nationalities came to the Minnesota State Capitol Jan. 3 to protest against welfare time limits. Before moving inside the building, activists stood on the outside steps giving speeches and chanting, “Tick by tick and tock by tock! Stop the 5-year limit clock!”

“In this state, in less than a year and a half, 5000 families could be cut off welfare. In one criminal swoop, up to 15,000 children could be thrown into the streets! This government isn't ending corporate welfare. Instead they are harming poor families!” said Deb Konechne.

Deedee Francis and Deb Konechne are members of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul based Welfare Rights Committee, one of the groups in the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition. Other organizations that are part of the coalition include Low Income People Organizing for Power from Duluth, People Escaping Poverty Project (P.E.P.P.) from Moorhead, Minnesotans United for Social Justice from St.Cloud, Working Poor of Mankato, the Winona Chapter of Welfare Rights Coalition, and Miikana Bimaadiziwin of Virginia.

Duke Schempp of Moorhead's P.E.P.P. firmly said, “We will not allow this attack upon our lives to continue. We are going to fight against every attack on welfare every step of the way!” Joining him from Moorhead was 11-year-old Franky Martinez who was dressed in a chin-to-knee clock costume, and who was pursued by his brother wielding a large cardboard hammer. Martinez spoke over the loudspeaker, “They say that we, the children, are the future. I say, WHAT future?”

10,000 hand-cut paper dolls representing future homeless children were thrown from the second floor of the Capitol, and fluttered down over the crowd in the rotunda below. Capitol police tried to take a bag of paper dolls from some children, but the young protesters managed to empty the bag of dolls over the balcony rail.

“This government needs to end poverty instead of ending people's right to survive! We will smash the 5-year time limit clock!” Christina Hosmer told the rally. Then, a 9-foot tall papier-mâché hammer was raised to rip a clock banner. “Politicians! We're at your door! Stop the war on the poor!”

The protest coincided with the opening day of the state legislature, and it marked the beginning of a battle that will continue throughout the legislative session. “We're fighting for a clear, simple, and just set of demands,” said Linden Gawboy of the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition. “We will not let reactionaries or poverty pimps set the agenda at the capitol,” she added. Over the past several years, a handful of fake “advocates for the poor” have worked to undermine the fight of low-income Minnesotans.

Protesters also demanded that the state government make up for the federal cuts to immigrants, along with the abolition of “sanctions”. Sanctions are grant cuts used against those who are supposedly not “in compliance” with the welfare program. Most of the sanctions are illegal and arbitrary. Sanctions mean hunger and homelessness.

The protest was attended and endorsed by many religious, youth and labor groups. Martin Goff, of the Minneapolis hotel workers' union H.E.R.E. Local 17, spoke strongly against corporate welfare and called for ending welfare time limits. According to Goff, the politicians need to “hear us or fear us.”

Jane McDonald, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, demanded that lawmakers “Serve the needy, not the greedy.” All the speakers stressed the importance of protesting. “Just because it's a law doesn't make it right. We learn from history that the only way to end injustice is to organize against it. That is what we are doing and will continue to do,” vowed Marvella Davis of Duluth's L.I.P.O.P. “If there's no justice, we will give them no peace!”

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareTimeLimit #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition #paperDolls

St. Paul, MN – In a nationally unprecedented move, a bill to repeal the time limit on welfare was introduced at the Minnesota State Capitol. Senator Hottinger of Mankato and Representative Neva Walker of Minneapolis are carrying the repeal bill in the Senate and House.

The bill's opening words declare an anti-poverty goal: “The state shall set policies and use its resources to put a time limit on poverty, instead of a time limit on assistance for families living in poverty. The state will eliminate the time limit on welfare and ensure that not one child or family in poverty is without needed assistance...”

The Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition has been pushing for a repeal of the time limit since the five-year clock started ticking. State estimates project that nearly 5000 families will hit the five-year limit on July 1, 2002. Hundreds more families will lose assistance in the months to follow.

“This is a crime! 5,000 families adds up to as many as 15,000 children that will be thrown off welfare! This is an immediate ticket into the streets for children and their families!” declared Kim DeFranco of the Welfare Rights Committee.

“The five year limit on welfare is a cruel law that is going to force families already deep in poverty, even deeper. It blames the poor for being poor and will push families into devastating homelessness and hunger!” stated Dede Francis of the MN Welfare Rights Coalition. “The repeal bill is so important because it is making history. It's the only bill raising opposition to what the government has done to poor families.”

Poor families from around the state have been putting heat on their legislators, and traveling to the State Capitol for hearings and rallies to stop the time limit. “What we see is the time limit is going to affect a lot of people here. Poor people will never get ahead, poor people will be worse off and more oppressed and its not going to end poverty,” said Annabelle LeClaire of Low Income People Organizing for Power in Duluth.

“While many in the state of Minnesota wonder whether they will get another tax rebate, thousands of families with low incomes wonder whether they will have any food, shelter or assistance beyond July of 2002. Without a safety net, there is no hope for poor families. We need to eliminate the five-year limit and stop blaming poor people for poverty!” stated Duke Schempp, director of People Escaping Poverty Project in Moorhead.

Hearings on the time limit repeal bill and other poor peoples' bills, including proposals to increase education and to reduce sanctions will be the next step. Poor families are gearing up to testify and carry out rallies and protests at the state capitol in the coming weeks.

“We refuse to let this Government throw even one child into the streets. We are fighting a life and death battle, and we call on all people from all walks of life to fight with us to stop this disaster from happening. Stop the time limit now!” said Linden Gawboy of the Welfare Rights Committee.

#StPaulMN #SaintPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareTimeLimit #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition