Minnesota Budget Bites

The budget targets released by the House and Senate last week invest in many of the building blocks of our economic future, but also call for cuts to health and human services that could harm Minnesota’s most vulnerable residents.

Minnesota has dramatically cut investments in our public universities and colleges in recent years, driving up tuition and undermining the state’s ability to produce the well-educated workforce we need to be competitive.

Many Minnesotans have seen the value of public health and human services at some point in their lives, whether it’s child care assistance that enabled a friend to keep her job, nursing home care for an elderly parent, or affordable health insurance for a cousin with a chronic illness. These and other essential services improve the health and stability of Minnesota families throughout the state.

Governor Dayton’s budget seeks to put the brakes on more than a decade of budget deficits, gimmicks and deep cuts to services, and instead create a fairer tax system that invests in our future. We’ve talked about some of his plans to reach those goals in earlier blog posts, like health care reform, education and tax reform.