Christina Wessel

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Biography

About me

Christina Wessel has been with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits since 2001, working her way through the ranks to become deputy director of the Minnesota Budget Project. 

Health and human services omnibus bills make good investments using wrong resources

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

When the House and Senate released their committee targets in March, we were surprised that the health and human services budget division was required to cut $150 million in the House and $153 million in the Senate. After years of reductions to critical services for Minnesota’s most vulnerable, including $1 billion in cuts in the 2011 Legislative Session, we believed this year would offer an opportunity to start making up lost ground investing in our state’s health and well-being.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

House and Senate budget targets include investments, but also harmful cuts to health and human services

By Christina Wessel, 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.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

Governor Dayton's budget proposal, part five: Health and human services

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

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.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

You can't turn a ship on a dime, but you can start to get it back on course

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

I sometimes think of the State of Minnesota as a ship that’s been heading in the wrong direction. We’ve spent the last few weeks reviewing elements of Governor Dayton’s proposed budget, which includes many ideas that will start to turn Minnesota around and get us back on the right course. His budget also reflects the reality that you can’t turn a ship on a dime.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

Governor Dayton's budget proposal, part one: Health care reform

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

The state budget plan released by Gov. Mark Dayton yesterday seeks to end the cycle of deficits and put the state on a firmer financial foundation.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

The state's cycle of budget deficits continues

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

The state’s cycle of budget deficits continues. That’s the news from this morning’s release of the November 2012 Economic Forecast. The state ended the August special session with a $1.1 billion deficit projected for the FY 2014-15 biennium. And that’s where the number stands in the new forecast. When taking the impact of inflation into account, the deficit is closer to $2.0 billion in FY 2014-15 and $2.1 billion in FY 2016-17.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

Time for Minnesota to move forward on health care reform

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

With the June Supreme Court decision and 2012 presidential election behind us, it is now clear that the nation’s health reform law – the Affordable Care Act – is here to stay. That’s great news for Minnesotans. Many have already begun to benefit from the law, including young adults who are now able to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26. And many more Minnesotans will be able to access affordable health insurance as other major provisions take effect in 2014.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

Low- and middle-income Minnesotans would pay for H.R. 436's $30 billion business tax cut

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

The U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would make it more challenging for low- and middle-income families moving up the income ladder to purchase affordable health insurance.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

Deep racial disparities in unemployment persist in the Twin Cities

By Christina Wessel, Minnesota Budget Bites

The Twin Cities have the highest level of racial disparity in unemployment in the country, according to a study released on Monday.

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Minnesota Budget Bites
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