Minn. Workers Relieved by Shutdown’s End, Outraged by Budget
Barb Kucera, editor at www.workdayminnesota.org
While thousands of public- and private-sector workers are relieved to be returning to work after the nearly three-week state government shutdown, they are outraged by a budget that protects millionaires and increases the burden on Minnesota’s most vulnerable residents.
The budget bills, signed Wednesday by DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, incorporate the Republican legislative majority’s provisions to cut programs for the working poor and balance the books by borrowing heavily from local school districts.
In the $34 billion budget, lawmakers are taking $58 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, to fund other services, said Linden Gawboy of the Welfare Rights Committee ... more
