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Health and Human Services bill 'promotes common good' |
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By The Catholic Spirit
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Wednesday, 13 May 2009 |
Even in the midst of a $4.6 billion budget deficit, Minnesota legislators passed a Health and Human Services (HHS) budget that promotes human dignity and the common good.
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Faith in the Public Arena
Minnesota Catholic Conference
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty has until Friday, May 15 to sign or veto the HHS
Budget Omnibus bill (House File 1362). While the bill contains $489
million in cuts for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-11 and $742 million in cuts
for FY 2012-13, it preserves many needed services for our sisters and
brothers who are poor and vulnerable
Not only do Minnesota’s public support programs ensure that all of our
low-income neighbors have access to basic needs, they provide important
opportunities for moving toward full participation in community life.
In addition to maintaining health care coverage for Minnesotans, the
HHS Budget Omnibus bill provides coverage for an additional 21,000
children. Our governor’s HHS budget proposal contains $1.6 billion in
HHS cuts, including a $1.1 billion decrease in health care spending.
Curently, 374,000 Minnesotans (77,000 of whom are children) do not have
health insurance. Under Gov. Pawlenty’s plan, the number of uninsured
Minnesotans would climb to 487,000.
Helping Minnesota’s poor
Though funding for the Minnesota Family Investment Program is only 1
percent of the general fund budget, it is a crucial program for
Minnesota’s poorest families who are striving to move from welfare to
work.
The HHS Budget Omnibus bill does not contain the MFIP Social Security
income or housing penalties. A particularly harmful cut, the MFIP SSI
penalty would have significantly reduced monthly cash assistance for
7,000 Minnesota families with a disabled parent(s) or child(ren).
The MFIP Housing Penalty would have reduced household income for
families living in subsidized housing, thereby leaving our state’s
poorest families with fewer resources for daily expenses. Rather than
adopting the House’s suggestion to decrease the MFIP exit level, the
final bill keeps the MFIP exit level at 115 percent of the federal
poverty guidelines.
Unfortunately, the HHS Budget Omnibus bill does not include the House’s
proposal to remove the $7,000 asset limit for food stamp households, or
the appropriation for food shelves. Both proposals would have helped
households struggling to put food on the table, including our neighbors
experiencing recent job loss.
Nor did the final bill include the Senate’s recommendation to place a
two-year moratorium on the MFIP 60-month time limit. Though the
majority of families receiving MFIP assistance do not reach the
60-month time limit, those who do reach the time limit face significant
challenges (serious mental illnesses, cognitive disabilities and
debilitating physical illnesses).
Punishing families when job opportunities are more scarce undermines
the objectives of the MFIP program — to assist low-income families
achieve self-sufficiency and move out of poverty by expecting,
rewarding and supporting work.
Reaching out to youth
The HHS Budget Omnibus bill also includes funding for homeless and
runaway youth. Currently, there are fewer than 50 beds designated for
the 1,800 youth who are homeless on any given night in the Twin Cities.
The HHS Budget Omnibus bill does not reduce funding for the Positive
Alternatives Grant Program, which provides grants to programs that
support, encourage and assist women in carrying their pregnancies to
term.
While the HHS Budget Omnibus bill contains hurtful cuts, it recognizes
the importance of maintaining critical assistance for Minnesota’s
poorest families — especially in our ailing economy.
The Minnesota Catholic Conference is the public policy voice of
the Minnesota bishops. MCC lobbies lawmakers on behalf of the
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the dioceses of Crookston,
Duluth, New Ulm, St. Cloud and Winona.
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