- Pawlenty proposes cuts to local governments, health and welfare, By Elizabeth Dunbar and Madeleine Baran, February 15, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed a series of deep cuts to local governments and health and welfare programs on Monday to fill a $1.2 billion state budget deficit and pay for tax cuts he says will create jobs. Pawlenty proposed $347 million in cuts to state health and human services programs and wants to cut state payments to local governments by $250 million. Pawlenty’s plan to reduce spending while also slashing business taxes sets up a likely clash with the DFL-controlled Legislature, which just last year voted to raise taxes to help fill a budget hole. Democratic leaders were critical of Pawlenty’s proposal, saying it takes services away from Minnesotans and puts money into the pockets of corporations. They say his cuts to local government are out of line, and will hit public safety programs despite the governor’s promises to preserve them…”
- Cuts would fall on poor, old, disabled and sick, By Warren Wolfe, February 15, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposal to cut a net of $347 million from programs for sick, aged, disabled and jobless people is akin to the advice an ailing George Washington got from his doctors 210 years ago, one critic said Monday: Bleed him, in hope of a cure. Pawlenty would eliminate the General Assistance program in which about 20,000 disabled and very-low-income people receive an average of $175 a month. He also would remove about 21,500 childless adults earning between $8,100 and $27,000 from MinnesotaCare, the health insurance program for lower-income working people…”
- Poorest of the poor would lose their last benefits, By Madeleine Baran, February 17, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “Advocates for the homeless warn that thousands of the state’s poorest residents could lose their only source of income under the new budget proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The governor’s budget would eliminate General Assistance, the program that provides $203 a month in cash assistance to low-income single adults who are unable to work, and replace it with a less expensive crisis assistance program. General Assistance served about 19,000 people each month in the last fiscal year, and is the only source of income for many homeless adults…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty