The COVID-19 crisis, and the longstanding crises in policing and racial inequity in Minnesota, have damaged our health, livelihoods, and communities. Policymakers must take bold steps to better ensure Minnesotans can stay healthy, safe, and get by economically in the immediate term, and invest in resilience in all communities for the future.
Tag: covid
Rents are rising faster than Minnesotans’ incomes
For over a decade, unaffordable housing costs due to persistently low wages has been the reality for too many Minnesota families.
Additional federal funding to states is time-critical
Federal policymakers should move quickly to direct significant additional funding to states, as well as local and tribal governments, to address the severe impacts of the public health emergency and the economic recession, and to prevent the economic downturn from getting worse.
May budget report reveals the need to support everyday folks
The May budget projection will guide the decisions that policymakers make in the remaining weeks of the legislative session, and the months beyond. They remind us of how many of our neighbors are struggling, and the importance of taking swift action to reduce the hardships that Minnesotans and their families are facing as a result of the pandemic, and to start building for the economic recovery.
Increased Medicaid funding to states protects health care, critical services
While they have taken some preliminary steps, federal decision-makers should further boost the Medicaid dollars it sends to states, make that increase last until the economy recovers, and maintain strong requirements to protect health care coverage.
Bold action needed to get through crisis, build equitable recovery
Minnesotans are doing their part. We must be able to count on Minnesota policymakers to continue to take aggressive action to meet the public health and economic security needs of everyday Minnesotans, and to draw on the resources needed to do so.
April economic changes bring May budget projections
The novel coronavirus pandemic is having a significant effect on Minnesotans’ physical and mental health of Minnesotans. Unprecedented businesses closures… Continue reading April economic changes bring May budget projections
Coronavirus responses should include all our neighbors, including immigrants
Excluding immigrant Minnesotans – who make up close to 9 percent of our state’s population – puts them and their families at risk, and it makes it more difficult for our state and communities to recover from this public health crisis.
Minnesota’s April economic update
It’s a bigger deal than usual, but doesn’t yet have all the answers: The April Revenue and Economic Update is a first look at the economic and fiscal impacts of the coronavirus crisis in Minnesota. The quarterly report from Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) shows that state revenues have dropped considerably and the national economy has likely fallen into recession.
Racial equity should be at the core of coronavirus responses
Due to the impact of historical racism and ongoing forms of discrimination and bias, BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) will more acutely feel the economic and health effects of this coronavirus crisis. Without attention to equity, they are more likely to be left out of the policy responses.