GOP’s Medicaid cuts would raise costs for everyone, union report finds

June 18, 2025 by

Kerry Adelmann, a home care worker and member of SEIU Healthcare MN & IA, shared what Medicaid cuts would mean to her family. Health care workers joined community and faith leaders today on the Capitol steps in St. Paul to demand Republicans in Congress walk back historic cuts to Medicaid included in their budget bill, which President Trump wants on his desk by July 4. 

Meanwhile, a new analysis from the AFL-CIO warns those cuts will make health care less affordable not just for the 7.8 million people projected to lose their benefits, but also for the 179 million Americans with employer-sponsored health coverage – by as much as $485 annually per person. 

That’s because, experts say, people without insurance still get sick, but they are more likely to show up in urgent-care clinics and emergency rooms, driving up costs across the health care system. 

“They’re going to go without care until they have to show up to the hospitals that are required to provide that emergency care,” Jessica Intermill, an activist with Protect Our Care Minnesota, said. “But if this big, bad-for-Americans bill passes, those hospitals and doctors won’t get paid for their work. 

“You can’t stop paying for $700 billion worth of care in the United States without a catastrophic impact.” 

That’s the amount by which the House version of the bill, passed last month, would cut Medicaid. A Senate version that cleared a key committee hurdle earlier this week would make even deeper cuts, forcing difficult decisions onto hospitals and state governments in order to close the gap. 

Rachel Anderson is a vice president of National Nurses United.The Walz administration projects that Minnesota will lose about $500 million in Medicaid funding annually under the GOP budget. 

The state’s Medicaid director, John Connolly, said the bill advancing through the Senate would be “even worse,” with new paperwork requirements and other administrative hurdles that will make it harder for eligible people to access – and maintain – benefits. 

“Disenrollment,” Connolly added, is very much the point of the legislation, which aims to “shrink the number of people with Medicaid coverage, regardless of their need or eligibility status.” 

In addition to making health care less affordable, the Republican budget is likely to spark widespread job losses as states and hospitals look to absorb the loss of federal funds.  

More than 600,000 front-line health care workers could be fired, the AFL-CIO analysis found, and funding for other state-budget priorities, like schools, public safety and infrastructure projects, could be in jeopardy. 

If there’s good news to be found in the Republicans’ so-called “big, beautiful bill,” it comes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, who will overwhelmingly benefit from the $3.7 trillion tax cut paid for by slashing Medicaid and food assistance. 

“There is nothing beautiful about this bill,” said Rachel Anderson, a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association who works at Fairview Southdale. “And there is one big reason why nurses oppose it: Medicaid cuts kill people.” 

 — Michael Moore, UA editor

Filed Under: Community, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Unions decry state lawmakers’ move to close Stillwater prison

May 23, 2025 by

Corrections officers and other Stillwater prison workers are demanding that state leaders reconsider their plan, announced as part of a bipartisan budget agreement earlier this month, to close the facility by 2029.

That is, if they have a plan.

Members of AFSCME Council 5 and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees say the state should have consulted them before making the announcement, which impacts about 560 workers and 1,200 offenders housed at the Washington County facility, which is actually located in Bayport.

Instead, union leaders said, they got a call about 15 minutes before the news became public May 15.

“I find it hard to believe that this chip that was put on the table at the 11th hour wasn’t discussed thoroughly before it got put on the table,” Council 5 Executive Director Bart Andersen said. “There had to have been various conversations about what could the implications of this be. Did anybody think about that? Because if they would have asked us, we would have had a laundry list of concerns.”

Those concerns include how the state’s other prisons will absorb inmates from Stillwater – and do it safely.

“If there are 1,200 beds within the Minnesota Department of Corrections, we would like to see where those are,” Dan Gorman, who has worked as an officer in Stillwater for 20 years, said during a Capitol press conference the day after state leaders’ announcement.

Gorman added that the roughly 450 AFSCME members who work at the facility had been told by management that the prison’s population would reduce by half over the next “two or three years” before closing in the fourth year. Stillwater’s level-four security designation means that it can house the state’s most serious offenders.

“Now you start sending those (offenders) to other facilities, overpopulating those facilities, and it makes it very dangerous for the inmate population and for the staff that work in those facilities,” Gorman said.

Jeff Larson, chair of Council 5’s corrections officer council, said workers across Minnesota’s prisons were bracing for the impact of closing the system’s second-largest facility.

“Moving hundreds of staff and offenders across the state with no clear-cut plan?” Larson said. “That’s dangerous.”

Prison workers also expressed concerns for their careers, their families and the local community.

“I’ve had co-workers in tears,” Gorman said. “I’ve had seasoned officers coming to me and telling me they don’t know how much more of this they can take. And I’ve had new officers questioning whether they made the right choice joining this department at all.”

MAPE President Megan Dayton, whose union represents caseworkers and other workers in the DOC, said the community members deserved transparency and a chance to offer feedback before lawmakers arrived at the decision. Instead, they got “another behind-closed-doors decision.”

“That is not planning; that is scrambling,” Dayton said.

State officials argued that the prison has become less safe as it has fallen into greater disrepair. Its backlog of deferred maintenance projects would cost an estimated $700 million to address, according to a state analysis issued five years ago.

But Gorman pointed to a list of low-cost security improvements rejected by the agency in recent years, and Andersen said the state could invest in keeping the 111-year-old prison, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“This Capitol is not brand new,” Andersen said. “The Governor’s Mansion is not brand new. There’s a brand new Senate building. There were capital investments to make sure all those facilities are up and running and renovated and maintained. Why can’t that happen with Stillwater?”

The news about Stillwater prison came as Walz’s administration was negotiating new union contracts with MAPE and Council 5’s state-employee locals, covering over 40,000 employees.

Those talks got off to a contentious start this spring after the governor unilaterally changed the state’s policy on remote work, giving thousands of workers mere months to plan for a partial return to the office.

Union leaders said they expect better from Walz and other elected officials who claim to support labor and law enforcement, but hope there’s still time to reverse course.

“You love to stand next to us when we have our uniforms on and take pictures with us and claim you support us,” Gorman said. “This is a moment to have your vote match your words or your social media posts.”

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Union strong, Metro Mobility drivers fight to save their jobs

April 12, 2018 by

In a 2015 survey, Metro Mobility customers were asked to name their favorite thing about riding the transportation service for people with disabilities and health issues. The most common response: their drivers.

About 100 of those drivers are now fighting for their jobs, as the Met Council, which oversees Metro Mobility, considers moving one of its core services to a new, non-union contractor.

Drivers and clients will raise concerns about the proposed change when it comes before the council’s Transportation Committee April 23, according to Teamsters Local 120, the union that represents drivers.

“Every day our members are picking up the same people, and now they could potentially lose that continuity,” Local 120 Secretary-Treasurer Bill Wedebrand said. “We feel as though there should be some more discussion on this.”

The drivers, employees of First Transit, shuttle people to and from employment, training and rehabilitation centers and other programs. Known as “agency service,” it’s mandated by federal and state laws.

But increasing demand for Metro Mobility rides is straining the Met Council’s finances. Metro Transit hiked bus and light-rail fares last year, and the council still projects a shortfall of $86 million in its 2020-21 transportation budget.

Under pressure to cut costs, the Met Council appears poised to move forward with Maple Grove-based Transit Team’s $31.8 million, five-year proposal covering agency services after the current contract with First Transit expires Sept. 30.

Transit Team delivered a cheaper proposal than First Transit, but Wedebrand warned that disrupting the relationship between Metro Mobility drivers and the vulnerable adults they serve will come at a cost.

“Most of these drivers have being doing this job for many years, and they do it for the right reasons,” Wedebrand said. “They don’t make a lot of money, but they do it to help people who are vulnerable. And these vulnerable adults know them, trust them.”

Wedebrand said Local 120 intends to push hard for current drivers to keep their jobs – and their union contract – if the agency service contract moves to Transit Team. It’s a courtesy Metro Mobility drivers, who received a 95-percent satisfaction rating in the 2015 customer survey, have earned.

Show support for Metro Mobility agency drivers by turning out for the April 23 Transportation Committee meeting, which begins at 4 p.m. at 390 Robert St. N., St. Paul.

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Proposal to slash special ed stuns Cambridge-Isanti parents, staff

March 21, 2018 by

(SEIU Local 284 photo)

Paraprofessionals in the Cambridge-Isanti Schools are mounting a last-ditch fight for their jobs and the special education students they serve after the district unexpectedly revealed plans Friday to slash staffing by 25 percent.

“It was shocking,” Melanie Custer, in her fifth year as a special-ed paraprofessional in District 911, said of learning her job is on the chopping block. “It was basically a slap in the face to us, that we don’t mean anything.”

The proposal, outlined in the school board’s Thursday meeting agenda, would reduce special-ed staffing at seven schools next year by roughly 230 hours per day. That adds up to between 50 and 60 jobs, according to the union that represents Cambridge-Isanti paraprofessionals, SEIU Local 284.

Union members plan to speak against the proposed cuts at the board meeting tomorrow, and they anticipate strong backing from parents and community members. [View the Facebook event.]

“I’ve seen Facebook posts, and I’ve talked to a couple of (special-ed students’) parents,” Custer said. “It stresses them out, and it makes them worried about what kind of care their children are going to be getting.”

The district did not respond to a request for comment, but the agenda item cites “changes in enrollment and staffing needs” as reason for the cuts. A separate budget document estimates savings of $770,000 next year from an “adjustment to special education staffing.”

But Custer, who provides one-on-one support to students with special needs, warned that any savings would come at a steep price for students, their families and teachers in the district.

“Our students will suffer,” she said. “These are students with emotional and behavioral disorders, autistic students and students with learning disabilities. If you cut out the people who give them help, they’re going to get lost in the system.”

Already, special-ed paras and the teachers they work alongside feel shorthanded, Custer added. Any time a para calls in sick, “it generally results in the teacher having to do a lot more than anyone’s capable of doing,” she said.

Custer, whose husband works in the construction industry and struggles for hours in the winter months, would have to find another job if she’s laid off by the district. But she doubts she could find anything as rewarding as her work with students.

It’s a message she hopes will resonate with board members tomorrow.

“We give day in and day out helping these kids,” she said. “We’ll never get rich doing this job; we’re all there for the kids. It seems like the district doesn’t care about us, they don’t care about the kids.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Transit operators, riders urge Dayton to stand strong against cuts

May 18, 2017 by

Doni Jones, a Metro Transit operator and ATU Local 1005 steward, speaks at a rally in support of transit funding.

Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a transportation bill Monday that would have slashed funding for Metro Transit bus and rail services by $17.5 million over the next two years.

Transit riders and operators cheered the governor’s veto at a rally Tuesday outside the Capitol, urging Dayton to continue standing firm against service cuts and fare hikes.

Doni Jones, a steward for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, said cuts proposed by Republican majorities in the Legislature would “devastate” the 3,000 Metro Transit employees who make up the union’s membership. Part-time employees would be laid off, he said, and full-time workers would see hours reduced.

In a letter to Republican leaders that accompanied his veto, Dayton said he would not sign a transportation bill that includes cuts to Metro Transit.

“Our transit system is vital to the economic health and competitiveness of the metro region and the state as a whole,” Dayton said, adding that 80 percent of people who access Metro Transit services are traveling to and from work or school.

Dayton told Republican leaders: “Your failure to adequately fund our transit system will have real life consequences for our seniors, students, low-income individuals and individuals with disabilities.”

Many of those people joined the rally yesterday, a scene Jones described as a “beautiful thing.”

“We see these people all the time,” he said. “We’re all in this together.”

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , ,

Ellison to U of M researchers: Use collective action to reverse dwindling federal support

November 13, 2015 by
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison meets with researchers at the U of M - Twin Cities.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison meets with researchers at the U of M – Twin Cities.

 

Frontline researchers alerted U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison to the impacts of dwindling federal and institutional support for their work in a meeting at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities yesterday.

Ellison, a DFLer whose 5th District includes the Twin Cities campus, pledged to continue supporting research funding in Congress, and he praised U of M faculty, who are in the process of organizing a union, for taking collective action to raise awareness of the issue.

Rep. Keith Ellison pledges to share with his colleagues in the state's congressional delegation an open letter from U of M researchers.

Rep. Keith Ellison pledges to share with his colleagues in the state’s congressional delegation an open letter from U of M researchers.

“Your perspective is unique,” Ellison told faculty. “Your process is hands-on. And you’ve got to be able to handle that process in a way that is meaningful for people making policy decisions.”

Ellison met with academics on the same day they released results of a recent survey of U of M researchers, “The State of Research Funding and Support at the University of Minnesota.” Distributed over the summer, the survey drew 342 responses, which revealed several common threads.

• As federal support for research decreases, U of M researchers are spending more time chasing funding, and their research suffers as a result.

Overall spending on university-based research across federal agencies fell $21 billion, or 13 percent, from 2005 to 2015. The share of the federal budget dedicated to research, at 12 percent in 1965, is less than 4 percent today.

Jerry Cohen, a professor of horticultural science, pointed to a national survey that found academic researchers spend, on average, 43 percent of their day navigating the bureaucracy of federal grant funding.

“We are throwing good ideas away,” Cohen said. “It challenges our ability as a nation to remain a premier scientific-research country on the planet.”

• Lack of federal funding and institutional support is driving talented researchers out of the academic field.

“I personally know of faculty who have left academia because of the giant pressure put on them to find funding,” post-doctoral associate Geoffrey Rojas said.

• The U of M is failing to provide adequate support for researchers competing for federal funds, and the U is not being transparent when it comes to administrative costs taken out of research grants.

Just 40 percent of survey respondents said they feel the university “adequately supports and values their research,” the same amount that feel they are given “adequate time in the workweek” to meet the demands of their positions.

Meanwhile, just 1 in 7 researchers at the U feel their employer is being transparent about how it uses “overhead rates” taken out of federal grants to cover facility and administrative costs, according to the survey.

“One of the reasons we’re organizing a union is precisely because of these issues,” geography professor Bruce Braun said. A union, he added, would give U of M faculty a better voice in shared governance at the U, and it would empower researchers to “advocate for the kind of federal funding we need at the university and that the public deserves.”

Tenure-line and contingent faculty at the Twin Cities campus are organizing with MN Academics United, an affiliate of Service Employees International Union Local 284.

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

As lawmakers haggle, faces behind education budget speak out in St. Paul

June 2, 2015 by

DSC_0231[2]

As Minnesota lawmakers announced a breakthrough in negotiations over the state’s E-12 education budget yesterday, the faces behind the financial figures – students, parents and teachers – rallied against staff and programming cuts in St. Paul.

“We cannot nickle and dime our kids’ future,” school board candidate Zuki Ellis, the parent of a first-grader in the St. Paul Public Schools, said. “There is no excuse for that when we’re talking about a $2 billion state budget surplus.”

St. Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28 organized the rally at St. Paul Central High School after the school district, like many across Minnesota, sent out pink slips to some teachers and paraprofessionals. Districts are stuck in the difficult position of planning for 2015-16 with limited information, as lawmakers continue to haggle over the education budget.

“Budget cuts mean less people to do the work, but it doesn’t reduce the work,” Obama Elementary Principal Adrain Pendleton said. “Already, budget cuts have resulted in difficult discussions with staff.”

Parents and students at the rally worried cuts would fall mostly on support staff who “help make learning easier and who love kids,” Central freshman Kadeane Smith said. “Teachers can’t be everywhere at once.”

Kirinda Anderson talked about the progress her child, a student at Wellstone Elementary, made after working with reading and math coaches – positions that are on potentially on the chopping block. “Why are programs being taken away that are proven to work for our children?” she asked.

Rep. John Lesch (speaking) was among the St. Paul DFLers who attended SPFT's rally. Seated are Reps. Carlos Mariani, Sheldon Johnson and Rena Moran.

Rep. John Lesch (speaking) was among the St. Paul DFLers who attended SPFT’s rally. Seated are Reps. Carlos Mariani, Sheldon Johnson and Rena Moran.

Anger-intervention counselors, English Language Learners teachers and other specialists also received pink slips, speakers at the rally said, and administrators warned that class sizes could go up without a meaningful increase in the school-funding formula. That news didn’t sit well with parents like Neha Lang.

“We wouldn’t ask a baker to make a cake without providing her with the necessary ingredients,” Lang said. “Yet every year public schools are asked to do more with less funding.”

With a $2 billion surplus, Lang added, “this is the moment we do not have to compromise on public school funding. We can invest in our kids.”

Several state lawmakers from St. Paul enjoyed a front-row seat at the rally inside Central’s auditorium. All pledged to sign onto a letter urging Gov. Mark Dayton to stand strong in his fight to fund universal pre-kindergarten programming and provide adequate funding for the state’s school districts.

“Not only do I stand with the governor,” Rep. Rena Moran told parents, teachers and students, “I stand with you.”

The tentative agreement reached by Gov. Dayton and legislative leaders – which likely will result in a special session in the coming days – will not fully fund statewide pre-K programming, Dayton’s top priority in 2015. The agreement does boost new E-12 spending by about $370 million, allowing for a 2 percent increase in the state’s per-pupil funding formula in each of the next two school years.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

In Minneapolis, hundreds rally against Social Security’s closed-door policy

August 28, 2014 by
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (R) leads a rally outside the Social Security office in Minneapolis, which has reduced its service hours.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (R) leads a rally outside the Social Security office in Minneapolis, which has reduced its service hours.

Doors to the Social Security Administration’s field office in Minneapolis were locked at 3 p.m. yesterday, and they could stay locked permanently – in Minneapolis and at field offices across the country – if the federal agency gets its way.

That’s the warning sounded by federal workers rallying on the street outside the Chicago Avenue office yesterday.

About 200 members of the American Federation of Government Employees, holding a convention in Minneapolis this week, rallied with federal lawmakers and local retirees, raising awareness of Social Security’s plan to close hundreds of local offices just as the number of Social Security-eligible Americans is about to hit its peak.

AFGE President David Cox speaks to the crowd in Minneapolis.

AFGE President David Cox speaks to the crowd in Minneapolis.

Already, the Social Security Administration has closed 80 community offices nationwide, AFGE President David Cox told demonstrators, and “they’re looking to shutdown all the rest.”

A report released earlier this year by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging found the agency had shed 11,000 workers and closed 553 contact stations over the previous three years, and “had reduced or eliminated a variety of in-person services” at a time when Baby Boomers are filing claims in record numbers.

Social Security provides financial assistance to elderly, disabled, widowed and orphaned Americans, “people who through no fault of their own cannot provide for themselves,” Cox said. AFGE members who staff Social Security offices – and the Americans who rely on them – are baffled by dwindling federal support for “the most popular government program in our nation’s history.”

Marie Milsten-Fiedler of Minneapolis relies on face-to-face service provided by Social Security employees.

Marie Milsten-Fiedler of Minneapolis relies on face-to-face service provided by Social Security employees.

Social Security Administration officials have said office closures and staff cuts are part of a plan, known as Vision 2025, to transition most of the agency’s face-to-face services online and to call centers. But the plan does not sit well with Social Security beneficiaries like Marie Milsten-Fiedler of Minneapolis, who called it “pennywise and pound foolish.”

“Not all of us have the ability to pay for computers or Internet access,” Milsten-Fiedler said. Filing for benefits “is a major life changing event. It is extremely stressful, and folks should not be stuck alone in front of a computer screen. People should be available to help us through it.”

Professionals also are needed to protect against Social Security fraud. Milsten-Fiedler said she had to show several forms of identification in order to begin receiving her Social Security benefits. “How’s that going to happen over the Internet?” she asked.

Dana Duggins, an officer with the AFGE’s Social Security branch, said 95 percent of claims submitted over the Internet result in error, and reports of fraud are on the rise.

About 200 AFGE members joined the rally outside the Minneapolis Social Security field office.

About 200 AFGE members joined the rally outside the Minneapolis Social Security field office.

“We think the agency has put the cart before the horse,” Duggins said. “They don’t have the safeguards in place to protect the public. What’s worse is that Social Security staff are expected to push this system, knowing that it is hurting the American public.”

As the rally proceeded, several people approached the Social Security office, only to turn around after seeing the “Closed” sign. Before the rally began, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison told demonstrators, he encountered a woman who had traveled by bus to the office from Plymouth, “which I’m telling you is not close.”

“We need to make sure people who need Social Security have an open door when they show up to get Social Security,” the Minneapolis DFLer said. “If they can give a big tax cut loophole to some oil company, then they can open this office.”

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland also attended the rally. He thanked activists for standing up on behalf of “millions of people who worked hard, who made America great, who invested in the Social Security program and want to walk through that door during normal working hours.”

Filed Under: Politics, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , ,

School employees target Kline in fight to restore special education cuts

August 15, 2013 by
SEIU Local 284 President Keith Niemi talks to management and security staff in the West St. Paul SuperTarget.

SEIU Local 284 President Keith Niemi talks to management and security staff in the West St. Paul SuperTarget.

John Kline has enough influence in Congress to make reversing federal cuts to education a priority. But who has influence enough to get the 2nd District Congressman’s attention?

Target Corporation does, according to members of Service Employees International Union Local 284.

In an unannounced visit to Target’s West St. Paul location yesterday, activists attempted to deliver a letter asking Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel to use his company’s considerable clout with Kline to push for restoration of $9.2 million in education funds Minnesota schools lost as a result of federal sequestration cuts this year.

Kline chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, charged with oversight of federal funding for special education.

“We all know that Target has a very powerful voice and presence in education in Minnesota,” Local 284 President Keith Niemi told store managers at the West St. Paul SuperTarget. “We also know that Target is the biggest contributor to Rep. Kline’s campaign, and that Rep. Kline will listen to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel.”

Target has given $12,500 to Kline’s campaign and his “Freedom and Security PAC” so far during the 2014 election cycle, according to opensecrets.org. Only New York Life Insurance has donated more.

The funds Minnesota schools lost to sequestration were intended to support education for children with disabilities. The $9.2 million cut means about 110 school employees will lose their jobs, according to a White House estimate.

That doesn’t sit well with Melissa Demers, the mother of a child with special needs enrolled in the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Schools. Demers praised Target for its charitable giving to Minnesota school districts, but she added, “Without people working, the paper and the crayons are not going to do anything for these students.”

Niemi, whose union represents more than 8,000 school employees, added: “Our special education students cannot be expected to succeed with fewer paraprofessionals, fewer teachers and fewer resources that result from cuts in funding for the education of Minnesota’s children.”

Store management and security personnel would not accept the letter to Steinhafel, and union members left the store peaceably.

Outside, Kline’s constituents said they doubted their congressman would get the message.

“With Target being a supporter and advocate of Rep. Kline – and of education – I’m disappointed they would not even deliver a letter for us,” Inver Grove Heights resident Mary deLeon Denton said.

A member of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, Denton has “seen the impact of budget shortfalls on special-education programming and staff” during her 34-year career as an educator.

So, too, has Valorie Rolstad, a Local 284 member who works as a special-education paraprofessional in the Columbia Heights district. When she first took the job, Rolstad was one of 60-plus paraprofessionals in the district. “Now we are just maintaining at 30,” she said.

Local 284 is asking supporters to contact Kline and tell him to stop education cuts due to sequestration. Call Kline at 952-808-1213, or e-mail him at kline.house.gov.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Letters to the Editor: Sequestration cuts, Ramsey County Sheriff’s budget

September 12, 2012 by

Sandy Pappas

Letter: There is room for cuts in Pentagon budget

As some of us see Labor Day as a vacation and celebration of Minnesota’s workforce, others are struggling to recover from the Great Recession. We’ve seen efforts to reduce health care and retirement benefits for workers on the grounds that there’s no money, yet there’s always money for the Pentagon and its contractor cronies. Pentagon spending actually creates fewer jobs than spending on education, health care or clean energy.

If the automatic “sequestration” cuts occur, thousands more middle class jobs could be lost. Exempting the Pentagon from these automatic reductions will mean more draconian domestic program cuts.

As a legislator, I believe we need a balanced approach to the budget. There is room to cut waste from Pentagon spending. Our national security is strengthened by investing in our best asset – people. This Labor Day, let’s ask our members of Congress to invest in America’s workforce and economy – to secure our future.

– Senator Sandy Pappas, State Senate District 65

Letter: Your vote has consequences

Two years ago we were in the midst of an election campaign for the Ramsey County sheriff. During that time Matt Bostrom asked for the support of many unions. In turn, the vast majority endorsed his campaign for sheriff.

Prior to the election either Matt or I visited almost 20 of your union meetings, requesting your vote for him. A question frequently asked during those meetings was: “What does the sheriff’s race have to do with me or this union?”

Our response was that the Sheriff’s Office had consistently gone over budget during the previous 16 years, costing you more tax dollars – this at a time when many union members were sitting on the bench and struggling financially. Matt Bostrom found this unacceptable and made a public pledge to you and other taxpayers to balance the budget if elected.

Promises are easy to make, and you often never hear from them again or until the next election season. This is why I am writing now. Union members deserve a report for the faith they showed in Matt.

In March 2011 the Sheriff’s Office was reorganized to focus on core functions prescribed by state statute, providing efficient and effective services to the community and public safety partners. Through appropriate staffing, the community was kept safe as more deputies were assigned to the streets, courts, waterways and jail.

For the first time in 10 years, the Sheriff’s Office closed the year with budget savings. These budget savings would help offset an anticipated revenue shortfall. Working with the County Manager and the County Board in setting the 2013-2014 budgets, taxpayers were protected from an increase.

To continue these budget savings and create better efficiencies, employees are receiving training and performance evaluations, and innovative technology is being utilized.

Public service carries many expectations, including trust and accountability. As we look ahead, Matt Bostrom remains dedicated to guiding the transformation of the Sheriff’s Office and exceeding your expectations.

– Mark P. Wiegel, Bostrom for Sheriff Campaign

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,