Wednesdays4Kids April 28

House Budget Cuts to Families and Children: TAKE ACTION
On Monday the House released their proposed budget, which includes more than $9.5 million in cuts to the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP). These MFIP reductions are cuts to families who are already deep in poverty.

• Families on MFIP who live in subsidized housing would have their MFIP assistance cut by about $100 a month. (According to last year’s numbers, when Governor Pawlenty put forward this proposal, about 5,000 families would be hit with this cut.)
• When parents get jobs to take them off assistance would lose that assistance earlier: instead of helping families’ earnings reach 15% above poverty before eliminating the MFIP assistance, the House proposal would support families to only 10% above the poverty line.
• The value of a car that families could own and still be eligible for MFIP would be reduced to $7,500. This impacts any family trying to maintain a reliable car – but will be felt in particular by families who have exhausted their unemployment insurance in this recession and who have to next turn to MFIP.
• The job creation initiative that more than doubled the number of people put into paid jobs from the beginning to the end of 2009 will lose $4 million under the House proposal – at a time when every single job creation strategy is needed. Minnesota has been using welfare to work funds to subsidize short-term, skill building jobs.

These cuts are unnecessary: The federal government included emergency welfare-to-work funds in the stimulus bill in order to avoid cutting away at the safety net for very low income children and their parents. Minnesota still has some of that money available, but the House budget proposal –like Governor Pawlenty’s – moves $28 million of that money into the tax budget, so that the tax budget can provide $28 million in state general funds for budget cuts.

Minnesota Public Radio had a great article this week on the budget release and its impact on low income families in Minnesota.  Click here to read more. 

Take action this week by calling or emailing your state representative. Tell them to please support a floor amendment to raise revenue to restore the cuts to MFIP.

Click here for your legislator’s contact information, and here for more on MFIP.

Join us this Weekend at the Capitol
Our April Campaign to End Child Abuse partners, Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota, are hosting a healing field this weekend at the capitol. The event will be up from April 30 to May 2, and on Sunday at 2pm there will be Service of Healing.  Click here for more information on the event. The healing field will include a display of 1,000 American Flags and a field of blue Pinwheels for Prevention.

Each year iCAN works with Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota during April, Child Abuse Prevention Month, to raise awareness of abuse and neglect in our state.  For more resources, please see our Online Toolkit.